Thread by @MarkHertling

In 2008, the WOMEN soldiers of @1stArmoredDiv sponsored a conference attended by over 300 women in northen Iraq.

The dialogue & information resulted in reduced violence, elimination of suicide networks & the 1st Iraqi women on the police force.

Women soldiers did this. 1/6

A graduation photo of the 1st group of women in the Iraqi police. The woman next to me was a conference attendee who had the idea of getting women on the force. She was pushed to tell me by a WOMEN soldier.

She later was a member of the Iraqi parliament, from Diyala province.2/

Another conference in N. Iraq - this time on medical issues - was the idea of our Division surgeon. One of our @1stArmoredDiv WOMEN doctors/soldiers reached out to ensure Iraqi women were also present, and their voice was heard. 3/6

Speaking of WOMEN medics, when several of us were wounded during Desert Storm, we were surprised when the medic who treated us was a woman.

I asked how she had come to be with a Cavalry Squadron. She said: "They told us you guys might need additional medics, so I volunteered."4/

These are cards of soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice serving with @1stArmoredDiv.

PFC Bosveld, an MP, was scheduled to receive a Purple Heart when she was killed in a mortar attack in 2003.

SSG Carletta Davis, a medic, was killed by an IED on a patrol in N. Iraq. 5/6

There are thousands of these stories, which I why I get a bit upset when people like @TuckerCarlson - who never served - spew falsehoods about women's effects on the military.

In my view, our sisters-in-arms have made the US Military a much better force. 6/END