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[Linda L. Bray and Al D'Amato, 1990]
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[Linda L. Bray and Al D'Amato, 1990]
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Title
[Linda
L
.
Bray
and
Al
D'Amato
,
1990]
Date
1990
Subject headings
United States--History--1969-
United States. Army--Women
Era
Gulf War (1990-2000)
Service branch
Army
Item description
Linda
L
.
Bray
shakes
hands
with
New
York
Senator
Al
D'Amato
in
1990
.
Bray
is
dressed
in an
army
battle
dress
uniform
[BDU]
, as are the
male
soldiers
in the
background
. The
photo
is
signed:"Captain
Bray
, A
great
American
hero
!
Best
wishes
,
Al
D'Amato
" in
reference
to
Bray's
role
in an
assault
on
insurgents
in
Panama
.
Veteran's name
Bray, Linda L.
Veteran's biography
Linda
Bray
of
Butner
,
North
Carolina
,
served
in the
U.S
.
Army
from
1982
to
1991
, and
during
the
Panama
Invasion
, she was the
first
female
to
lead
troops
into
combat
.
Linda
Bray
was
born
in
Sanford
,
North
Carolina
, and
raised
in
Butner
.
After
graduating
from
South
Granville
High
School
in
Creedmoor
,
North
Carolina
, she
enrolled
at
Western
Carolina
University
. She
joined
the
Reserve
Officers’
Training
Corps
in
1981
and
attended
basic
training
at
Fort
Knox
,
Kentucky
.
Bray
graduated
with a
degree
in
criminal
justice
in
1982
, but
returned
in
1983
to
earn
a
military
science
degree
and
qualify
for
direct
commission.
" In the
summer
of
1983
,
Bray
attended
Officer
Basic
Course
at
Fort
McClellan
,
Alabama
,
before
being
assigned
to a
special
weapons
depot
in
Siegelsbach
,
Germany
, in
November
1983
. There she
served
as an
MP
(military
police)
and
later
became
the
operations
manager
of the
depot
. She
met
Randy
Bray
her
first
week
there, and they were
married
two
years
later
. She
returned
to the
U.S
. in
1987
and
completed
Officer’s
Advanced
Class
and
Provost
Marshal’s
Class
at
Fort
McClellan
. She and her
husband
were then
stationed
at
Fort
Benning
,
Georgia
,
where
she
served
as a
training
officer
for the
Officer
Candidate
School
.
When
she
fractured
her
hips
on a
road
march
, she
briefly
served
as a
personnel
officer
during
her
recovery
.
After
being
cleared
for
duty
in
1988
,
Bray
was
given
command
of the
988th
MP
Company
. The
next
year
the
unit
was
given
orders
to
deploy
to
Panama
,
which
they
did
in
December
1989.
" A
few
days
later
,
during
the
Invasion
of
Panama
(Operation
Just
Cause)
Bray
became
the
first
woman
to
lead
US
troops
in
battle
. She
commanded
a
unit
to
fire
on
soldiers
of the
Panamanian
Defense
Forces
(PDF)
who
refused
to
surrender
their
positions
at a
dog
kennel
which
was
concealing
a
large
weapons
cache
.
Publicity
surrounding
Bray's
participation
in the
operation
brought
the
issue
of
women
in
combat
to the
forefront
of
public
opinion
.
Controversy
flew
in the
press
,
Congress
, the
Department
of
Defense
and the
public
as
Bray
swirled
at the
epicenter.
"
Bray’s
company
returned
to the
U.S
. in
April
1990
, but in
August
she
required
an
additional
hip
surgery
and was
offered
a
medical
discharge
.
Frustrated
by an
aggressive
investigation
into her
unit's
actions
in
Panama
and with a
performance
review
she
found
unfairly
discriminatory
, she
accepted
the
discharge
in
early
1991
, and her
husband
also
resigned
from the
army
.
After
leaving
the
service
she
began
writing
a
yet
to be
completed
book
on her
experiences
.
When
the
Department
of
Homeland
Security
was
formed
in
2002
, she
helped
train
people
in
screening
job
applicants
. She
is
currently
a
realtor
in
Winston-Salem
,
North
Carolina
.
Type
image
Original format
photographs
Original publisher
[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified]
Contributing institution
Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries
Source collection
WV0432 Linda L. Bray Papers
Collection summary
Oral
History
and
50
photocopies
of
letters
to
Bray
,
75
photocopies
of
newspapers
and
magazine
clippings
about
Bray
.
Rights statement
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Additional rights information
IN
COPYRIGHT
. This
item
is
subject
to
copyright
.
Contact
the
rights
holder
noted
above
for
permission
to
reuse
.
Object ID
WV0432.6.003
Digital publisher
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 --
http://library.uncg.edu/
OCLC number
900815067
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