thedrifter
09-17-09, 07:53 AM
MILITARY: Book chronicles women at war and in its aftermath
Author of 'Girls Come Marching Home' to appear at Miramar, Camp Pendleton
MARK WALKER - mlwalker@nctimes.com | Posted: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 11:00 pm
Marine Sgt. Shannon Evans is closing the book on her military career Thursday, a little more than three years from the day she came close to being blown up in a roadside bombing in Iraq.
Her story of that incident and how she came to join the Marine Corps after her mother was slain is one of a dozen told in "The Girls Come Marching Home," a 308-page work that chronicles how female troops cope with lingering stress, family issues and their careers when they return from war.
The book was written by Kirsten Holmstedt and is a sequel to her "Band of Sisters: American Women at War in Iraq," many of whom wound up in combat situations despite the military's ban on women on the front lines.
"I didn't write these books because the experiences of women are any better or worse than men, but because I wanted people to realize women are in combat over there and they come home facing the same kinds of struggles that many men do," Holmstedt said Wednesday in a phone interview.
She will be at the Main Exchange at Miramar from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday and at the Country Store at Camp Pendleton from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday.
"I think this latest book is a great tool for family members and friends of people who are sent to war and then come back with feelings that they'd still rather be over there helping their buddies," said Holmstedt, who was a writing student living near North Carolina's Camp Lejeune when she wrote her first book. "Women have those same feelings, yet oftentimes they come home and are right back caring for their children. It's a struggle for many."
The chapter on Evans tells how at age 17 she had to cope with her mother being shot to death and how her life began to spiral out of control from binge drinking. She eventually found herself in a recruiter's office and decided to follow her older brother's path and join the Marine Corps.
Trained as a military policewoman, Evans was deployed to Iraq in 2006 and was part of a team providing security for an explosive disposal team and conducting roadway reconnaissance.
On Aug. 19, she was in a vehicle that triggered a roadside bomb in the Anbar province northwest of Baghdad.
The blast tore the Kevlar vest from her body, but she escaped major injury despite the bomb destroying the vehicle.
A month later, Evans was back at Miramar, where for several weeks she would drive in the middle of the road out of fear she would trigger another roadside bomb.
"It was difficult and the book brings home the issues that I and many women face when they go to war and then come home but are still emotionally attached to being over there," Evans said. "When you come back, there's a whole different adjustment period."
Holmstedt ends the book with a brief description of the post-Iraq deployment combat stress experienced by Camp Pendleton Sgt. Maj. Irene O'Neal, who served with a combat infantry unit in Fallujah in 2005 that saw six of its troops killed.
As sergeant major, O'Neal was among the first notified when anyone was hurt or killed and she spent a lot of time with wounded troops before they shipped out.
"It's tough," she told Holmstedt. "You think about it when you are there and it happens, but you don't dwell on it. You think, 'What do I have to do now?' You keep pressing on. Then you come home, and that's when it all starts."
The book is available for $18.45 at Amazon.com. For more information, see Holmstedt's Web site at www.girlscomemarchinghome.com
Call staff writer Mark Walker at 760-740-3529.
Ellie
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/nctimes.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/6/53/4fd/6534fd9e-abde-5990-a555-35eee303b705.preview-300.jpg?_dc=1253167570
Author of 'Girls Come Marching Home' to appear at Miramar, Camp Pendleton
MARK WALKER - mlwalker@nctimes.com | Posted: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 11:00 pm
Marine Sgt. Shannon Evans is closing the book on her military career Thursday, a little more than three years from the day she came close to being blown up in a roadside bombing in Iraq.
Her story of that incident and how she came to join the Marine Corps after her mother was slain is one of a dozen told in "The Girls Come Marching Home," a 308-page work that chronicles how female troops cope with lingering stress, family issues and their careers when they return from war.
The book was written by Kirsten Holmstedt and is a sequel to her "Band of Sisters: American Women at War in Iraq," many of whom wound up in combat situations despite the military's ban on women on the front lines.
"I didn't write these books because the experiences of women are any better or worse than men, but because I wanted people to realize women are in combat over there and they come home facing the same kinds of struggles that many men do," Holmstedt said Wednesday in a phone interview.
She will be at the Main Exchange at Miramar from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday and at the Country Store at Camp Pendleton from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday.
"I think this latest book is a great tool for family members and friends of people who are sent to war and then come back with feelings that they'd still rather be over there helping their buddies," said Holmstedt, who was a writing student living near North Carolina's Camp Lejeune when she wrote her first book. "Women have those same feelings, yet oftentimes they come home and are right back caring for their children. It's a struggle for many."
The chapter on Evans tells how at age 17 she had to cope with her mother being shot to death and how her life began to spiral out of control from binge drinking. She eventually found herself in a recruiter's office and decided to follow her older brother's path and join the Marine Corps.
Trained as a military policewoman, Evans was deployed to Iraq in 2006 and was part of a team providing security for an explosive disposal team and conducting roadway reconnaissance.
On Aug. 19, she was in a vehicle that triggered a roadside bomb in the Anbar province northwest of Baghdad.
The blast tore the Kevlar vest from her body, but she escaped major injury despite the bomb destroying the vehicle.
A month later, Evans was back at Miramar, where for several weeks she would drive in the middle of the road out of fear she would trigger another roadside bomb.
"It was difficult and the book brings home the issues that I and many women face when they go to war and then come home but are still emotionally attached to being over there," Evans said. "When you come back, there's a whole different adjustment period."
Holmstedt ends the book with a brief description of the post-Iraq deployment combat stress experienced by Camp Pendleton Sgt. Maj. Irene O'Neal, who served with a combat infantry unit in Fallujah in 2005 that saw six of its troops killed.
As sergeant major, O'Neal was among the first notified when anyone was hurt or killed and she spent a lot of time with wounded troops before they shipped out.
"It's tough," she told Holmstedt. "You think about it when you are there and it happens, but you don't dwell on it. You think, 'What do I have to do now?' You keep pressing on. Then you come home, and that's when it all starts."
The book is available for $18.45 at Amazon.com. For more information, see Holmstedt's Web site at www.girlscomemarchinghome.com
Call staff writer Mark Walker at 760-740-3529.
Ellie
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/nctimes.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/6/53/4fd/6534fd9e-abde-5990-a555-35eee303b705.preview-300.jpg?_dc=1253167570