Every group of female friends has the funny one, the one you go to when you need a good cry, the one who tells you to suck it up when you've had a hard day. And this group was no different. Except that this was a community of groundbreaking women who came together -- first to become teammates, then friends, and then family -- in the least likely of places: on the Special Operations battlefield. This was a group of women whose friendship and valor was cemented not only by what they had seen and done at the tip of the spear, but by the fact that they were there at a time when women -- officially, at least -- remained banned from ground combat, and America had no idea they existed.
每个女性朋友圈里都有一个搞笑的人 当你需要大哭一场时你可以去找她 当你遭遇不顺时她会告诉你忍忍就过了 而以下这个朋友圈也一样 除了这是一群卓越的女子 她们聚在一起—— 先成为队友,然后朋友,最后家人—— 在最不可能发生这一切的地方: 在特种部队的战场上 这群女子她们友谊和英勇的凝结 不单是靠她们在枪林弹雨中奋斗来的 还因为这么一个事实 事实就是那时候女人 在官方上是不能参加地面作战的 美国对她们的存在并不知情
This story begins with Special Operations leaders, some of the most tested men in the United States military, saying, "We need women to help us wage this war." "America would never kill its way to the end of its wars," it argued. "Needed more knowledge and more understanding."
故事是从特种部队的队长开始的 一些经受过考验的美国男士兵说 “我们需要女人来帮我们发动战争。” “美国绝不会让战争结束的。”是这样说的 “需要更多的认识和理解。”
And as everyone knows, if you want to understand what's happening in a community and in a home, you talk to women, whether you're talking about Southern Afghanistan, or Southern California. But in this case, men could not talk to women, because in a conservative and traditional society like Afghanistan, that would cause grave offense. So you needed women soldiers out there. That meant, at this time in the war, that the women who would be recruited to serve alongside Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, would be seeing the kind of combat experienced by less than five percent of the entire United States military. Less than five percent.
每个人都知道 如果你想知道一个社区或一个家庭里发生了什么 你得找女人聊天 不管你是聊阿富汗南部 还是加州南部 但在这种情况下, 男人不能和女人聊天 因为在一个保守的传统的社会,像阿富汗 会被视为大不敬 所以你需要女兵到那里去 也就是说,在此时的战争中, 那些被陆军游骑兵 和海军海豹突击队招募去的女士们 会看到不到百分之五的美国士兵 所经历的那种战斗 不到百分之五
So the call went out. "Female soldiers: Become a part of history. Join Special Operations on the battlefield in Afghanistan." This is in 2011. And from Alabama to Alaska, a group of women who had always wanted to do something that mattered alongside the best of the best, and to make a difference for their country, answered that call to serve. And for them it was not about politics, it was about serving with purpose.
所以有这样的口号: “女兵们:改变历史 加入特种部队在阿富汗的战场吧。” 这是2011年的 从阿拉巴马州到阿拉斯加州 一群想要和精英中的精英并肩作战 想要有所作为 想为她们国家做贡献的女士们 响应了号召 对她们来说,这不是政治, 而是真心服务
And so, the women who came to North Carolina to compete for a spot on these teams which would put women on the Special Operations front lines, landed and found very quickly a community, the likes of which they had never seen. Full of women who were as fierce and as fit as they were, and as driven to make a difference. They didn't have to apologize for who they were, and in fact, they could celebrate it. And what they found when they were there was that all of a sudden, there were lots of people like them. As one of them said, "It was like you looked around and realized there was more than one giraffe at the zoo."
所以,她们来到北卡罗来纳州 去争取留在队中的名额 以到达特种部队的前线 她们迅速安定下来,形成团队 认识了素未谋面却志同道合的伙伴 全是强壮威猛的女子 壮志凌云,无可匹敌 她们无需为自己感到抱歉 相反,她们应该为此感到庆幸 她们在那里意识到的 是忽然间多了很多像自己一样的人 其中一个说 “就像你四周看看,然后意识到 动物园里不只自己这么一只长颈鹿呀。”
Among this team of standouts was Cassie, a young woman who managed to be an ROTC cadet, a sorority sister and a Women's Studies minor, all in one person. Tristan, a West Point track star, who always ran and road marched with no socks, and had shoes whose smell proved it. (Laughter) Amber, a Heidi look-alike, who had always wanted to be in the infantry, and when she found out that women couldn't be, she decided to become an intel officer. She served in Bosnia, and later helped the FBI to bust drug gangs in Pennsylvania. And then there was Kate, who played high school football all four years, and actually wanted to drop out after the first, to go into the glee club, but when boys told her that girls couldn't play football, she decided to stay for all the little girls who would come after her.
在这些精英中,有一个叫凯西的人 她是一位年轻的后备军官训练军团学员 也是姐妹会的一员 她还副修女性研究课程 技集一身 特里斯坦,一位西点军校的田径明星 她在跑步和行军时 总不穿袜子 鞋子的味道已经出卖了她 (笑声) 安珀,有点像小说里那个海蒂, 总想去步兵团 当她发现他们不招女兵时 她决定去当情报员 她在波斯尼亚服役 不久后协助联邦调查员 瓦解了宾夕法尼亚州的大毒枭 然后这个是凯特 她高中四年 都是校橄榄球队的 但其实她在第一年的时候就想退出 她想去合唱团 但当那些男孩子跟她说女孩子玩不了橄榄球时 她决定留下来 身先士卒为小学妹们树立榜样
For them, biology had shaped part of their destiny, and put, as Cassie once said, "everything noble out of reach for girls." And yet, here was a chance to serve with the best of the best on a mission that mattered to their country, not despite the fact that they were female, but because of it.
对她们来说,生理的东西决定了她们部分命运 就像凯西曾说过 “高尚的事物对女孩子来说遥不可及” 但是,在这里就有一个机会 和精英中的精英一起 在紧要关头为她们的国家服务 女性身份在这里并非劣势 反倒成了优势
This team of women, in many ways, was like women everywhere. They wore makeup, and in fact, they would bond in the ladies' room over eyeliner and eye pencil. They also wore body armor. They would put 50 pounds of weight on their backs, and board the helicopter for an operation, and they would come back and watch a movie called "Bridesmaids." (Laughter) They even wore a thing called Spanx, because, as they found very quickly, the uniforms made for men were big where they should be small, and small where they should be big. So Lane, an Iraq War veteran -- you see her here on my left -- decided she was going to go on Amazon and order a pair of Spanx to her base, so that her pants would fit better when she went out on mission each night.
这群女子,在很多方面,都和大多数女子一样 她们也梳妆打扮 事实上,她们会在洗手间聚在一起 画画眼线和眼影 但她们也穿防弹衣 她们会在背上放置50磅(约45斤)的负重 登上直升机执行任务 然后会回来看一部叫《伴娘我最大》的电影 (笑声) 她们甚至还穿着“斯班克斯” (弹性塑身内衣品牌) 因为,她们很快发现 那些为男士定做的制服 该小的时候却过于宽松 该宽松时却显窄小 所以蕾恩,一名伊拉克战争老兵—— 我左边的那位—— 决定去亚马逊购物平台 买一副弹性塑身内衣来打底 让自己在晚上执勤时裤子感觉更舒适
These women would get together over video conference from all around Afghanistan from their various bases, and they would talk about what it was like to be one of the only women doing what they were doing. They would swap jokes, they would talk about what was working, what wasn't, what they had learned to do well, what they needed to do better. And they would talk about some of the lighter moments of being women out on the Special Operations front lines, including the Shewee, which was a tool that let you pee like a guy, although it's said to have had only a 40 percent accuracy rate out there. (Laughter)
这些女士会一起开视频会议 不管她们各自在阿富汗的哪个基地 她们都会讨论 成为女兵做着独一无二的事是怎样一种体验 她们会互相讲笑话 她们会谈及工作及工作之外的事 聊聊她们取得哪些成就 还有哪方面的不足 她们也会聊作为女兵上阵特种部队前线 一些轻松愉快的时候 比如“嘘嘘斗” 它能让你像个男人一样尿尿 但据说精准度只有40% (笑声)
These women lived in the "and." They proved you could be fierce and you could be feminine. You could wear mascara and body armor. You could love CrossFit, and really like cross-stitch. You could love to climb out of helicopters and you could also love to bake cookies. Women live in the and every single day, and these women brought that to this mission as well. On this life and death battlefield they never forgot that being female may have brought them to the front lines, but being a soldier is what would prove themselves there.
这些女士生活在“并且”中 她们证明了你可以作为女性,并且很勇猛 你可以涂上睫毛膏并且穿上防弹衣 你可以对高强度健身上瘾,并且对十字绣欲罢不能 你可以热衷在直升机爬下的感觉, 并且享受烘焙曲奇的时刻 女士们每天都活在这些“并且”当中 而且这帮女士把它带到任务中去 在这片生死战场上,她们从未忘记 是女人的身份把她们带到前线 但成为战士,是她们证明自己的在那里的价值
There was the night Amber went out on mission, and in talking to the women of the house, realized that there was a barricaded shooter lying in wait for the Afghan and American forces who were waiting to enter the home. Another night it was Tristan who found out that there were pieces that make up explosives all around the house in which they were standing, and that in fact, explosives lay all the way between there and where they were about to head that night. There was the night another one of their teammates proved herself to a decidedly skeptical team of SEALs, when she found the intel item they were looking for wrapped up in a baby's wet diaper. And there was the night that Isabel, another one of their teammates, found the things that they were looking for, and received an Impact Award from the Rangers who said that without her, the things and the people they were looking for that night would never have been found.
有一晚安珀外出任务 和房子里的女人们交谈 她意识到有一名隐蔽的枪手 在埋伏等待进到房子里的阿富汗和美国士兵 另一晚,则是特里斯坦 她发现在他们所处的房子周围 有好些炸药 在他们所处的位置和那晚需要前去的地方之间 一路上都铺满了炸药 有一晚,另一个队友证明了自己 作为一名海豹突击队应有的警觉性 她发现在寻找的情报信息 就裹在婴儿那湿湿的纸尿布上 还有一晚,伊萨贝尔,另一名队友 发现了目标事物 并获得了陆军游骑兵授予的影响力奖 他们说如果没有她 他们那晚搜寻的目标 根本就没法找到
That night and so many others, they went out to prove themselves, not only for one another, but for everybody who would come after them. And also for the men alongside whom they served. We talk a lot about how behind every great man is a good woman. And in this case, next to these women stood men who wanted to see them succeed. The Army Ranger who trained them had served 12 deployments. And when they told him that he had to go train girls, he had no idea what to expect. But at the end of eight days with these women in the summer of 2011, he told his fellow Ranger, "We have just witnessed history. These may well be our own Tuskegee Airmen." (Applause)
这么多个夜晚,这么多位女兵 她们用行动证明了自己 不是为了队中的彼此 而是为了后来的人 也是为了和他们一起服役的男兵 我们听过不少“每个成功男人背后总有一个好女人” 而在这里 站着这群女兵身边的男兵 他们想看到这群女兵成功 训练她们的陆军游骑兵已经在12个部署服役过 当他被告知他将训练这群女兵时 他根本没有什么期望 但在2011年夏天和女兵一起的 八天训练的最后时刻 他告诉他的陆军游骑队战友 “我们刚见证了历史 她们会成为属于我们自己的塔斯克基飞行员” (二战中美国军事历史上最早的非裔美籍的空军力量) (掌声)
At the heart of this team was the one person who everyone called "the best of us." She was a petite blonde dynamo, who barely reached five-foot-three. And she was this wild mix of Martha Stewart, and what we know as G.I. Jane. She was someone who loved to make dinner for her husband, her Kent State ROTC sweetheart who pushed her to be her best, and to trust herself, and to test every limit she could. She also loved to put 50 pounds of weight on her back and run for miles, and she loved to be a soldier. She was somebody who had a bread maker in her office in Kandahar, and would bake a batch of raisin bread, and then go to the gym and bust out 25 or 30 pull-ups from a dead hang. She was the person who, if you needed an extra pair of boots or a home-cooked dinner, would be on your speed dial. Because she never, ever would talk to you about how good she was, but let her character speak through action. She was famous for taking the hard right over the easy wrong. And she was also famous for walking up to a 15-foot rope, climbing it using only her arms, and then shuffling away and apologizing, because she knew she was supposed to use both her arms and her legs, as the Rangers had trained them. (Laughter)
这支团队的核心人物 是一个大家称为“马中赤兔”的女士 她是一位身材娇小精力充沛的金发美女 身高还不到一米六 她是玛莎·斯图尔特(美国女性财富人物) 和魔鬼女大兵G.I. Jane的狂野结合体 她是会为丈夫准备晚餐的贤妻 她丈夫在肯特州后备役军官训练军团 一直支持鼓励她 信任她 充分挖掘她的潜能 她也喜欢负重50磅跑上数英里 她深爱战士这个职业 她会在坎大哈(阿富汗一城市) 办公室里放一个面包机 烘焙些葡萄干面包然后上健身房 然后做上25到30个引体向上 如果你需要多一双靴子 或是一桌精美晚餐 她几乎是随叫随到 她从不会对你说 自己有多厉害 而是用行动来告诉你她是怎样一个人 她坚持真理,朝抵抗力最大的路径走 她也能走到四米半的绳子前 仅用双臂就爬上去 然后下来道歉 因为她知道她本该手脚并用地爬上去 就像陆军游骑队当时训练的一样 (笑声)
Some of our heroes return home to tell their stories. And some of them don't. And on October 22, 2011, First Lieutenant Ashley White was killed alongside two Rangers, Christopher Horns and Kristoffer Domeij. Her death threw this program built for the shadows into a very public spotlight. Because after all, the ban on women in combat was still very much in place. And at her funeral, the head of Army Special Operations came, and gave a public testimony not just to the courage of Ashley White, but to all her team of sisters. "Make no mistake about it," he said, "these women are warriors, and they have written a new chapter in what it means to be a female in the United States Army."
我们的英雄们有些回家告诉我们发生的事 有些则再也回不来 在2011年10月22号 中尉艾希莉·怀特和两名陆军游骑队牺牲了 他们是克里斯多夫·霍恩斯 以及克里斯托弗·杜米基 她的牺牲把这个鲜为人知的项目 变成了众人的焦点 因为毕竟 女兵不准参加战斗的禁令仍在很多地方生效 在她的葬礼上 特种部队的领导出席 并公开致辞 不单对艾希莉·怀特的英勇表示肯定 还有她的所有女兵队友 “不要弄错,”他说,“这些女士都是战士 她们为美国女兵 撰写了新的篇章。”
Ashley's mom is a teacher's aide and a school bus driver, who bakes cookies on the side. She doesn't remember much about that overwhelming set of days, in which grief -- enormous grief -- mixed with pride. But she does remember one moment. A stranger with a child in her hand came up to her and she said, "Mrs. White, I brought my daughter here today, because I wanted her to know what a hero was. And I wanted her to know that heroes could be women, too."
艾希莉的母亲是一名助理教师 以及校巴司机 她还兼职烘焙曲奇 她记不太清那段不堪回忆的日子 悲痛——巨大的悲痛—— 夹杂着自豪的日子 但她却记得这么一个时刻 一名怀抱婴儿的陌生人来到她面前 跟她说,“怀特太太, 我今天把我女儿带到这里 因为我想让她知道什么是英雄 我想让她知道女人也可以成为英雄。”
It is time to celebrate all the unsung heroines who reach into their guts and find the heart and the grit to keep going and to test every limit. This very unlikely band of sisters bound forever in life and afterward did indeed become part of history, and they paved the way for so many who would come after them, as much as they stood on the shoulders of those who had come before. These women showed that warriors come in all shapes and sizes. And women can be heroes, too. Thank you so much. (Applause)
是时候为那些无名女英雄颂歌了 她们浑身是胆 无所畏惧,迎刃而上 这群毫无血缘关系的姐妹们这辈子都心牵彼此 确实改变了历史 她们为后继者踏出了这一条路 就像当初踩在前者的肩膀一样 这些女士证明了英雄不问出处 女人也可以成为英雄 谢谢大家 (掌声)