GRAYSON COUNTY, TX -- The veterans we spoke with say this is a good move when it comes to creating equality throughout the military. But some have concerns that women won't be able to handle fighting on the front line not just physically, but mentally as well.
It's been 19 years since female soldiers could stand alongside the men on the front lines in war. Vietnam combat veteran, Dom Domingos, remembers when the first woman applied to his alma mater,The Citadel, and he didn't like that idea.
"I was primarily against it because the female who did apply showed up for Plebe Summer 30 pounds overweight, couldn't keep up physically. She was doing it strictly for political purpose," Domingos said.
But since then, Domingos has changed his mind.
"If she's got it in her head that she can do that, just like the men do, I say go for it," he said.
Just like the men do, as in he wants the standards to be equal across the board.
"If a man has to run a mile under three minutes, a woman with a full pack has to run a mile under three minutes. If she can't, don't put her covering my back," he said.
But the veteran does worry that men could become too focused on looking out for the female soldiers.
"I've got to shoot that guy and she's got to shoot that guy. Because if she fails to shoot that guy, I'm dead. And if I fail to shoot that guy, she's dead. But I've got this engrained feeling, do I have to look over and check her out once in a while to make sure she's okay?" he said.
"Chivalry is not dead. They're going to protect those women and that could get them killed," Vicki Johnson said.
Vietnam veteran, Vikki Johnson, says this change is dangerous.
"I've seen so many men's bodies blown up. I don't want to see women that way," Vicki
Johnson was a nurse during the Vietnam war. She wonders if women can truly handle the front lines.
"They need to know what they're getting into before they sign up to do this. Glory is not a part of this. It is not a part of it," she said.
This change could open more than 230,000 jobs to women.
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