Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Leigh Ann Hester

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. (non-admin closure) Tim Song (talk) 01:11, 11 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Leigh Ann Hester[edit]

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While I have the highest regard for all our men and women in military service, it has already been established that the Silver Star, as only the third highest award for valor in the order of precedence, is not considered notable in of itself to be suitable criteria for an article on Wikipedia. The fact that Sgt. Hester is female does not change this fact. She is a soldier and we need to make uniform standards for inclusion. Rapier1 (talk) 17:19, 2 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Keep - I don't have access to deleted articles and it's unfortunate that (if I'm interpreting your talk page correctly) the article about your father, who was also a Silver Star recipient, was deleted (is that policy written down somewhere?), but in fact Sergeant Hester's gender is exactly what makes her notable. --CliffC (talk) 18:21, 2 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Strong Keep. Being the first woman to receive the Silver Star since World War II most certainly makes her a notable and well-known war hero of the Iraq War! -- Evans1982 (talk) 19:12, 2 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I don't deny their heroism, in fact, I firmly believe that the Silver Star should be a notable award in of itself (Let's reopen that debate in fact). Having been shouted down on this point, however, I don't agree with the fact that these brave young ladies' gender is enough to make them notable. If the award itself isn't notable, then being the first woman to win it can't be considered notable according to WP:N. It's unfortunate that if these ladies had posed for Playboy they'd merit an article (but as national heroes they don't) and I lament the screwed up societal values that Wikipedia adheres to, but the policies are clearly stated. Being the first woman to win a non-notable award in any given conflict does not make one notable. Rapier1 (talk) 19:41, 2 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Comment - this Google News Search turns up 192 hits for her. Although it's a given that her gender is what's responsible for so many articles, this amount of news coverage alone makes her notable. --CliffC (talk) 19:57, 2 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Keep The world media has spoken: The fact that she is a female who received the Silver Star is notable in their eyes. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 03:52, 3 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This AfD nomination was incomplete (missing step 3). It is listed now. DumbBOT (talk) 16:31, 4 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Keep - seeing as though the Silver Star is given to soldiers in combat, and women in the US military are not directly in combat units, these women are unique recipients. Jauerback^dude?/_dude. 17:34, 4 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep: The subject is definitely notable. I'd recommend that the nominator avoid nominating articles that involved Silver Star recipients for deletion because of his conflict of interest. This could potentially be seen as bad faith nominations in retaliation for his Dad's article that was deleted. It seems the nominator is nominating in good faith though, I am just warning of a potential perception.--TParis00ap (talk) 21:40, 4 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This debate has been included in the list of Military-related deletion discussions. —AustralianRupert (talk) 01:57, 5 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep, passes notability per WP:ANYBIO, WP:BIO#Basic criteria, & WP:GNG. --RightCowftCoast (talk) 03:41, 5 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep Leigh Ann Hester's notability is unquestionable, really. The Silver Star isn't the Medal of Honor, but it's no trivial award, either, and there aren't that many female Silver Star recipients around. It's quite an achievement, especially considering that the military still bars women from many combat assignments at this time. Methychroma (talk) 20:11, 5 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep per Davidwr. With the de facto relegation of the Medal of Honor to a posthumous award, the Silver Star is almost second only to the Distinguished Service Cross and her equals (Navy Cross and Air Force Cross) for those who survive the action. (The Distinguished Service Medals are higher in precedence, but are "end of tour" awards for high ranking officers, not combat decorations. The sources are there and the uniqueness of an award of this level to a female is itself notable. Bradjamesbrown (talk) 15:20, 9 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Keep - In my opinion, she passes WP:ANYBIO. There certainly seems to be enough reliable, non-trivial coverage of her to merit inclusion. Cocytus [»talk«] 23:26, 9 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.