“Let the generations know that women in uniform also guaranteed their freedom.”
– Mary Edwards Walker, Medal of Honor recipient.
Mary was a doctor before the Civil War broke out in the U.S. She tried to join the Union Army as a surgeon when the war started, but was only offered the opportunity to be a nurse because of her gender. She declined and instead joined as a civilian volunteer to be a surgeon. In 1863, she became a War Department surgeon, a paid position.