Tomorrow Magazine Veterans Day Special Issue, 2003

I never wanted my being
a woman to be an issue.
Angela Donnellon as told
to Martha K. Baker
W
When I was a supply clerk in the
Army, I tested 36 out of 40, an
“expert” on the firing range with a
rifle. I’ve never fired a weapon since,
but if I had to, I think I could handle
myself. I reenlisted because I liked
the life; reenlisting was a career
move for me, but I got out when it
was time.
Although I was in Saudi Arabia
for Desert Storm, I never saw combat.
The months I was there were the
most relaxed of my service career. I
was a supply clerk with the 188th
Ordnance. We worked only two to
three hours a day. Since we were at
war, we weren’t bothered with the
usual little details. In case you were
needed for combat, they didn’t want
you stressed out or fatigued. My
husband Kevin, who also works for
DaimlerChrysler, at McGraw Glass,
is a Desert Storm vet, too; he’s in the
National Guard.
Angela Donnellon
U.S. Army, 1986–1993
Specialist Fourth Class
Liftgate Line Worker
Warren Stamping
UAW Local 869
I think everyone who’s 19 or 20
should have a couple years in the
military. It made me more appreciative
of being an American and gave
me discipline. You become more tolerant
of people from different backgrounds,
and that still helps me
today with the people I work with.
The military also challenges you.
When you’re a woman in an occupation
that the Army doesn’t think
females are capable of, you like to
prove them wrong. One time a
colonel at Fort Bragg [N.C.] came to
lecture us on morale. He went to
everyone in the office but me —
maybe he didn’t approve [of female
soldiers]. I remember feeling dejected
because I was the best soldier in
the office at that time, but the experience
also pushed me because I
never wanted my being a woman to
be an issue. That still drives me
at work today.
I’m a good worker. After my time
in the military, I never feel there’s
anything I can’t do — because I’ve
done it.
✮
BILL SCHWAB
1991.
Hostilities
break out
in Bosnia.
Jan. 17, 1991.
Operation Desert Storm
begins, as coalition forces
begin bombardment.
Feb. 24, 1991.
Allied ground
campaign begins.
March 3, 1991.
Saddam Hussein accepts
terms of ceasefire.
1991 1995
1991. Chrysler is the first
automaker to add an airbag
to its minivans.
1995. President Clinton
orders first American
troops to Bosnia.
1995. Chrysler’s hybrid-electric car,
the Patriot, wins the Discover Award
for technological innovation.
20 www.uawdcx.com