She fought and died for her country. Policy took a century and a half to catch up.

2026 marks the ten-year anniversary of the Combat Exclusion Policy being fully lifted, opening every military combat role to women. Now the Pentagon is asking all over again, “Are women really effective in combat roles?” History already answered that question!

Her gravestone still says “Lyons Wakeman.” That’s not who’s buried there. 162 years ago this month, on June 19th, 1864, Sarah Rosetta Wakeman died under that name, having fought at the Battle of Pleasant Hill as a private in the Union Army. She might have stayed buried under that alias forever.

So how did her secret finally come out? Watch “Keeping the Hysteria in American History” to find out.

#HERstory #WomensHistory #HiddenHistory #WomenInCombat #CombatExclusionPolicy