Milunka Savić was born on June 28, 1888, in the village of Koprivnica, Serbia. She was one of the few women who actively fought in the Great War and would go on to become one of the most decorated women in military history.

There aren’t really any records of her family background or her childhood, but she had a brother because she joined the Serbian military in 1912 posing as a man to take his place. There are claims that she did this so he wouldn’t have to serve.

Milunka wanted to see active duty, and women were only allowed to be medical staff at that time. She soon got plenty of action, fighting in both Balkan Wars with a unit known as the Iron Regiment, and was promoted to Corporal.

She was wounded at the Battle of Bregalnica in the second war by a Bulgarian grenade and it was the field surgeons who discovered that she was, in fact, a woman.

She recovered, but the high-ranking officers wondered what to do with her. She was a brilliant soldier, so punishment wasn’t an option, and the military deployment that resulted in her gender reveal was her tenth deployment. They decided to offer her a transfer to nursing, which she refused. According to records, she was standing at attention and said she wanted to fight battles for her country and would only accept active service. The officer facing her said he’d think it over and give her an answer the next day. Still standing at attention, she reportedly said: “I will wait”. He only made her wait for an hour before giving her the green light and another chance at fighting.

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