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She watched Marines honor her cousin at his funeral. Years later, she became a Marine Corps general!
Her name is Lauren Edwards. She is a brigadier general in the Marine Corps.
She grew up in Smiths Grove, Kentucky. About 714 people live there. She grew up with two siblings. Her elders helped raise her. Everybody looked out for everybody in Smiths Grove, Kentucky!
Marine recruiters visited her high school often, and they had a high success rate.
A cousin’s funeral changed everything for her. Her Marine cousin was killed in a training accident. At his funeral, she saw his funeral. She saw their loyalty, respect, and dignity.
A civics teacher named Bill Utley also groomed her for the military. He told her and her class there was more to the world than Smiths Grove. Everyone owed something to our world.
At George Washington University, she ran track on a scholarship. She planned to go into sports broadcasting.
The Marine Corps called instead. After boot camp, she went to Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Va. She graduated first, with honors, in August 1998, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.
She chose combat engineering as her MOS and began that training at Courthouse Bay, Camp Lejeune.
She graduated as an honors graduate of the Combat Engineer Officer’s Course, winning the leadership award.
Then came September 11, 2001. She already had orders to Yuma, Arizona.
She heard about the attack that Tuesday morning. She knew everything had changed. Her unit was one of the first on the list for deployment to Iraq. A couple of months later, it began. When she arrived in Iraq, she remembers children throwing flowers at convoys. Then one convoy changed everything. They were traveling through Tikrit and Baghdad when they were ambushed by an enormous enemy force. The small arms and artillery fire was intense. It was her first firefight... she called it an out-of-body experience.
Time stopped mattering. "It was all about the Marines on your left and right.”
She earned an award for valor; she told her story in the book Why Marines Fight.
She deployed again in 2008.
She completed three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
She served as a company commander.
In the years that followed, she served as operations officer for the 8th Engineer Support Battalion. She taught as an Officer Candidate School instructor.
She served as an Information Operations Officer.
In September 2015, she became a lieutenant colonel. On November 30, 2015, she took command of the 8th Engineer Support Battalion. She became the first woman ever to do so.
She said she wanted to model leadership for men and women alike.
Then she became Senior Military Advisor to the Secretary of the Navy.
In November 2024, she was nominated for Brigadier General. She graduated from Expeditionary Warfare School with honors.
In June 2026, she took command of 2nd Marine Logistics Group.
A girl who watched Marines honor her cousin. She is now a decorated Brigadier General who leads Marines.
