Most Decorated Servicewomen

This site is dedicated to WWII's most decorated servicewoman: Nancy Wake. She was a courier, saboteur and spy.

She led downed Allied pilots and Jewish refugees to safety by trekking 50 hours over the peaks of the Pyrenees. She became a secret agent for the British Special Operations Executive.

She parachuted into France where she rallied, organized, armed and trained the Marquis. She led their efforts to sabotage the Germans and once killed a Nazi with her bare hands to prevent him from raising alarm during a raid.

Let's take a look at the most decorated servicewomen from WWI and the Korean War.

WWI: Milunka Savic

A veteran of both Balkan Wars as well as World War I, this Serbian warrior is widely considered to be the most highly decorated female in military history.

Her brother was originally ordered up for service, and she decided to take his place. She cut her hair and joined the ranks. She was quickly promoted and awarded medals for her valor in battle. It wasn't until after her tenth deployment that she was wounded and they discovered her true gender.

Her superior suggested that she work instead at a nursing station. She refused and requested to be allowed to remain in the ranks where she had already proven herself to be a courageous soldier.

Her commanding officer said he'd give her his decision on the following day. She reportedly responded with "I will wait," and stood at attention until he delivered his verdict. She was allowed to remain a soldier.

WWII and Korean War: Colonel Ruby Bradley

As a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, Colonel Ruby Bradley was the third woman in United States Army history to be promoted to the rank of Colonel. She earned 34 medals for her service during World War II and the Korean War.

She was serving at Camp John Hay in the Philippines when she was captured by the Japanese army three weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

While she was captive, she provided medical help to the prisoners and sought to feed starving children by shoving food into her pockets whenever she could, often going hungry herself. As she lost weight, she used the room in her uniform for smuggling surgical equipment into the prisoner-of-war camp.

At the camp she assisted in 230 operations and helped to deliver 13 children. When U.S. Troops captured the camp in 1943, she weighed only 86 pounds.

Bradley served in the Korean War as Chief Nurse for the 171st Evacuation Hospital. In November 1950, during the Chinese counter-offensive, she refused to leave until she had loaded the sick and wounded onto a plane while surrounded by 100,000 advancing Chinese soldiers. She was able to jump aboard the plane just as her ambulance exploded from an enemy shell.

Although women have a history of being valiant soldiers, the United States opened up all combat positions to women only one year ago in 2016. I am looking forward to learning of more and more decorated servicewomen as the years pass.