Melissa Coleman was born on March 9, 1970, in Newaygo, Michigan. She enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 8, 1988, and after attending basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, from September to November 1988, she was trained as a heavy vehicle driver at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, from November 1988 to February 1989. Her first assignment was as a driver with the 233rd Transportation Company at Fort Bliss, Texas, from February 1989 to October 1990, and then deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm from October 1990 until she was captured and taken as a Prisoner of War by Iraqi soldiers on January 30, 1991. After spending 35 days in captivity, SPC Coleman (then Rathbun-Nealy) was released on March 5, 1991. After recuperating from her injuries, she served as a heavy vehicle driver at Fort Hood, Texas, from August 1992 until she left active duty on November 3, 1993. SPC Coleman received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army Reserve on June 25, 1996. Melissa Coleman holds the distinction of being the first enlisted female Prisoner of War in United States military history.