In another conflict, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, I spent quite a lot of time as a journalist with soldiers. And one of the bright ideas I had was to interview the women who were fighting.
It took a bit of time to track them down but I found some in the Croat and Serbian forces, though not in the Bosnian army. They were presented to me with some pride by their commanders. One Croatian girl looked like Little Dorrit, but was the best sniper in her unit (she worried about the effect it would have on her later). A striking Serbian soldier said that her father had been in the military; she had sworn on his grave to take up arms. Their girlfriends were all very supportive of them.
