Female Veterans Breaking Silence, Beating Trauma

Female Veterans Breaking Silence, Beating Trauma
by AMY TA

August 8, 2011
During a military mission in Afghanistan this weekend, a U.S. helicopter came under fire, crashing and killing eight Afghans and 30 U.S. servicemen. Twenty-two of the casualties were Navy SEALs.

Families are still trying to process the weekend's loss and deal with mental and emotional fallout from the nation's wars. And women have it particularly tough.

Significantly more women have served in the U.S. military in recent years, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Many of these women suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and other issues after their service ends.

U.S. Air Force veteran Lisa Bolling has survived military trauma, returned to a home on the streets, and is now coping with PTSD.

In an interview with Tell Me More guest host Allison Keyes, Bolling says that she first served at the Air Force base in Florida for two years, which was a wonderful experience.

But she wanted to see the world and thus got sent to Germany. She says she was assaulted by a male service member one month after arriving at the base in Germany.

"And six months later, I was pushed out of the military. I got eight letters of reprimand and two Article 15s because I didn't want to go back on the base. And I didn't feel like I could tell anyone. It was a tactical unit. It was very cold — strictly business," she explains.
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Female Veterans Breaking Silence Beating Trauma