Female veterans road home dotted with difficulty

The Girls Come Marching Home
In The Girls Come Marching Home, Author Kirsten Holmstedt tackles controversial issues head-on, from racism, sexual harassment, and drugs to the difficulties of getting treatment from the Veterans Administration. Capturing these women's unique voices, Holmsted lets them speak for themselves about their trials and tribulations, their hopes and dreams, their frustrations and achievements. Even as the Iraq War dies down, these stories will resonate for years to come.
http://girlscomemarchinghome.com/

Female veterans' road home dotted with difficultyBy Jeanette Steele
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. September 22, 2009


Since 2001, U.S. women went marching into war in ways never seen before. Serving in foreign lands, they frisked people at checkpoints, searched for bombs, drove trucks while under fire and emptied their weapons against their enemies.

More than 225,350 female service members have been deployed for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, representing 11 percent of the total number of U.S. troops.

At least 765 of them have been killed or wounded since 2001, mostly in Iraq. Some are household names, such as Jessica Lynch, who was a 19-year-old Army supply clerk when she was captured in Iraq in March 2003. Lynch's subsequent rescue received widespread media coverage.

Most of the women marched home quietly and are trying to remake their lives, battle scars and all. The wounds are physical, mental and emotional.

Marine Sgt. Shannon Evans, a military policewoman, still deals with traumatic memories after being injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

Navy Cmdr. Lenora Langlais, a surgical nurse wounded when bombs hit her base in Iraq, has tried to remain stoic despite grappling with her own wartime horrors.

These women are among four San Diego County residents profiled in a new book about the battlefield and homecoming experiences of female warriors.
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Female veterans road home dotted with difficulty


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