rank in Corps history.
She had won the All-Marine Combatives Championship three times, in 2012, 2014,
and 2016, gold medals each time. In the close combat community, she had a
nickname. They called her the Sickle because of the way she moved on the mat and
because of what happened in the 2016 final.
That final had been written up in Marine Corps Times, a two-page spread with
photographs. The headline read, "The scar that won gold." Her opponent had
broken the rules, pulled a tactical knife mid-match, slashed Whitney's right arm
from shoulder to elbow before the referees could pull him off.
Whitney had finished the match anyway with one arm bleeding through her white
gi. And she had won. The scar was crescent-shaped, long, pale against her dark skin.
Anyone who had served in MCMAP knew exactly what that scar meant.
Anyone who had followed the championship circuit knew exactly whose arm it
belonged to. Which is why Whitney kept it covered. She had retired in 2018 on