Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Lyudmila Pavlichenko, woman sniper

I was just reading about the Russian sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko. She was credited with 309 kills – that’s three-times more than Staff Sergeant Hathcock! . . . oh wait. She wasn’t “Russian.” She was Ukrainian. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyudmila_Pavlichenko

“There she became one of 2,000 female snipers in the Red Army, of whom only about 500 ultimately survived the war. As a sniper, she made her first two kills near Belyayevka, using a Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle with a P.E. 4-power scope.”

“Pvt. Pavlichenko fought for about two and a half months near Odessa, where she recorded 187 kills. When the Germans gained control of Odessa, her unit was pulled to be sent to Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula. In May 1942, Lieutenant Pavlichenko was cited by the Southern ArmyCouncil for killing 257 German soldiers. Her total confirmed kills during World War II was 309, including 36 enemy snipers.”

COMMENT:

I mentioned having philosophical differences with Michael. Women in the military is one of them. I don’t believe women should be prevented from being anything they want and are equipped to be, at least not because they are women. Let them be disqualified because they can’t do the job or because there are men who can do it better, but don’t disqualify them because they are women. If someone argues that women aren’t “equipped” to fight on the front lines, I will say that depends. Perhaps most couldn’t lug huge amounts of equipment about, but Pavlichenko distinguished herself as a combat sniper. There are jobs women can do.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Lawrence,

First, the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 of the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany was a REAL WAR, not a military incursion on an undeveloped defenseless country somewhere far overseas.

We had to struggle for our life, literally, not for oil, or for something else.
Which is why about 500,000 women, or so, were allowed to take part in combat actions, mainly as medical officers, auxiliary forces, snipers, radio operators, etc.
Glory to our women!

Second, the word "ukrainian" in every Slavic language (including Polish) means nothing else but a "borderlander".
Everybody who speaks any Slavic tongue knows the simple fact that the English for "ukraine" is "borderland" and nothing more.
That is that.