Lindsey Schmidt spent nine years in the Army, including time accompanying Green Berets on missions in Iraq. Now the veteran nicknamed “Xena” is slipping into red lipstick and stilettos to tell a different side of her story.
The Virginia resident is now appearing in the Pin-Ups For Vets’ 21st annual fundraiser calendar for 2027, which features 13 female veterans from across the country photographed in vintage styles.
“The whole reason I even joined the military was because of ‘Saving Private Ryan,'” Schmidt told Fox News Digital. “So it was a full-circle moment to go back into that World War II era. And it’s so great to see a spotlight on female veterans in this way, especially highlighting femininity.”
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“I know a lot of us don’t feel super feminine when we’re in uniform, but to be a part of this group of women who are so accomplished and have been through a lot of obstacles and challenges, it’s really special to be a part of it,” Schmidt added.
The award-winning nonprofit, founded in 2006 by California resident Gina Elise, raises money to support hospitalized and deployed troops. It produces World War II-inspired bombshell calendars featuring veterans as models. Elise previously told Fox News Digital she was inspired by Hollywood actress Betty Grable, whose swimsuit snap was distributed to GIs during World War II.
Proceeds from the calendar support hospital visits, care packages for deployed troops, ongoing donations of rehabilitation equipment to VA hospitals, and goods for homeless veterans and those transitioning to housing.
To date, Pin-Ups For Vets has donated nearly $140,000 worth of rehab equipment to veterans and military hospitals, according to the organization. It has also visited more than 25,000 ill and injured veterans at their bedsides in more than 135 hospitals and state veterans’ homes.
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Growing up, Schmidt said she was always deeply patriotic. But after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, she knew she wanted to serve in what she called “the war of my generation.” She went on to serve as an Arabic linguist and interrogator.
“I actually wanted to learn Russian first,” Schmidt said with a laugh. “I thought Russian just sounded cool. But it was 2002, and we needed Arabic. So I went with Arabic. And I’m so glad now that I did.”
Schmidt soon learned that earning her place wouldn’t come easy.
“It was very divided,” she explained. “Initially, I wasn’t even supposed to go on deployment. They told me no many, many times, but I am persistent and creative. I found a way to get myself onto the deployment. And there were definitely mixed reactions. Some of them saw the value in my skill set. Some of them just thought it was more risk than it was worth.”
“Some of them told me to my face, ‘You don’t belong here. We don’t want any females,’ which isn’t fun to hear, but I appreciated that because at least I knew where I stood with those guys,” she recalled. “The other ones who were nice, I was just like, ‘I’m not sure what your angle is here,’ but I kept my head down. I worked hard. I didn’t cause any drama. And after a little while, the guys that were opposed to having me there, they all came around eventually.”
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Schmidt said she deployed to Iraq as the only woman in her battalion, where not everyone believed she belonged. But then suddenly, one soldier who had been outspoken about not wanting her there asked to borrow her helmet. Hours later, he returned it with “Xena” painted across the back — a nod to the legendary warrior princess.
Schmidt later learned the nickname had quietly spread among the troops after they watched her accompany Green Berets on missions while many remained at the forward operating base. At that moment, she said, she knew she had earned their respect and been accepted as one of the team.
“Being the only female to accompany the guys on the missions, it was an adventure,” she said. “It felt very validating to be able to go out as one of the team members. The objective was always clear before I went on, but getting to go inside and actually getting intel from women and children that they weren’t able to otherwise, it felt really cool.”
“I would go out on missions with the ODAs, those are the teams of Green Berets, and they separate the women and children from the men,” she said. “And our guys, culturally, are not able to talk to the women. And so, by having a female on the objective, I could speak to them, and I could ask them about their husbands and what’s really going on behind the scenes and gather intelligence that the guys would not have access to otherwise.”
Schmidt said Iraqi women were curious about the female American soldier who was armed yet spoke their language. They would quickly recognize her.
“They just started rattling off Arabic, asking me a million questions,” Schmidt recalled. “Like, ‘We know you speak Arabic. We know you have this information. Talk to us. What’s going on?’ There was a lot of curiosity, a lot of hesitance. But I think they may saw that, ‘Hey, if you talk to me, I can help your situation. If you don’t talk to me, there’s nothing I can do for you.'”
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One interrogation still vividly stands out to Schmidt.
On missions, Schmidt was almost unrecognizable. Clad in full combat gear with her hair pulled back in a tight bun, she accompanied Green Berets on the field. But inside the interrogation room, she traded her uniform for civilian clothes.
“This particular mission, I was there,” Schmidt recalled. “I saw the guy being detained.”
During the interrogation, Schmidt asked the detainee to explain how he had been captured. He launched into what Schmidt said she knew was a fabricated story.
“That’s not how you were detained,” she told him. “Tell me the truth.”
He just smirked.
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Then Schmidt reached up and pulled back her hair.
“Imagine no hair,” she said. “Imagine me in uniform. I was there.”
Schmidt said the man’s eyes widened. He instantly recognized the interrogator who had witnessed his capture.
“I kind of enjoyed that,” she said. “And then, the rest of the questioning went a little bit different after that.”
Asked what Americans take for granted, Schmidt didn’t hesitate.
“Everything.”
That is the message she hopes to carry now as a model.
“Our freedom, our ability, especially for women, especially coming back from the Middle East, just being able to drive by myself, vote, get a job, have a mortgage and credit cards, that I do not take for granted,” she explained. “Just basic comforts of being at home. People complain about things, and I just roll my eyes now, thinking we have it so good; you guys don’t even understand. But I think just appreciating the opportunities we have.”
“The opportunity is the largest one for me,” she continued. “We can be anyone we want to be, we can go anywhere we want to go, do what we want to do, and not everyone in the world has that freedom. Just being able to do anything that I want to do without a man. I can go about my life, and I do not need a male guardian there with me to do it. I think a lot of women here don’t understand what life is really like for others. I’m grateful that I had exposure to it, so that it all makes me more appreciative.”
