Woman Struggle for Acceptance After Combat: What Happens When They Come Home?

According to Yahoo News, "Even near military bases, female veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan aren't often offered a drink on the house as a welcome home.More than 230,000 American women have fought in those recent wars and at least 120 have died doing so, yet the public still doesn't completely understand their contributions on the modern battlefield."

WOW

There are millions of women who give their lives each day for our safety and we can't even give them praise when they return, how is that patriotic?

Aimee Sherrod, an Air Force veteran who did three war tours, said years went by when she didn't tell people she was a veteran. After facing sexual harassment during two tours and mortar attacks in Iraq, the 29-year-old mother of two from Bells, Tenn., was medically discharged in 2005 with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Many young women who enlist in the military are often mistreated and report physical abuse while serving on the battlefield or behind the scenes.

"I just gave up on it and I didn't tell anyone about ever being in the military because I was so ashamed over everything," Sherrod said.

Why should she be ashamed? Why should she have to suffer because she wanted to defend her country? Where is the military pay for this young women who is now suffering from PTSD? Why is she not welcomed home with open arms with organizations pouring out for her to come speak to other young women who are veterans? Why are women treated unequally when they are doing the same thing as men in combat? What does this say?

Then Jo Eason, a Nashville, Tenn., lawyer working pro bono through the Lawyers Serving Warriors program, stepped in a few years later and Sherrod began taking home a heftier monthly disability payment.

"I've never regretted my military service, I'm glad I did it," Sherrod said. "I'm not ashamed of my service. I'm ashamed to try and tell people about it because it's like, well, why'd you get out? All the questions that come with it."

What can we do better for other young women in her position?

According to Yahoo News, "The Defense Department bars women from serving in assignments where the primary mission is to engage in direct ground combat. But the nature of the recent conflicts, with no clear front lines, puts women in the middle of the action, in roles such as military police officers, pilots, drivers and gunners on convoys. In addition to the 120-plus deaths, more than 650 women have been wounded."

WOW!

When women return from combat they face the same issues as do men, but the personal stakes are much greater.

Former Army Sgt. Kayla Williams, an Iraq veteran who has written about her experience, said she was surprised by the response she and other women from the 101st Airborne Division received from people in Clarksville, Tenn., near Fort Campbell, Ky.
She said residents just assumed they were girlfriends or wives of military men.

"People didn't come up to us and thank us for our service in the same way. They didn't give us free beers in bars in the same way when we first got back," said Williams, 34, of Ashburn, Va. "Even if you're vaguely aware of it, it still colors how you see yourself in some ways."

Does this deter women from defending the country in the military? Will this make women feel like even though they are out their defending their country, people only acknowledge the men in battle?

"We just want to know that when we come home, America has our back," Chase said. "That's the biggest thing. Women are over there. You want to feel like you're coming home to open arms, rather than to a public that doesn't acknowledge you for what you've just done and what you just sacrificed."

"What worries me is that women themselves still don't see themselves as veterans, so they don't get the care they need for post-traumatic stress syndrome or traumatic brain injury or even sexual assault, which obviously is more unique to women, so we still have a long ways to go," said Murray, D-Wash.

Chase said one challenge is getting female veterans to ask for changes.

"Most of us, because we were women service members, are so used to not complaining and not voicing our issues, because in the military that's considered weak. Nobody wants to hear the girl whine," Chase said.

My thoughts...

What does that say about our commitment to women in the military. Are we really trying to improve the conditions to make sure their safety is a major priority while they are over there serving their country. When they get home, do we make sure that their efforts and sacrifice were acknowledged, or do we sit back and let them fall by the wayside because they are "whining" because it was too difficult. I think that we need to re-evaluate our military system to make sure women are just as important as men, because they fight along side each other in wars, and should be acknowledged and praised as such.

What are your thoughts?

To Read more on this article, click here.

For More information on organizations that Support Women After War, Check out the Links Below

American Women Veterans: http://www.americanwomenveterans.com/

Lawyers Serving Warriors: http://www.lawyersservingwarriors.com/

Department of Veterans Affairs: http://www.va.gov/