A
female war veteran who served two tours of duty in Iraq drew a
crowd of well over 100 students and faculty on Tuesday as she
talked about her experiences.
Army
Captain Anita Barone, who graduated from Shaker High school in
1997, spoke for more than an hour to a standing-room-only crowd
in the Library Media Center during.
She
spoke about her experiences as
a supply chain
logistics officer for helicopters northern Iraq theater, what
that entailed, the weather - it was 120-130 degrees in the
summer - and what it's like to be a female officer.
Speaking to the latter,
she said being a female in the military allowed her
experiences her civilian counterparts would never have.
"Because you have a rank system, the guys have to listen to you.
Even if they might not like listening to a female officer, they
have to leave that at home" she said.
Barone added that while a lot of college friends are still in
internships or administrative assistant positions, she has ample
experience in a command post because of her time in the
military.
She answered numerous questions during her speech, including
what was the toughest part of her time in Iraq?
“That was all of the memorial services we had for the guys we
lost in helicopter crashes and incidents,” Barone said.
Barone, who is the daughter of interim Grades 9/10 Principal Dr. Frank Barone,
returned from her second stint in Iraq - a 15 month deployment -
last month and is currently is based at Wheeler Air Field in
Hawaii. She is currently home on leave.
