On July 29, 2009, Air National Guard Major Mary Jennings Hegar was shot down while on a Medevac mission in Afghanistan. Despite being wounded, her courageous actions would save the lives of her crew and their patients, earning her the Purple Heart as well as the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor Device.

It would also mark the beginning of a new mission: convincing the U.S. Government to allow women to serve openly on the front line of battle for the first time in American history.