General Murdock had just sworn in Wilhelmina as a 1st Lieutenant in the United States Army's Signal Corps, making her at seventeen, the youngest female officer in the United States Army. She was being honored for her undaunted heroism in the skies over the North Atlantic. At great risk to herself, she had taken out four German U-boats with her very unique and accurate bombing techniques. Her courage had been passed down to her from her famous father, Colonel William Broderick Simpson III, Medal of Honor winner and the most famous living warrior in the United States Military. For her actions, she more than qualified for that great honor herself. The United States Congress however, would not award the medal to an underage woman who had still been a civilian when she had performed her great acts of patriotism and courage. Wilhelmina's medal would not come until years later.