Engaged in battle, she sustained wounds and it was only then, when recovering from her injuries in hospital, that her true gender was revealed, much to the surprise of the attending physicians.

"[5] In 1914, in the early days of World War I, Savić was awarded her first Karađorđe Star with Swords after the Battle of Kolubara.

She received her second Karađorđe Star (with Swords) after the Battle of the Crna Bend in 1916 when she captured 23 Bulgarian soldiers single-handedly.

[6] She was the sole female recipient of the French Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 with the gold palm attribute for service in World War I.

She was demobilised in 1919,[7] and turned down an offer to move to France, where she was eligible to collect a comfortable French army pension.

[8] By the late 1950s her daughter was hospitalized, and she was living in a crumbling house in Voždovac with her three adopted children:[9] Milka, a forgotten child from the railway station in Stalac; Radmila-Višnja; and Zorka, a fatherless girl from Dalmatia.

[9] In 1972, public pressure and a newspaper article highlighting her difficult housing and financial situation led to her being given a small apartment by the Belgrade City Assembly.

[10] A memorial complex with a permanent exhibition devoted to Milunka Savić was opened in October 2020 in Jošanička Banja.