Noted journalist tells story of the women soldiers of the Afghanistan war

BOLDOC, AFGHANISTAN - NOVEMBER 23: (SPAIN OUT, FRANCE OUT, AFP OUT) Corporal Catherine Broussard, 22, a US Marine with the FET (Female Engagement Team) 1st Battalion 8th Marines, Regimental Combat team II tries to communicate with some Afghan girls during a village medical outreach on November 23, 2010 in Boldoc, in Helmand province, Afghanistan. There are 48 women presently working along the volatile front lines of the war in Afghanistan deployed as the second Female Engagement team participating in a more active role, gaining access where men can't. The women, many who volunteer for the 6.5 month deployment take a 10 week course at Camp Pendleton in California where they are trained for any possible situation, including learning Afghan customs and basic Pashtun language. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Traditionally ground combat in war was restricted to men. But that all changed in 2011, when for the first time an all-female, all-Army team was created to serve on the battlefield in Afghanistan.

The special pilot program put women on the battlefield with Special Forces, Army Rangers, and Navy Seals. The idea was that women could get access to people that men could not.

“Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield” looks at a special group of women who were sent out on night raids to search for and question Afghan women. The historic program set the course for changes in the U.S. Army and highlighted the significant role women play in the Army Special Forces. Lemmon shares First Lieutenant Ashley White’s story and the series of events that led to her death on the battlefield.

Guest:

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, journalist and author of the New York Times bestseller “Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield” (Harper, 2015)

Meghan Curran, one of the soldiers featured in the book. She now lives near Boston