10/06/2026
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25 years later, we remember these 12 women who never came home. Afghanistan war was fought by women as well as men. They flew missions, gathered intelligence, treated the wounded, worked beside special operations forces, handled military working dogs, drove convoys, and served at remote bases. Twenty-five years after the war began, these 12 women are among those who never came home.
When Operation Enduring Freedom began on October 7, 2001, American women were already serving throughout the military in roles that placed them directly inside the war effort. Over the next twenty years, their responsibilities expanded dramatically. Some flew aboard special operations aircraft. Others worked intelligence, joined convoys, treated casualties, supported Rangers and other special operations forces, investigated threats, or helped evacuate civilians in the final days of the war.
Among the earliest was Staff Sgt. Anissa A. Shero, U.S. Air Force, a loadmaster aboard an MC-130 Combat Talon II. On June 12, 2002, her aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from a dirt runway in Afghanistan while extracting a Special Forces team. Shero had personally made sure two soldiers aboard were properly restrained before the aircraft went down. Both of those soldiers survived. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force identifies Shero as the first female Airman to die in Afghanistan.
1st Lt. Laura M. Walker, U.S. Army, a 2003 West Point graduate and engineer officer, lost her life in Afghanistan in August 2005. West Point records recognize her as the first female graduate of the U.S. Military Academy to be lost in action.
On May 20, 2009, 1st Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte, U.S. Air Force, was lost near Kabul when an improvised explosive device struck her vehicle. Schulte was an intelligence officer and a 2006 Air Force Academy graduate. The Academy identified her as its first female graduate lost while supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
Just six days later, on May 26, 2009, the Air Force lost Senior Airman Ashton L. M. Goodman in an IED attack in Panjshir Province. Goodman had been working with the Provincial Reconstruction Team and had become deeply involved in programs intended to improve opportunities for Afghan women and girls. Days before her death, she participated in a meeting with Afghan women discussing education and local development.
On September 24, 2010, Pfc. Jaysine P. S. Petree, U.S. Army, was lost in combat while serving with the 109th Transportation Company in Afghanistan. Petree and fellow soldier Pfc. William Dawson were killed when an explosive device struck their convoy. She was only 19.
Then came Sgt. Zainah C. Creamer, an Army military working dog handler. On January 12, 2011, Creamer was serving with her dog, Jofa, during a route and building clearance mission in Kandahar Province when insurgents attacked her unit with an improvised explosive device. She was 28 and was on her second deployment.
Only months later, on April 26, 2011, Master Sgt. Tara R. Brown, U.S. Air Force, lost her life when an Afghan gunman opened fire inside the Afghan Air Force compound near Kabul. Brown was serving with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations in support of NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan. Seven other Airmen and an American civilian contractor were also lost in the attack.
Another name became especially closely connected to women serving alongside special operations forces: 1st Lt. Ashley I. White-Stumpf, U.S. Army. White volunteered for a Cultural Support Team, a program that placed specially selected women with special operations units so they could interact with Afghan women during raids and other missions. On October 22, 2011, she was lost during a night operation in Kandahar Province while serving alongside forces connected with the 75th Ranger Regiment.
On October 13, 2012, Spc. Brittany B. Gordon, U.S. Army, lost her life in Kandahar Province after an explosive attack. Gordon was serving with the 572nd Military Intelligence Company. Her fellow soldiers later remembered her as someone whose optimism and kindness had a lasting effect on the people around her. Army memorial coverage described her death as the loss of a soldier who had led by example.
One year later, Capt. Jennifer M. Moreno, U.S. Army, became another woman remembered for service alongside special operations forces. Moreno was an Army nurse who volunteered for a Cultural Support Team and deployed with troops associated with the 75th Ranger Regiment. During a mission in Afghanistan on October 6, 2013, multiple explosive devices struck the force. Despite the danger, Moreno moved toward wounded soldiers because of her training and commitment as a nurse. She lost her life while attempting to help them.
On December 21, 2015, Maj. Adrianna M. Vorderbruggen, U.S. Air Force, was serving as the commander of an Air Force Office of Special Investigations detachment near Bagram Airfield when a su***de bomber on a motorcycle struck her patrol. Vorderbruggen and five other Airmen lost their lives. She was an Air Force Academy graduate, an experienced special agent, and a leader responsible for personnel conducting counterintelligence and force-protection operations in Afghanistan.
And then, in the final days of America’s presence in Afghanistan, came Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, U.S. Marine Corps.
Gee was deployed with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit during the evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. On August 26, 2021, she was among the 13 American service members lost in the attack at Abbey Gate. Only days earlier, photographs had shown Gee caring for Afghan children during the evacuation. Her death, at age 23, became one of the most recognizable symbols of the war’s closing chapter.
These 12 women served in very different years and very different jobs:
Staff Sgt. Anissa A. Shero
1st Lt. Laura M. Walker
1st Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte
Senior Airman Ashton L. M. Goodman
Pfc. Jaysine P. S. Petree
Sgt. Zainah C. Creamer
Master Sgt. Tara R. Brown
1st Lt. Ashley I. White-Stumpf
Spc. Brittany B. Gordon
Capt. Jennifer M. Moreno
Maj. Adrianna M. Vorderbruggen
Sgt. Nicole L. Gee
They were Airmen, Soldiers, and a Marine. They served in intelligence, aviation, transportation, military police, medicine, investigations, special-operations support, and communications. Some were lost during combat attacks. Others were lost during dangerous operational missions. Together, their stories show how deeply women were woven into the Afghanistan war from its opening years to its final days.
And they are still only 12 names among many women who served and sacrificed during the conflict.
So on the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the Afghanistan war, remembrance should include them too.
Twenty-five years later, we remember the women who answered the call, served beside their brothers and sisters in uniform, and never came home. Their names deserve to be spoken.
This true story is based on historical records. This post is for educational purposes.
Sources: U.S. Army; U.S. Air Force; U.S. Marine Corps; U.S. Air Force Academy; U.S. Military Academy; Air Force Office of Special Investigations; National Museum of the U.S. Air Force; Army memorial and casualty records.
