Supergirl debuted this week on CBS to heavy publicity and high ratings.

“I don’t think it’s a new thing that women are powerful,” Ali Adler, an executive producer of Supergirl, told The New York Times. “I think we’re all finally in agreement that we’re not going to keep this a secret anymore.”

Women are indeed powerful, but if that’s still a “secret,” it’s Hollywood and the mainstream media that should be the first to apologize. While women have sacrificed for many years to preserve truth, justice and the American way, our country’s post-9/11 conflicts should leave no doubt that real-life Supergirls are all around us.

Over the last five years, I have met and spoken with some of the strongest young women that America has to offer. Some have worn a uniform; some have fallen in love with their real-life Superman. This Halloween, all are worthy of wearing honorary Supergirl costumes.

Jennifer Loredo was a U.S. Army master sergeant serving in Afghanistan when she learned that her husband, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Eddie Loredo, had been severely wounded in a different part of the war zone. When she arrived at his bedside, Eddie had already passed away. Moments later, Jennifer was on a plane with her husband’s flag-draped casket, trying to figure out how she would share the devastating news with her kids.

“I did have a huge fear of telling my children,” Jennifer told me in 2013. “But I got through it.”

Jennifer not only returned as the loving mother that her children desperately needed, but as a soldier who devoted herself to helping fellow American heroes deal with tragedy and grief. To this day, I am astonished by her courage.

U.S. Army Master Sgt. Jennifer Loredo.

While millions dress up as ghosts for Halloween, Kristi Pearson is still haunted by the ghosts of Christmas past. Her husband, U.S. Army Pfc. Andrew Nelson, was killed in Iraq on Christmas Day in 2006. On that fateful holiday, Kristi became a widow at age 19.

“All of this was a giant blur to me,” Kristi told me in 2011. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

In the years to follow, Kristi would mourn and eventually remarry. Her second husband — also a soldier — deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. Within days of Christmas, Kristi learned that her husband had been injured.

Thankfully, Kristi’s second husband would return from the war zone. But each and every Christmas, Kristi reflects on a loss, and the fear of a second loss, that few could imagine.

“It’s always there, and I always think about it,” she said.

U.S. Army widow Kristi Pearson.

More than 14 years after the dawn of war in Afghanistan, Maj. Lisa Jaster became the first female U.S. Army reservist to graduate from Ranger School. As reported by Capt. Olivia Cobiskey, Maj. Jaster isn’t just a warrior. She’s the caring mother of two young children.

“I want [my children] to know that their parents weren’t afraid to try hard and do something more,” Jaster told Cobiskey.

U.S. Army Maj. Lisa Jaster and her daughter.

My 4-year-old daughter isn’t old enough to watch Supergirl. When she reaches the proper age, however, I plan to highlight the difference between fictional female heroes like Supergirl and real-life role models like Lisa Jaster, Kristi Pearson and Jennifer Loredo. With so many stories of heroic American women at our fingertips, I hope fellow parents will consider sharing them with the next generation of Supergirls.

Tom Sileo is a senior editor of The Stream and co-author of Brothers Forever: The Enduring Bond between a Marine and a Navy SEAL that Transcended their Ultimate Sacrifice.