The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq
Search in google:
More women soldiers are fighting in Iraq than in any other American war in history, yet they face a dual challenge: they are participating in combat more than ever before, but because only one in ten soldiers is female, they are often painfully alone. This isolation, along with a military culture hostile to women, denies them the camaraderie soldiers depend on for survival and subjects them to sexual persecution by their comrades. As one soldier said, “I ended up waging my own war against an enemy dressed in the same uniform as mine.”In The Lonely Soldier, Benedict humanizes the complex issues of war, misogyny, class, race, homophobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and more through the compelling stories of five women of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds who served in Iraq between 2003 and 2006. By following these women from their childhoods through enlistment, training, active duty in Iraq, and home again, Benedict vividly brings to life their struggles and challenges. Between their stories she weaves in accounts from numerous other Iraq War veterans, illuminating the wrenching and private war of female soldiers.Benedict ends by showing how these women came to face the truth of war and by offering suggestions for how the military can improve—including distributing women more evenly and rejecting male recruits with records of domestic or sexual violence. The American Prospect When the sexual assault rates among female veterans are so astronomically high -- at least 30, and as high as 70 percent, according to Helen Benedict, author of the new book The Lonely Soldier -- the "combat" classification becomes a moot point. Keep in mind that sexual assault is a hugely underreported crime; even the Pentagon admits that only 10 to 20 percent of cases are probably being reported.
1 The Lonely Soldier 1Part 1 Before2 From Girl to Soldier: Life before the Military 133 They Break You Down, Then Build You Back Up Mickiela Montoya 374 They Told Us We Were Going to Be Peacekeepers Jennifer Spranger 575 The Assault Was Just One Bad Person, but It Was a Turning Point for Me Abbie Pickett 656 These Morons Are Going to Get Us Killed Terris Dewalt-Johnson 737 This War Is Full of Crazy People Eli PaintedCrow 79Part 2 War8 It's Pretty Much Just You and Your Rifle Jennifer Spranger 939 You're Just Lying There Waiting to See Who's Going to Die Abbie Pickett 12310 You Become Hollow, Like a Robot Eli Painted Crow 14911 I Wasn't Carrying the Knife For the Enemy, I Was Carrying It for the Guys on My Own Side Mickiela Montoya 16312 Mommy, Love You. Hope You Don't Get Killed in Iraq Terris Dewalt-Johnson 177Part 3 After13 Coming Home 19714 Fixing the Future 223Appendix A Military Ranks and Organization 233Appendix B Where to Find Help 235Acknowledgments 237Notes 239Index 256
