Band of Sisters

Twelve American women serving in the military share their gripping personal stories of combat in Iraq.

In Iraq, the front lines are everywhere—and everywhere in Iraq, no matter what their job descriptions say, women in the U.S. military are fighting. More than 155,000 of them have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003—four times the number of women sent to Desert Storm in 1991. More than 430 have been wounded and over seventy killed—almost twice the number of American women killed in action in Korea, Vietnam, and Desert Storm combined.

But should women be in combat? Do they have what it takes to be warriors? Compelling questions once, but now empty because, more than ever, American women are in combat, and they are warriors. The real question is: What are their experiences of war? We haven’t heard their stories—until now.

Band of Sisters presents a dozen groundbreaking and often heart-wrenching stories of American women in combat in Iraq, such as the U.S.’s first female pilot to be shot down and survive, the military’s first black female pilot in combat, a young turret gunner defending convoys, and a nurse struggling to save lives, including her own.

As one female service member said, “We love our country as much as any man, and we have made the same sacrifices as our brothers in arms.” Band of Sisters reveals those sacrifices for the first time.

Praise for Band of Sisters

Winner of the 2007 American Authors Association Golden Quill Award

Winner of the 2007 Military Writers Society of America Founder's Award

“An insightful, intimate portrait of America’s fighting women in Iraq. This is must reading.” —Charles Jones, author of Red, White, or Yellow?: The Media and the Military at War in Iraq

“Lyrical, visceral, and potent. Kirsten Holmstedt sets a peerless standard as a raconteur with powerful stories of the valor of today’s women in combat.” —David J. Danelo, author of Blood Stripes and The Border

“This overdue account . . . reads a swiftly as a thriller, but the thrills here come from the real sacrifices and valor of America’s fighting women.” —Ralph Peters, author of Never Quit the Fight and Wars of Blood and Faith