Holmstedt - Soul survivors: stories of wounded women warriors and the battles they fight long after theyve left the war zone

SOUL SURVIVORS

SOUL SURVIVORS

Stories of Wounded Women Warriors and the Battles They Fight Long After Theyve Left the War Zone

Kirsten Holmstedt

STACKPOLE BOOKS

Lanham Boulder New York London

Copyright 2016 by Kirsten Holmstedt

Published by Stackpole Books

An imprint of Globe Pequot

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Printed in the United States of America

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First edition

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Holmstedt, Kirsten A., author.

Title: Soul survivors : stories of wounded women warriors and the battles they fight long after theyve left the war zone / Kirsten Holmstedt.

Other titles: Stories of wounded women warriors and the battles they fight long after theyve left the war zone

Description: Mechanicsburg, PA : Stackpole Books, [2016] | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015048240 | ISBN 9780811713795

Subjects: LCSH: Women veteransUnited StatesBiography. | Women soldiersUnited StatesBiography. | Disabled veteransUnited StatesBiography. | Rape in the militaryUnited States. | Iraq War, 2003-2011WomenUnited StatesBiography. | Afghan War, 2001-WomenUnited StatesBiography.

Classification: LCC U52 .H65 2016 | DDC 362.1092/6970973dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015048240

for Lauren Korn, Lisa Pratt,

and all the others in the health care community

who listen to our stories and help us to heal

There is no honor in suffering.

a female Marine

Introduction

More women are serving in the U.S. military and seeing combat than ever before. Since the militarys ban on women serving in combat was lifted in 2013, numerous frontline positions have opened up to women, and before that, many women saw combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the battlefield did not always follow Pentagon policy. The Department of Veteran Affairs expects female veterans to number more than two millionclose to 10 percent of the veteran populationby 2020.

Because more women are serving today, they are at greater risk for the same physical and emotional wounds as the men, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), military sexual trauma (MST), suicide, and homelessness. But though men and women confront similar issues after military service, there are differences. For example, PTSD and TBI present themselves differently in women than in men. According to the VA, some PTSD symptoms are more common in women than men. Women are more likely to be jumpy, to have more trouble feeling emotions, and to avoid things that remind them of the trauma than men, who are more likely to feel angry and to have trouble controlling their anger. Women with PTSD are more likely to feel depressed and anxious while men with PTSD are more likely to have problems with alcohol or drugs.

While one in four homeless people is a veteran, the fastest-growing segment of the homeless veteran population appears to be women, many of whom have children. Statistically, female veterans are between two and four times as likely as their civilian counterparts to become homeless, according to recent studies. And if theyre young and black, those chances seem to rise. According to Lily Casura, a journalist who was awarded a grant to report on homeless women veterans, While America might recognize an older, Vietnam-era white male as representative of veteran homelessness, it can miss the new face of veteran homelessness in the shadowsincreasingly young, black, female, a recent veteran, often a single mother, with children in tow. Even male veterans are shocked to hear how common a problem precarious housing is for their sister comrades. Because they havent seen her holding up a cardboard sign at an intersection, panhandling for change or sleeping out in the open, they mistakenly assumeas most of America doesthat women veterans arent going homeless.

Problems such as these show the enormous need for healing after war and military service in general. In this book, I explore the ways our female service members are embracing their trauma and post-traumatic growth and the ways they have committed to their healing. Sometimes the agent of healing is physical, sometimes emotional, sometimes both. There is a mystery to healing. No one knows when or where it will begin or even how long it will take.

Women veterans go to counseling and take medicine to help themselves heal. Theres nothing surprising here. In fact, most, if not all, have at least tried counseling and medicine. Those are often, though not always, the first steps in the process toward healing. Some women stay the course with counseling and medicine because it has worked. But many have branched out, often at the suggestion of a counselor, to try different coping skills. Lets face it: when it comes to healing, one size does not fit all. Different approaches work for different people. And more often than not, it takes a variety of activities and people to help someone heal. All the women in this book are warriors who have been challenged physically and emotionally by war or sexual assault, and they have emerged stronger and wiser. They became aware of their challenges and at some point chose to face them head on. These women, against many odds, have chosen to embark on the painful yet rewarding journey of post-traumatic growth.

In order to see the recovery process that has taken place, the reader is first transported back to the early emotional and physical challenges the vets faced. Then you will see the bravery and the resiliency they used to transform and reclaim their lives. For some the road is direct and smooth, but thats seldom the case. The road to healing is long, hard, messy and incomplete, said Vietnam veteran Linda McClenahan. The book begins with Jen Elliott, a young woman who has just returned from war and has had very little time to address her health needs. As the book progresses, the women have been back for a longer period of time, from conflicts such as Desert Storm and Vietnam; these veterans have the experience of years guiding them.

While this book has to focus on trauma to show the healing that is needed, its what happens when they return that I want you to focus on. Its what the military and VA did and did not do for them. Its about the resources that are, or must be, available. Its about what the women did for themselves, for ultimately, healing comes from within. The individual must have the will power and desire to heal. Then the community of people and resources can benefit the individual.

My hope is that women who have served will read these stories and find affirmation to help themselves. These remarkable examples of resurrection from the ashes of pain and suffering have much to teach not only women who have served, but men as well. The women in Soul Survivors , having emerged from the crucible of trauma with resilience, courage, and compassion, have much to show all Americans, who want to help veterans but dont always understand their problems or know how to assist. Its our turn now to learn from them so that others can find their way home.

Trial and Error: The Early Stages of Healing

SPC Jen Elliott

I met Jen Elliott at a restaurant in Sacramento, California. I arrived first. When Elliott walked in, her petite frame, blonde hair, and girlish looks reminded me just how young she was: twenty-two. She was out of the Army now and dressed in civilian clothes. Nothing about her features or clothing screamed soldier, yet I knew Elliott was the warrior I was waiting for because of the tattoo that covered the top half of her chest. Yes, it was that visible. And it had a clear military look to it. Sure enough, the tattoo tells a story, as they so often do with soldiers who endure a war zone: the story of pain and of healing.