"I remember nights, sitting outside of our tent on the gravel and listening to the call to prayers from the town... it was a beautiful sound, at night, in the middle of this wacky tent city, and it was surreal sometimes." (Video interview, 17:50).

Meg Parrish Miner

Meg Miner [1990] War: Persian Gulf War, 1991 Branch: Air Force Service Location: Mount Home Air Force Base, Idaho; Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma; Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada; Hahn Air Base and Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany; Turkey Rank: Technical Sergeant

Recruited by the Air Force, Meg Parrish Miner joined the military straight out of high school, enticed by the chance to leave her small town, get an education, and hold the impressive-sounding title of "jet engine mechanic"--despite having zero background in any kind of mechanics. The sixteen years she spent in the military--including with the famous Thunderbird division, and then working on F-16s while stationed in Turkey following the Gulf War--proved to be eye-opening, as she had hoped. In her oral history interview, she discusses how her time in the Air Force made her more resilient, the challenges she faced as a gay woman serving in a predominantly male environment, and her shifting thoughts on the role of the military post-9/11.