Deborah Sampson changed her name to Robert Shurtlief to fight in the Revolutionary War and was wounded twice. Elizabeth Newcom enlisted as Bill Newcom to serve in the Mexican War. Sarah Rosetta Wakeman enlisted as Pvt. Lyons Wakeman to serve in the Union Army during the Civil War.

They are among the more than 2.5 million women who have served in the U.S. military since the American Revolution, contributing to the nation's

security and setting examples of courage, service and commitment to freedom.

Military leaders began relying on women in large numbers during the Spanish American War, assigning 1,500 contract nurses to Army hospitals. By the end of World War II, more than 110,000 women had served as military nurses and more than 400,000 had served in noncombat jobs at home and overseas.

In 1948, the U.S. Congress passed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, granting women permanent status in the Regular and Reserve

forces of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force. Today the tradition continues. Women serve in almost every capacity in the armed forces, including in combat zones on land, at sea and in the skies. More than 90,000 women have served as fighter pilots, medics, military police and in other positions since the start of the global war on terror on Sept. 11, 2001. Currently, almost 16,000 women are serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and related areas.