Saying goodbye, Tears in our eyes, It was hard listening to everyone's collective cries. Hoping I don't die, And that the deployment would Continue Reading
Today is Rare Disease Day!
Today is one of my favorite days because it allows me to talk about my children and humanize their differences and disabilities to the general Continue Reading
Free Postage
Pack light! Only bring the essentials. It’s about surviving and staying mission ready. Only bring what you can carry, or risk throwing away Continue Reading
Unexpected Lessons in a Combat Zone
Editor's note: Photo information at end of the article. Don't worry. You'll be safe. Women don't go into combat." My husband assured me as I lay Continue Reading
For Veterans, Parents, and More: The Personal Benefits of Group Therapy
As a female veteran as well as being the mother to two children with special needs, I find it hard to connect with the world around me. I can't relate Continue Reading
OPERATION MOUNTAIN STORM
Long hot days and short, lonely nights,each day is just the same.Time is slowly passing by. No news from home, no books to read,nothing but the Continue Reading
Shadows
I look around and see strange places once familiar to me. Driving down streets long forgotten, I feel memories resurfacing, clouding my Continue Reading
Just a Dream
If I die in this godforsaken country, I swear that I will come back and haunt somebody! I think to myself as the sound of my heart beating frantically Continue Reading
Operation Mountain Storm 2004: The Forgotten Female Searchers
A surprise mandatory meeting was held for all the female service members, officers, and enlisted alike, already deployed with the 22nd Marine Continue Reading
I Am a Million Voices
Illustration by Anna Trevathan Inspired by Crystal Bayat _________ I am a million voices. The voices of scared Afghan women whose dreams Continue Reading
My First Engagement with the Enemy
I don't always know what will trigger a flashback of my deployment to Afghanistan, but today, it happened to be the song at the end of the 2020 Mulan Continue Reading
The Taliban Do Not Represent Afghan Culture
This first appeared in The Havok Journal on September 22, 2021. I have a request. Hear me out. Please stop saying, "Well, that's just their Continue Reading