One of my favorite historical characters who has been sadly if perhaps inadvertently maligned by PC historians. If you check her entry in the Britannica you will find that she is famous for bringing water to the wounded under fire. That wasn't quite it, nor would the British have been shooting at her if it had been.
Mary McCauley was the wife of an artillery officer and insisted on accompanying him to war. She was also an intelligent and curious young woman. One thing she learned was how to operate a cannon.
The Battle of Monmouth took place on one of the hottest days of the year. And the troops did run out of water, and she did run the length of the lines for it to a nearby farm, where she couldn't find a bucket but did find a pitcher, hence her sobriquet. She didn't just do this once, and when the British caught on, she ended up doing it under fire. Were they cruel men trying to keep the wounded thirsty?
No, they weren't. The artillery manual of the time referred to the person as the "number one" who swabbed the recently-fired piece's barrel out with water to kill remaining sparks so that the number two, the loader, wouldn't kill himself ramming the charge into place. That's what Mary was after - she was fighting alongside her husband. And the pictures - not the one you posted, but others - that show her "loading" a cannon aren't showing that at all, they're showing her acting as number one and swabbing it out with the water she'd brought.
You won't find this in any article on the incident of which I am aware, most of which were written after the fact by persons who assumed she was acting in the "proper" role for a woman of caring for the wounded, which she certainly did do after the battle. But Mary - Molly - was a fighter, and ought to be honored for it. As anyone ought to, male or female, who takes fire for our freedom.
I am not enthusiastic about women in the front lines, nor would I expect any man to be so. But as someone pointed out earlier, there are very seldom front lines these days. Most of the women killed in the first Gulf War were rocketed in barracks by a Scud well behind the "lines." We don't have to like it to do it, and in fact there isn't a great deal about war I do like.
Artillery Units can award the "Molly Pitcher Award" to women that have contributed to the Field Artillery "community." My friend Nancy, who was the wife of one of our artillery unit First Sergeants, has this award. :)
ARTILLERY ORDER OF MOLLY PITCHER. The award authority for the Artillery Order of Molly Pitcher is decentralized to the Field Artillery commanders, Lieutenant Colonel or above. Such commanders may approve the award for individuals in their communities. When there is no such Field Artillery commander available, the Commanding General of the United States Army Field Artillery Center and Fort Sill is the approving authority for the Artillery Order of Molly Pitcher. The Artillery Order of Molly Pitcher recognizes individuals who have voluntarily contributed in a significant way to the improvement of the Field Artillery Community.
http://www.usfaa.com/awards/
My husband (God Bless his America-Loving Civilian Heart!) was awarded 'The Commander's Award for Public Service.' I roped him into running a Mess Hall for me one summer when I ran a summer camp for kids that had parents overseas for Operation Desert Storm. He was a professional chef at the time, so he knew what he was doing. He displays his award proudly in his office, as he should! (He really saved my bacon that week, LOL!)