Resources for female military veterans
Return to Books for the Military Community & Supporters - LINK
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Additional resources (care packages for female deployed military and a listing of veteran service organizations) are listed above.
Scroll down for more information on:
Support organizations for female veterans
Female veteran service organizations
Books about women veterans
Support organizations for female veterans
Academy Women
AcademyWomen is a nonprofit organization which offers programs to support and enable women from the nation's officer development programs to reach their full potential as leaders.
AcademyWomen is aligned for the greater good of the military. It is our belief that every woman who chooses to serve her country should be fully prepared to do so.
AcademyWomen provides supplemental sources of education, leadership development opportunities, and resources to achieve better personal and professional balance for military women and women veterans.
We are a global leadership organization of current and former women military officers, cadets, midshipmen, candidates and all individuals committed to the success of AcademyWomen's mission. Our members are the world's outstanding leaders, including: military officers, astronauts, pilots, combat leaders, ship commanding officers, business executives, diplomats, civic leaders, entrepreneurs and homemakers. Our members are the pioneers who bravely sought military training and now represent a new and outstanding paradigm of leadership.
Through a group of like-minded women and men, we will help to fill the existing gap of support by leveraging a global network; inspiring our members ideas and action; and equipping our members for leadership impact.
Attitudes and Attire (Dallas, TX)
Attitudes & Attire® is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting personal growth for women seeking self-sufficiency. Our program provides the tools that raise self-esteem, promote ethics and build the confidence necessary to develop successful life skills. Our vision is to build confidence and change lives of the women we serve.
Introduced in 2012, Boots to Heels® assists women in the military community with the transition from military to civilian life by focusing on job readiness.
Barbara Giordano Foundation
The Barbara Giordano Foundation, Inc. is committed to being recognized as a premiere holistic wellness resource that addresses the unique emotional, physical and personal needs of women veterans throughout the United States. The Barbara Giordano Foundation, Inc. mission is two-fold:
- To “put a face on women veterans” and educate the public about the selfless sacrifices that women have made in in order to keep our nation safe
- To provide women veterans with holistic wellness tools that address the unique challenges they face after transitioning from military service.
Brave Women Veterans Retreats (Tennessee)
The mission of Brave Women Veterans Retreats is to provide holistic retreats for women veterans recovering from injuries related to military sexual trauma and domestic abuse. We use art, music, yoga, and equine assisted therapy to help women veterans in their recovery. Most of our educational groups are conducted by licensed art and music therapist or licensed counselors. We also have veteran life coaches to offer peer support to the veterans at our retreats. "We provide a safe place to heal all the invisible wounds of our female veterans."
Challenge American - Military Sisterhood Initiative
It all started with...a pledge. Not the pledge of allegiance mind you but a pledge made by women of the military for women of the military.
It's a simple yet elegant idea: to forge a national network of sisters from a commitment to mutual respect, support, and military sisterhood. In effect, it's a network built on the tried and true military concept of having your sister's "six".
Put simply, the Military Sisterhood Initiative provides a safe space for military sisters to connect and encourage one another. Then, from this camaraderie and collective strength comes the opportunity for women of the military to fight for improvements in the conditions that structure their lives and the lives of their military sisters.
Chaplain Consultants - Moral Injury Support Network for Servicewomen, Inc.
Moral Injury Support Network for Servicewomen, Inc. (MISNS) is a company that specializes in education, research, and advocacy in military chaplaincy and soldier care. MISNS’ research focus is on pastoral support to female service members. Women are an underserved population when it comes to spiritual leadership and support. By conducting studies with female service members as the primary population, MISNS is able to develop theories and practices that will enhance the lives of women in the military.
As an educational and training organization, Moral Injury Support Network for Servicewomen, Inc. helps men and women in the chaplaincy hone their skills as religious professionals and care providers. MISNS also works with seminaries, religious groups, and professional chaplain organizations to provide content for continuing education and professional growth. MISNS’ training inventory includes seminars, case studies, keynote speeches, class curriculum, and other products...
Combat Female Veterans Families United (North Carolina)
Combat Female Veterans Families United is a non-profit organization founded and chiefly operated by combat female veterans of North Carolina. Our mission is to provide transition services to combat female veterans and their families, supporting life after war. In brief, our primary objectives are:
- To support the voices of combat female veterans and their families – at the local, state, and national levels
- To address the unique and multi-layered post-deployment obstacles they face as military females
- To connect each of them with the vital resources and support structures necessary to ensure their healthy returns to the civilian world
Daughters of the American Revolution
DAR members are passionate about supporting our active-duty military and veterans and they do so in a variety of ways.
Vivian’s Outreach to Women is DAR's program that focuses on providing support to homeless and indigent women veterans. VOW results from a generous bequest from DAR member Vivian Luther Schafer and will fund awards made to 501(c)(3) organizations helping indigent, homeless women. Since its inception DAR has supported our military and its veterans, but our women veterans are presently an underserved and growing population. The DAR, through VOW Awards, will aid organizations/shelters helping women veterans in need of the following services: medical, educational, child care, housing, clothing, food, or other needs consistent with assisting these women to become self-sufficient in their communities.
Women Veterans: DAR volunteers give special support to our nation's women veterans, with an emphasis on the sick, the homeless, and the lonely. Chapters provide support and volunteer in special healthcare programs and in the Adopt-A-Veteran Program. Clothing is collected and donated to facilities for women veterans, as well as donations of gender-appropriate gifts and personal care items. Members provide support for maternity services for female veterans with gift baskets for the new baby and mother.
Foundation for Women Warriors (Southern California)
The Foundation for Women Warriors (Formerly Military Women In Need) is a unique support organization created exclusively for the women veteran community of Southern California. We provide essential programs to empower the resiliency and professional development of Women Warriors. Every step is dedicated to supporting these outstanding women to navigate obstacles and realize their maximum potential after their service career.
Grace after Fire
Grace After Fire provides support for and helps women veterans of the United States military who are returning from active duty so that they can re-engage as mothers, wives and daughters in civilian life.
Honoring Women Veterans Conference (Evansville, IN)
Since 2010, the Honoring Women Veterans Conference has celebrated the contributions of women who have served in all branches of the military past and present. The day includes booths with information for services and education, lunch and information sessions. Attendees are also treated to massages, hair care and other services from local salons.
Lady Veterans Connect (Kentucky)
Lady Veterans Connect is a non-profit organization helping homeless and transitional lady veterans. Our mission is to honor lady veterans by providing hope, homes, and healing. We opened Kentucky's first transitional home for lady veterans in Kentucky in 2016. Our current project in Kentucky in renovation of a elementary school which will be the future home to 35 lady veterans and their children.
Michigan Women Veterans Empowerment (Michigan)
Michigan Women Veterans Empowerment is a faith-based non profit organization that empowers women veterans in the 8 dimensions of wellness. We strive to Identify, Connect, Empower, Educate, Advocate, Support and Provide a Voice for Women Veterans in Michigan.
Ms Veteran America Pageant - October 13, 2024
The Ms. Veteran America competition highlights more than the strength and courage of our nations military women, but also reminds us that these women are mothers, daughters, sisters and wives.
National Women Veterans United (Illinois)
The mission of NWVU is to ensure that women veterans are made aware and have access and information regarding their VA benefits and entitlements including current or pending legislation that impacts VA benefits. Place special emphasis on at risk and homeless women veterans to ensure that they have safe and immediate housing or shelter. Advocate for improved service delivery and adequate services for women veterans in federal, state, city and county services. Monitor existing services, delivery and distribution of housing HUD VASH Vouchers. Extend military leadership skills to community youth programs.
One Savvy Veteran
One Savvy Veteran's mission is to encourage, educate and empower women veterans experiencing economic hardships with comprehensive assistance needed to successfully navigate the transition from military service to civilian life.
Operation Sisterhood (Morristown, NJ)
Operation Sisterhood, the only program in NJ for female veterans by female veterans designed to improve the health and well-being of our female service members through outreach to identify new veterans, resource connection, education programming, advocacy to engage our stakeholders to improve the system of care in the New Jersey Veterans Administration (VA) and create camaraderie through facilitated peer-to-peer support.
Pamlico Rose (Washington, NC)
Pamlico Rose advances wellness programs for female veterans. They connect mind, body, spirit, and community through meaningful/persistent attention to nutrition, exercise, health, and spirituality and build resilience to help in reintegration.
Pennsylvania VFW Women Veterans Conference
Each spring, the Pennsylvania Department of VFW hosts a Women Veterans Retreat at little or no cost to participants thanks to donations from VFW posts and districts. Our latest retreat was held in March 2023 when 100 sisters-in-arms came together. The retreat was held in Harrisburg, PA and women veterans came from all parts of the state.
San Diego Women Veterans Network (California)
The San Diego Women Veterans Network creates bonding and community for women veterans in San Diego. The purpose of the San Diego Women Veterans Network is to:
1: Provide opportunities to create belonging and community for women veterans
2: Provide a forum for service providers to work together to become more effective and more efficient
3: Organize and host bridge events to bring the women veterans and service providers together
Service Women's Action Network
https://www.servicewomensactionnetwork.org/
SWAN supports, defends, and empowers today’s servicewomen and women veterans of all eras, through groundbreaking advocacy initiatives and innovative, healing community programs.
SWAN advocates for all military women, in order to increase their visibility and improve their access to equal opportunity, equal protection and equal benefits.
SWAN educates policymakers at the local, state, and federal level about the issues facing military women and works to create and support legislation that addresses their needs.
SWAN partners with law firms, legal clinics and other organizations to pursue military and VA institutional reform through the courts.
Legal and Peer Support Helpline
1-888-729-2089
1-888-729-2089 Hours: 10am-6pm EST
Top Flight Defense (Chicago, IL)
Top Flight Defense Inc. is an organization that has been created to meet the needs of women veterans who have served. Our founder has helped so many other organizations and causes for this community that starting a new organization to serve women veterans was the next right step.
Women are now on Top, we have come from so much – not being able to vote, told to be meek and what behavior is acceptable of a lady. We broke out of that, now have climbed ladders, broke glass ceilings, served in combat roles etc. So we are on Top! Our focus should always be to move up.
We all have the fight or Flight instinct, also known as the acute stress response, refers to a physiological reaction that occurs in the presence of something that is terrifying, either mentally or physically. The response is triggered by the release of hormones that prepare your body to either stay and deal with a threat or to run away to safety. We know women veterans are soaring like eagles, because we have faced challenges, proven we are mentally and physically tough.
The women we serve are women who served in all branches of the military under the Department of Defense. We are fighters for justice and defenders of freedoms.
Top Flight Defense Inc. wants to remind our women veterans that they have the skills and training from her service, like weapons qualifications, hand-to-hand combat, first aide and more that she can use to propel herself forward! We want to instill these skills back into women post-service to empower women veterans so they can impact their communities.
Veteran Women of Influence
In 2014, Veteran Women of Influence was formed with the intentions of converting a 5-bedroom home into a transitional home for military women who seek to continue their education and/or become an entrepreneur or build their career in the Arts!
Veteran Women of Influence seeks volunteers to help reach its goals of getting the home ready for it to be lived in for veteran women. It wants to have programs for the women to follow in order to give them the success they need to get through the program.
Through the means of 1-on-1 counseling, financial goal planning, mentoring & career coaching services and pre-approval for home loans, Veteran Women of Influence gives women who've served our country the opportunity to live out their lifelong dreams and use their military benefits wisely!
Veteran Women's Enterprise Center (Dallas, TX)
Our vision is to position Entrepreneur Women Associated with the Military (EWAM) inclusive of veterans, Active Duty, Reservist and/or military spouses as our nation’s leading small business revenue generators and employers.
Our mission is to empower entrepreneur women associated with the military (inclusive of veterans, active duty, reservists and military spouses) to scale for success, by establishing strategic alliances, leveraging public/private-sector opportunities, advocating for relevant research, services and funding, while simultaneously providing on-site the personal and professional resources they need to succeed!
Projected mission outcomes for our clients include, but are not limited to ensuring financial preparedness, business certification, doubling of revenues, creating increased contracting opportunities, innovations for expanding products/services, building viable social capital, and ensuring access to immediate financial resources.
W.E. R.I.S.E Veterans (North Carolina)
W.E. R.I.S.E. Veterans is a nonprofit organization designed to assist women veterans throughout the state of North Carolina. We are currently collaborating with other nonprofits in this state to become one network to assist you the women veteran. We are a growing community. New incentives and programs are being created to serve your unique needs.
WINC for all Women Veterans
WINC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing women who were served in the Armed Forces, including those injured either physically, mentally, emotionally, or even spiritually, with the tools they need to enter the world again as a woman, not a service member; while also increasing national awareness about the need to successfully integrate the female warrior veteran back into society.
We offer retreats, meet-ups, etc., and also raise awareness of the issues that affect female veterans in the VA system. We do this by offering symposiums and collaborating with other organizations to help raise awareness of the issues that women veterans face both in and out of the military.
Women Veterans Alliance
We are the premier national network focused on directly impacting the quality of life of women veterans. We do this successfully through transforming the way the community networks to bring people and programs directly together through a reliable and resourceful platform.
Our Vision -- To CONNECT over 2 million Women Veterans (and our supporters) globally for the PURPOSE of sharing our gifts, talents, resources and experience. We are committed to creating a community that Equips, Empowers & Encourages women that have served our country with knowledge, resources, mentorship, and career opportunities to discover & fulfill their greatest potential.
Our Mission -- Create a community both online and off-line including local women veteran networking groups, community events and national conferences world-wide which provide opportunities to connect and grow.
Women Veterans Interactive
Meeting women veterans at their point of need and supporting them through advocacy, empowerment, interaction, outreach and unification (AEIOU).
Women Veterans Magazine
Women Veterans Magazine is a yearly publication for veterans and those who support us and includes articles, veteran information and state specific resources, including directory. It is the ultimate resource guide for all veterans and is published for each individual state.
Women Veteran Social Justice
Women Veteran Social Justice is a support organization with the vision to identify, connect, educate and empower veteran women about programs, benefits, social and professional networking opportunities. Initially started in 2006 as a local support group for employment networking it was expanded in 2008 to social networking and online media giving a broader range and a deeper impact because of collaboration relationships with multiple veteran groups.
Women Veterans Rock
We are a coalition of Women Veteran Organizations and Women Advocacy Organizations supporting women veterans and military families in the areas of: housing; employment; education; financial stability; health and wellness.
Army Women's Foundation
The U.S. Army Women’s Foundation is the premier center for educational excellence, the national network for today’s Army women and a dynamic advocate for telling the history of Army women.
Department of Veterans Affairs - Center for Women Veterans
The Center for Women Veterans specifically addresses the health care needs of eligible women veterans, providing appropriate, timely and compassionate health care at the facility level.
Military Women Across the Nation
The purpose and objective of this organization is to encourage patriotism, loyalty, and devotion to God, country and family; for each member to help one another and her community, state, and nation; for each member to be of actual assistance; and to keep up each other's morale.
Formerly known as WAVES National, we have revitalized our organization in keeping with the changing military environment.
We now include ALL WOMEN VETERANS who have served or are serving HONORABLY in ALL MILITARY branches.
This also includes a change to both the name and the logo; thus, the former WAVES National will be known as Military Women Across the Nation (MILWOMEN, or MWAN).
Women Marines Association
The WMA is comprised of women who have served or are serving honorably in the United States Marine Corps regular or reserve components.
Women's Army Corps Veteran's Association
WOSL is a national organization of women who have served overseas in or with the Armed Forces.
Women's Overseas Service League
WOSL is a national organization of women who have served overseas in or with the Armed Forces.
Books about and for female veterans
Copyright 2008 - 2024 Benita Koeman, Operation We Are Here. All rights reserved.
Operation We Are Here is a HUB of RESOURCES for the military community and military supporters.
Military support is not a concept to embrace; military support is sacrificial action. Visit our military support TOOLKIT.
Be sure to check out these ADDITIONAL resources:
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A Girl's Guide to Military Service
Selecting your specialty, preparing for success, thriving in military life
Author: Amanda Huffman, Copyright @ 2022
A Girl’s Guide to Military Service: Selecting Your Specialty, Preparing for Success, Thriving in Military Life is for any young woman considering a job or career in the military. With information, tips, and examples from several women who serve, this introductory guide covers:
- Discerning if military service is the right choice for you
- Selecting a service branch and career field
- Preparing for training, mentally and physically
- Blending personal life, relationships, and motherhood
- Managing stress and mental toughness
- Navigating unique challenges as a woman in the military
- Setting yourself up to thrive in your military career
- and more
Applicable for enlisted and officer careers in any US Armed Forces service branch.
Ashley's War
The untold story of a team of women Soldiers on the Special Ops battlefield
Author: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Copyright @ 2015
In 2010, the Army created Cultural Support Teams, a secret pilot program to insert women alongside Special Operations soldiers battling in Afghanistan. The Army reasoned that women could play a unique role on Special Ops teams: accompanying their male colleagues on raids and, while those soldiers were searching for insurgents, questioning the mothers, sisters, daughters and wives living at the compound. Their presence had a calming effect on enemy households, but more importantly, the CSTs were able to search adult women for weapons and gather crucial intelligence. They could build relationships—woman to woman—in ways that male soldiers in an Islamic country never could.
In Ashley's War, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon uses on-the-ground reporting and a finely tuned understanding of the complexities of war to tell the story of CST-2, a unit of women hand-picked from the Army to serve in this highly specialized and challenging role. The pioneers of CST-2 proved for the first time, at least to some grizzled Special Operations soldiers, that women might be physically and mentally tough enough to become one of them.
The price of this professional acceptance came in personal loss and social isolation: the only people who really understand the women of CST-2 are each other. At the center of this story is a friendship cemented by "Glee," video games, and the shared perils and seductive powers of up-close combat. At the heart of the team is the tale of a beloved and effective soldier, Ashley White.
Much as she did in her bestselling The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, Lemmon transports readers to a world they previously had no idea existed: a community of women called to fulfill the military's mission to "win hearts and minds" and bound together by danger, valor, and determination. Ashley's War is a gripping combat narrative and a moving story of friendship—a book that will change the way readers think about war and the meaning of service.
As You Were
A How-To Guide for Military Women Returning to Real Life
Author: Copyright @ 2022
Are you leaving military service? Are you wondering what challenges you will encounter? Do you want to know what you can do to live your best life if you are already out? If your answer is yes, you are in the right place.
If you are currently serving in the military, I will show you how to navigate the transition process and find the help and resources you need. If you have already left service, I will provide information on how to get the benefits you earned no matter how long you’ve been out.
Or if you want to help a loved one, a daughter, a sister, or a friend make this transition, you will find the information you need in this book to assist them in this life change.
I have experienced this transition not once, but twice. Once early in my career when I took a break in service to take care of family and then again when I retired after 20 years of service. I learned a lot on my own and from other women veterans. I look forward to sharing it with you.
If you are ready for this passage to a new life, let’s get started!
Inside you will find:
- Pre-Transition Planning
- Documents to Have and Hold
- Connecting With the VA
- Your Next Career
- Further Your Education
- Is Entrepreneurship in Your Future
- Taking Care of You Through It All
- If You’re Already Out
- Go Forth and Thrive
- Resource Appendix of Useful Links
This is one of those books you pick up to browse through for a minute and then find yourself on Chapter 2, wanting to read the entire book now. The whole time you are reading it you keep constantly saying to yourself (if you already transitioned out), I really could have used a guide like this at that time! ~ Cindy Edmonson, U.S. Navy Retired
Band of Sisters
American women at war in Iraq
Author: Kirsten Holmstedt, Copyright @ 2007
In Iraq, the front lines are everywhere - and everywhere in Iraq, no matter what their job descriptions say, women in the U.S. military are fighting--more than 155,000 of them. A critical and commercial success in hardcover, Band of Sisters presents a dozen groundbreaking and often heart-wrenching stories of American women in combat in Iraq, such as the U.S.'s first female pilot to be shot down and survive, the military's first black female pilot in combat, a young turret gunner defending convoys, and a nurse struggling to save lives, including her own.
Beyond the Point (A Novel)
Author: Claire Gibson, Copyright @ 2019
Three women are brought together in an enthralling story of friendship, heartbreak, and resilience. Set at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, this is an amazing debut novel.
Duty. Honor. Country. That’s West Point’s motto, and every cadet who passes through its stone gates vows to live it. But on the eve of 9/11, as Dani, Hannah and Avery face four grueling years ahead, they realize they’ll only survive if they do it together.
Everyone knows Dani is going places. With athletic talent and a brilliant mind, she navigates West Point’s predominantly male environment with wit and confidence, breaking stereotypes and embracing new friends.
Hannah’s grandfather, a legendary Army general, offers a stark warning about the dangers that lie ahead, but she moves forward anyway, letting faith guide her path. When she meets her soul mate at West Point, the future looks perfect, just as planned.
Wild child Avery moves fast and doesn’t mind breaking a few rules (and hearts) along the way. But she can’t outpace her self-doubt, and the harder she tries, the further it leads her down a treacherous path.
The world—of business, of love, and of war—awaits Dani, Hannah, and Avery beyond the gates of West Point. These three women know that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But soon, that adage no longer rings true—for their future, or their friendship. As they’re pulled in different directions, will their hard-forged bond prevail or shatter?
Beyond the Point is a heartfelt look at how our closest friends can become our fiercest battle buddies. After all, the greatest battles we fight rarely require a uniform.
Bible Bootcamp for Military Women
Author: American Bible Society, Copyright @ 2020
Written by and for women in the military, this 45-day devotional booklet helps women understand the Bible. It includes 45 short, personal stories showing faith-forward examples from the lives of women in uniform, as well as military wives, family members, and retirees. This is a vital book for new believers and for those who want a better understanding of God’s Word. Designed for women on-the-go, each lesson is short and to the point.
Honor Bound:
An American story of dreams and service
Author: Amy McGrath, Copyright @ 2021
The inspiring story of the first female Marine to fly a combat mission in an F/A-18—and the transformative events that led to her bold decision to take on the most powerful man in the U.S. Senate.
Amy McGrath grew up in Edgewood, Kentucky, a childhood shaped by love of country, baseball (the Cincinnati Reds), and, from the age of twelve, a fascination with fighter jets. Her devastation at learning that a federal law prohibited women from flying in combat fueled her determination to do just that--and then, to help change the laws to improve the lives of all Americans.
McGrath writes of gaining an appointment in high school to the U.S. Naval Academy, making it through Marine Corps training, graduating from Annapolis, Maryland, becoming a Second Lieutenant, and raising her right hand to swear to defend the U.S. Constitution, honor bound.
She vividly recounts her experiences flying in the Marines, and her combat deployments to Iraq (Kuwait) and Afghanistan, her work as an Air Combat Tactics instructor—and what it was like to finally fly that fighter jet: high-speed, intense, and physically demanding.
Here is McGrath, training to do the most intense tactical flying there is (think the Navy's TOPGUN ); meeting the man who would become her husband; being promoted to major and then lieutenant colonel; marrying, having three children, a career and life in Washington and then moving her family back to Kentucky to begin a whole new chapter in politics; her roller-coaster congressional campaign (she lost by three percentage points); and making the tough decision to run again, in an even bigger, higher-stakes national campaign, against the five-term leader of the U.S. Senate, Mitch McConnell.
A moving, inspiring American story of courage, determination, and large dreams.
Jet Girls:
My life in war, peace, and the cockpit of the Navy's most lethal aircraft, the F/A-18 Super Hornet
Author: Caroline Johnson, Copyright @ 2019
A fresh, unique insider’s view of what it’s like to be a woman aviator in today’s US Navy―from pedicures to parachutes, friendship to firefights.
Caroline Johnson was an unlikely aviation candidate. A tall blonde debutante from Colorado, she could have just as easily gone into fashion or filmmaking, and yet she went on to become an F/A-18 Super Hornet Weapons System Officer. She was one of the first women to fly a combat mission over Iraq since 2011, and one of the first women to drop bombs on ISIS.
Jet Girl tells the remarkable story of the women fighting at the forefront in a military system that allows them to reach the highest peaks, and yet is in many respects still a fraternity. Johnson offers an insider’s view on the fascinating, thrilling, dangerous and, at times, glamorous world of being a naval aviator.
This is a coming-of age story about a young college-aged woman who draws strength from a tight knit group of friends, called the Jet Girls, and struggles with all the ordinary problems of life: love, work, catty housewives, father figures, make-up, wardrobe, not to mention being put into harm’s way daily with terrorist groups such as ISIS and world powers such as Russia and Iran.
Some of the most memorable parts of the book are about real life in training, in the air and in combat―how do you deal with having to pee in a cockpit the size of a bumper car going 600 miles an hour?
Not just a memoir, this book also aims to change the conversation and to inspire and attract the next generation of men and women who are tempted to explore a life of adventure and service.
Navy Nurse
Memoir of a World War II veteran
Author: Helen Barry Siragusa, Copyright @ 2022
From one of the few living World War II veterans comes this deeply personal, remarkably detailed and inspiring memoir. Helen Barry Siragusa takes us from her childhood in New Jersey during the Great Depression, through her career as a Navy nurse in a ward for paralyzed soldiers during and after World War II, to raising her eight children in Massachusetts, and finally to her home in Maine. Complemented by her beautiful photographs, her vivid storytelling reveals her as both an eternal optimist and a steely bearer of adversity. Death was her constant companion, and she was its counterpoint.
Soldier Girls
The battles of three women at home and at war
Author: Helen Thorpe, Copyright @ 2014
“A raw, intimate look at the impact of combat and the healing power of friendship” (People): the lives of three women deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, and the effect of their military service on their personal lives and families—named a best book of the year by Publishers Weekly.
“In the tradition of Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, Richard Rhodes, and other masters of literary journalism, Soldier Girls is utterly absorbing, gorgeously written, and unforgettable” (The Boston Globe). Helen Thorpe follows the lives of three women over twelve years on their paths to the military, overseas to combat, and back home…and then overseas again for two of them. These women, who are quite different in every way, become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what happens when they are separated. We see their families, their lovers, their spouses, their children. We see them work extremely hard, deal with the attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to stay connected to their families back home. We see some of them drink too much, have affairs, and react to the deaths of fellow soldiers. And we see what happens to one of them when the truck she is driving hits an explosive in the road, blowing it up. She survives, but her life may never be the same again.
Deeply reported, beautifully written, and powerfully moving, Soldier Girls is “a breakthrough work...What Thorpe accomplishes in Soldier Girls is something far greater than describing the experience of women in the military. The book is a solid chunk of American history...Thorpe triumphs” (The New York Times Book Review).
Soul Survivors
Stories of wounded women warriors and the battles they fight long after they've left the war
Author: Kristen Holmstedt, Copyright @ 2016
Life is tough for veterans, especially female veterans. They have much to deal with and much to heal from: combat, physical and psychological wounds, sexual harassment and assault, trauma, stress, chains of command, the VA. Now more than ever these veterans are facing their problems head on. In this inspiring new book, Kirsten Holmstedt, trusted chronicler of women soldiers and veterans, tells the ups-and-downs stories of veterans struggling with the aftereffects of military service.
Introduces us to more than a dozen female veterans from all branches of the military, from Vietnam through Iraq and Afghanistan
Highlights where the military has succeeded and failed to help veterans.
Switchboard Soldiers
A Novel
Author: Jennifer Chiaverini, Copyright @ 2022
In June 1917, General John Pershing arrived in France to establish American forces in Europe. He immediately found himself unable to communicate with troops in the field. Pershing needed operators who could swiftly and accurately connect multiple calls, speak fluent French and English, remain steady under fire, and be utterly discreet, since the calls often conveyed classified information.
At the time, nearly all well-trained American telephone operators were women—but women were not permitted to enlist, or even to vote in most states. Nevertheless, the U.S. Army Signal Corps promptly began recruiting them.
More than 7,600 women responded, including Grace Banker of New Jersey, a switchboard instructor with AT&T and an alumna of Barnard College; Marie Miossec, a Frenchwoman and aspiring opera singer; and Valerie DeSmedt, a twenty-year-old Pacific Telephone operator from Los Angeles, determined to strike a blow for her native Belgium.
They were among the first women sworn into the U.S. Army under the Articles of War. The male soldiers they had replaced had needed one minute to connect each call. The switchboard soldiers could do it in ten seconds.
The risk of death was real—the women worked as bombs fell around them—as was the threat of a deadly new disease: the Spanish Flu. Not all of the telephone operators would survive.
The women of the U.S. Army Signal Corps served with honor and played an essential role in achieving the Allied victory. Their story has never been the focus of a novel…until now.
Undaunted
The real story of America's servicewomen in today's military
Author: Tanya Biank, Copyright @ 2014
As she did so provocatively with military spouses in Army Wives, Tanya Biank gives us the inside story of women in today’s military—their professional and personal challenges from the combat zone to the home front...
Since 9/11, more than 240,000 women have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan—more than 140 have died there, and they currently make up fourteen percent of the total active-duty forces. Despite advances, today’s servicewomen are constantly pressed to prove themselves, to overcome challenges men never face, and to put the military mission ahead of all other aspects of their lives, particularly marriage and motherhood. In this groundbreaking, insider’s look at the women defending our nation, Tanya Biank brings to light the real issues—of femininity, belonging to an old boys’ club, veiled discrimination, dating, marriage problems, separation from children, questions about life goals, career trajectories, and self-worth—that servicewomen are facing by focusing on four individual stories.
Brigadier General Angela Salinas, the Marine Corps’ first Hispanic female general, faces the challenge of commanding an all-male institution. Second Lieutenant Bergan Flanagan finds herself on the frontlines in Afghanistan, serving in the same military police company as her husband. As a marine drill instructor, Sergeant Amy Stokley demands the very best from the recruits at Parris Island. And Major Candice O’Brien deals with deployment to Afghanistan, with two young children and a strained marriage back home.
Undaunted is the story of these courageous trailblazers—their struggles, sacrifices, and triumphs in the name of serving the country they love.
Women of the Military
A compilation of stories from American women service members
Author: Amanda Huffman, Copyright @ 2019
Women of the Military is a compilation of 28 stories of women who have started their path to military life, are currently serving, separated or retired. There are 4 stories from women in the process of joining, 14 stories from Air Force members, 8 stories from the Army, 1 from the Navy, and 1 from the Marine Corps. Women have served in the American military since as far back as the Revolutionary War. As years passed the role of women in the military has grown and changed. In 1948, women were allowed to serve in the US Military outside of war periods. During the Vietnam War, Cmd. Elizabeth Barrett was the first women to hold command in a combat zone. In 1976, the first woman attended a military academy. In 1998, female fighter pilots flew the first combat mission. And in 2016, after years of women serving in combat roles during Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom, all jobs were open to women in the military.
There is such a rich history of women serving in the military. And while at one point in time most women served in the role of a nurse. Today, women are a part of every job. The role of women expanding military wasn’t by chance. Instead, it was from women proving over and over again that they were a valuable asset and could be used and relied on in the field of battle. How do we know what happened beyond the highlights written in history books? I wanted to answer these questions so I started a journey. A journey to hear the stories of military women. Today I host a podcast, Women of the Military, where I get to talk to women who have served in the military. But before the podcast, my interviews were back and forth on paper. I have put together these stories. Women who have served as far back as Vietnam and as current as those entering the military in 2018. Stories from women who have served in the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to serve as a female in our military, you need to read this book.
Wounded Warrior with Invisible Scars
Author: Mataya Wright Williams, Copyright @ 2020
It's no secret that there have been significant disparities among African American military service members for decades. Wounded Warrior With Invisible Scars takes you on the journey of a young African American woman, who has served in the United States Military for over twenty years. Despite the adversity Mataya has faced along the way, she persevered, achieving the highest enlisted rank of E-9 in the United States Air Force, as Chief Master Sergeant. She has served in both the Army and Air Force, with multiple combat tours under her belt. This book was written to serve as a beacon of hope, encouragement and motivation, especially for those who feel like every storm that comes your way was sent to take you out. Please know, some storms come simply to clear your path!
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