New podcast series: ‘Trailblazing Women Veterans’

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker. The Angels of Anzio. Col. Alison Black. Pvt. Shoshana Johnson. Four women who served with the U.S. Armed Forces in distinctive eras of our nation’s history are saluted in March for Women’s History Month with a special podcast series hosted by Army National Guard veteran Ashley Gorbulja and American Legion Media & Communications Director Jeff Stoffer. 

A new episode of “Trailblazing Women Veterans” will be posted every Wednesday throughout March: 

• In part one, the journey begins with the story of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman so far to receive the Medal of Honor. The Civil War surgeon and prisoner of war broke ground for women not only in the military but in medicine, as well. 

• Episode 2, which airs March 13, tells the story of the “Angels of Anzio” and their brave, dangerous and life-saving service in Italy during World War II, which made them the first female recipients of the Silver Star. 

• The series shifts in Episode 3 from angels of mercy to the U.S. Air Force aviator known as the “Angel of Death” – Alison Black, whose combat action and “death ray” in the early stages of the war in Afghanistan befuddled enemy targets on the ground and inspired a new era for women in combat specialties. 

• The final episode shares the harrowing experience of Pvt. Shoshana Johnson, the first Black female held as a prisoner of war and the determination it took for her to survive captivity with bullet wounds in her ankles and abuse from her captors. 

Included in each episode is a roundup of figures in women’s military history – from the Revolutionary War to the Global War on Terrorism – and how each new generation trailblazed for the next. 

“Trailblazing Women Veterans” is available in video and audio formats at legion.org/tangoalphalima. The series can also be downloaded on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and other popular podcast hosting sites. Listeners of the series are asked to share stories of extraordinary military service among women using the hashtag #MilitaryWomenWednesday.