Joan of Arc and Her Modern Day Struggle Around 1412, a little girl was born in Domremy, France. She was born to a peasant family in a remote part of eastern France. Her small village suffered numerous raids and she remained functionally illiterate for much of her life. This little girl would become the woman we all know, Joan of Arc. By the end of her short life, Joan would become a national heroine and one of the most significant women in history. Joan's danger is still felt by modern military women today. I will examine his life and the modern parallels between the military practices of yesterday and today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At the time of his birth, Europe was not a good place to be. England and France were completely involved in a war so long that it was known as the Hundred Years' War. A war that began in 1337 when the English wanted control over the Kingdom of France. The French refused and a long and bloody war began. In 1422, French and English soldiers were mercilessly killing each other and no one was really sure who ruled France. Did the English deserve control over France or were the French their own people? Joan would ultimately help decide that. Around this time, ten-year-old Joan of Arc began having visions. These visions taught her to live a holy and virtuous life. These visions contained scenes of St. Michael and St. Catherine telling her that one day she would save France from the English, that she would be the hero of France. Eventually, her visions began to instruct her on how to begin her quest to save France. First, she was ordered to go one day to meet Charles (the heir to the throne, he was still too young to rule) and ask him for permission to drive the English out of France and make Charles king of France. In 1428, Joan contacted Robert de Baudricourt, a military commander and supporter of Charles. After much doubt, he agreed to take her to Charles after seeing the enthusiasm of the public around him. In order to visit Charles, Joan of Arc and Robert de Baudricourt had to make a grueling 11-day journey through enemy territory to the town of Chinon. To protect herself, she dressed as a man in armor for this trip. Upon arrival, Charles wasn't sure whether or not to take this teenager who claimed to be "the hero of France" seriously. Legend says his evaluation/consideration process was quite thorough. He had his theologians observe it. They could only draw the conclusion that she was a perfectly normal girl who possessed the virtues she claimed. After managing to identify Charles dressed incognito among a group of commoners and following a private conversation in which Joan explained her visions and what they affirmed, Charles hesitantly granted his support to the young woman. Seventeen-year-old Joan was given armor and a horse and allowed to accompany the French army en route to Orleans. Orleans was a French city under English siege. Eventually, after much fighting, the French took control of the English forts and other bases in the area. Joan was injured but recovered in time for the final effort to secure the city. The French defeated the English at Orleans and ended the national perception of the English as invincible warriors who could never be defeated. Still weary of Joan's dependability, Charles was wary of Joan's impulses to follow throughquickly towards Reims to claim the French crown. Taking a more cautious approach, Charles and his army eventually managed to arrive at Rheims and take back the crown just as Joanna had prophesied. On 18 July 1429 Charles regained the crown of France with Joan at his side. The following spring, Joan was ordered to Compiègne to meet the ongoing Burgundian assault. In the midst of the battle, Joan was thrown from her horse and left wounded outside the city. Seeing her as a vital negotiating piece, the Burgundians quickly took her prisoner. They held her for months while they negotiated with the British. After months and months of negotiations an agreement was reached with the English. A sum of 10,000 Swiss francs was given to the Burgundians in exchange for possession of Joan. The English saw this as an opportunity. To the unfamiliar eye, she simply looked like a normal nineteen-year-old girl. But for the English they had just captured one of the most important pieces of French morale. They had obtained a symbol of France. They had taken a piece of France without ending a single life. Eventually, Charles heard the news of Joan's capture. He still doubted his divine abilities. He distanced himself and made no attempt to help free her. Although her actions were against the English army, she was handed over to Church officials so that she could be tried more harshly than a military tribunal could have. Before the trial she was detained in a military prison. Joan was regularly threatened with rape and torture. She was able to protect herself by securing her armor. Angry that they failed to break her, the court eventually used this against her. Over 70 charges were brought against her, including heresy, witchcraft and dressing like a male. She was found guilty in a private trial and was taken to the town square. In front of approximately 1200 people, Joan was burned at the stake on May 30, 1431. Joan was only 19 years old at the time of her execution. His ashes were collected and scattered in the Seine. The war continued for another 22 years after his death. Charles remained king of France. In 1456, Charles ordered an investigation into Joanna's life to declare her innocence. In 1456 she was declared innocent of everything and classified as a martyr. Joan was canonized on May 16, 1920. Joan remains the patron saint of France. Today, women face some of the same challenges that Joan faced in her time. 1948 was the first time women were legally made a permanent part of the military. In all previous wars women could only serve in support and medical positions. In 1976, the first group of women was admitted to West Point. Today, women represent approximately 16% of all military positions. Just like Joan, women face obstacles if they wish to pursue military careers. Some positions are still closed to women today. Women cannot serve on the front lines, in special forces, Navy SEALs, submarine crews, or in any form of special operations. Two main reasons are cited why these roles are not offered to women. The first is their confidence and the second is their lack of physical strength equal to that of their male counterparts. While these reasons contain some grain of truth, there are logical ways around both of them. When it comes to women's safety, increased oversight and changing laws would have a major impact. For example, a few years ago a young woman was raped. However, he waited years to report it to someone. Since she was drunk at the time, she would be punished more severely than her rapist. If you read themwere changed and those who threaten women's safety were held accountable, it would solve this particular problem. It is a fact that not all women are stronger than all men. So some military positions will probably never be open to women. But, as President-elect Trump has suggested, a woman should be allowed to hold a position if she is physically capable of doing so. Any woman who can pass the same physical tests as men should be able to fill those same positions. Some, like former presidential candidate Ben Carson, believe that women can never physically surpass men and should never be allowed into combat positions. Military admission should be blind. As long as a woman can pass the same physical tests as her male counterparts, she should be allowed to serve her country. Fortunately, some recent laws have been passed that allow women to serve in other laws. In 1993, the Department of Defense passed a law opening many new positions for women. This was further strengthened in 2014 with an amendment to that law. Today, 78% of positions in the Army and 99% of positions in the Air Force are available to women. As of 2013, Leona Panetta (US Secretary of Defense) has called for “an end to all restrictions on women that prevent them from serving in combat roles.” In 2013, a new female training technique was implemented in the army. It offers women specific training in key areas. This new training would allow women to enter all Army roles by early 2016. In May 2015, nineteen women were approved to participate in an experimental Army Ranger program that would allow them to be the first women to fill special operations roles. Unfortunately, all nineteen failed the course. Eleven dropped out within the first four days and the remaining 8 failed in phase 2. Three of those who dropped out in phase two were given the opportunity to re-enroll. After a second attempt, all three of these women graduated by October 2015. So it's possible, but it would be difficult to integrate. Research shows that once women are brought into the mix, team cohesion diminishes. As stated in what I read, “Marine Corps research found that all-male squads, teams, and crews demonstrated better performance in 93 of 134 tasks evaluated (69%) than units with women in them. The study found that all-male units were faster than all-female units in completing tactical movements in combat situations, especially in units with large “crew-served” weapons such as heavy machine guns and mortars. All-male infantry squads also had better accuracy than squads with women in them, with "a notable difference between the sexes for every single weapon system" used by infantry rifle units. They include the M4 carbine, the M27 infantry automatic rifle, and the M203, a rifle-mounted single-shot grenade launcher. The research also found that male Marines who did not receive infantry training were even more accurate in their use of firearms than women who did. And in removing wounded troops from the battlefield, there were “noticeable differences in execution times between all-male and gender-integrated groups,” with the exception when a single person – “most often a Marine male” – took someone away, the.