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The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq, by Helen Benedict
PDF Download The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq, by Helen Benedict
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The Lonely Soldier--the inspiration for the documentary The Invisible War--vividly tells the stories of five women who fought in Iraq between 2003 and 2006--and of the challenges they faced while fighting a war painfully alone.
More American women have fought and died in Iraq than in any war since World War Two, yet as soldiers they are still painfully alone. In Iraq, only one in ten troops is a woman, and she often serves in a unit with few other women or none at all. This isolation, along with the military's deep-seated hostility toward women, causes problems that many female soldiers find as hard to cope with as war itself: degradation, sexual persecution by their comrades, and loneliness, instead of the camaraderie that every soldier depends on for comfort and survival. As one female soldier said, "I ended up waging my own war against an enemy dressed in the same uniform as mine."
In The Lonely Soldier, Benedict tells the stories of five women who fought in Iraq between 2003 and 2006. She follows them from their childhoods to their enlistments, then takes them through their training, to war and home again, all the while setting the war's events in context.
We meet Jen, white and from a working-class town in the heartland, who still shakes from her wartime traumas; Abbie, who rebelled against a household of liberal Democrats by enlisting in the National Guard; Mickiela, a Mexican American who grew up with a family entangled in L.A. gangs; Terris, an African American mother from D.C. whose childhood was torn by violence; and Eli PaintedCrow, who joined the military to follow Native American tradition and to escape a life of Faulknerian hardship. Between these stories, Benedict weaves those of the forty other Iraq War veterans she interviewed, illuminating the complex issues of war and misogyny, class, race, homophobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Each of these stories is unique, yet collectively they add up to a heartbreaking picture of the sacrifices women soldiers are making for this country.
Benedict ends by showing how these women came to face the truth of war and by offering suggestions for how the military can improve conditions for female soldiers-including distributing women more evenly throughout units and rejecting male recruits with records of violence against women. Humanizing, urgent, and powerful, The Lonely Soldier is a clarion call for change.
- Sales Rank: #612729 in Books
- Published on: 2010-04-01
- Released on: 2010-04-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.92" h x .79" w x 5.99" l, .95 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 280 pages
Review
Benedict's book, filled with compelling and heartbreaking stories, is a groundbreaking testament to the bravery, resilience, and almost insurmountable obstacles faced by women stationed in Iraq.—Deirdre Sinnott, ForeWord
"Whether the soldiers' language is plainspoken or poetic, Helen Benedict's book gives them a place to tell their stories. . . . The Lonely Soldier has strong merit as an account of women's military experience in this long and reckless war."—Amy Herdy, Ms.
"Benedict's brilliant and compassionate reporting is neither left nor right—it's human. . . . You know these women—they are your mother, sister, cousin, daughter. Their stories of injustice in the U.S. military will tear your guts out."—Dale Maharidge, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning And Their Children after Them
"The Lonely Soldier will shock you and enrage you and bring you to tears. It's must reading for everyone who cares about women, justice, fairness, the military, and the United States."—Katha Pollitt, award-winning columnist, The Nation
"A stunning chronicle of abuses suffered by women enlisted in the U.S. Army and serving in Iraq."—Los Angeles Times
"It is hard to determine what is most disturbing about this book—the devious and immoral tactics used by leaders and recruiters to get women to join the military, the terrible poverty and personal violence women were escaping that led them to be vulnerable to such manipulation, the raping and harassing of women soldiers by their superiors and comrades once they got to Iraq, or the untreated homelessness, illnesses, and madness that have haunted [these] women since they came home. . . . A crucial accounting of the shameful war on women who gave their bodies, lives, and souls for their country."—Eve Ensler, playwright, performer, activist, and author of The Vagina Monologues
About the Author
Helen Benedict, a professor of journalism at Columbia University, has written frequently on women, race, and justice. Her books include�Virgin or Vamp: How the Press Covers Sex Crimes�and the novels�The Opposite of Love, The Sailor's Wife, Bad Angel, and�A World Like This. Her work on soldiers won the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism.
Excerpt. � Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
One: The Lonely Soldier
On a blustery night in March 2004, I joined a small crowd in New York
City to honor the citizens and soldiers who had died in the first year of
the Iraq War. Among us were children, Vietnam veterans, and a mother
whose young soldier son had just been killed; she held his wide-eyed
picture up throughout the vigil. Huddling together for warmth, we lit
candles and read aloud the names and ages of the dead. After each
name, a woman struck a huge drum, making a hollow thud that chilled
us more than any cold.
�
We began with the soldiers: Christian Gurtner, 19. Lori Ann Piestewa,
23. . . .
�
Once 906 American names had been read, a young man took the
microphone and read the names of some of the many thousands of
Iraqis who had been killed thus far: Valantina Yomas, 2. Falah Hasun,
9 . . . infants and teenagers, mothers and fathers, toddlers and grandmothers
�
It took at least an hour to read all those names, and afterwards the
young man explained why he knew how to pronounce them: “I’m a
soldier just back from Iraq,” he said, “and we’re being used as cannon
fodder. We’re being sent into war without body armor or decent vehicles
to protect us. And most of the people who are dying in this war are
civilians.”
�
I was taken aback. This was the first anniversary of the U.S. invasion,
and it was unpopular for anyone to criticize the way the war was
the lonely soldier
�
being run, let alone someone who had fought in it. Surely this young
soldier was going to be called a traitor by his comrades. So I began to
follow the other few veterans who were speaking out like him, curious
to see what they were up against, which is how I found army specialist
Mickiela Montoya and learned about women at war.
I first saw Mickiela in November 2006, standing silently in the back
of a Manhattan classroom while a group of male veterans spoke to a
small audience. Sentiment had shifted by then, and a poll had just been
released showing that the majority of soldiers were now highly critical
of why and how the war was being fought. Among women serving in
Iraq at the time, 80 percent said they thought the United States should
withdraw within a year, and among men, 69.4 percent agreed.1 Wondering
how this young woman might feel, I approached her. “Are you a
veteran too?” I asked.
�
“Yes, but nobody believes me.” She tucked her long red hair behind
her ears. “I was in Iraq getting bombed and shot at, but people won’t
even listen when I say I was at war because I’m a female.”
�
“I’ll listen,” I said. And soon I was listening to all sorts of female
soldiers from all over the country who wanted to tell their stories.
In the end, I interviewed some forty soldiers and veterans for this
book, most of them women. The majority had served in Iraq, but a few
had been deployed to Afghanistan or elsewhere. I included a variety of
ranks, from privates up to a general; all military branches except the
Coast Guard; and soldiers on active duty as well as those in the reserves
and the National Guard. I thus use the word soldier to mean members
of the Marine Corps and air force as well as the army.
�
Some women had only positive things to say about their service: it
had given them a responsibility they never would have found in civilian
life, and they were proud of what they’d accomplished. This was particularly
true of soldiers in medical units. Captain Claudia Tascon of
the New Jersey National Guard, who immigrated to the United States
from Colombia at age thirteen and served in Iraq from 2004 to 2005,
was one of these. “Because I’m more in the curing business than the
killing business, I’ve seen the good of what we’ve done. We had dentists
and doctors put themselves in harm’s way to help kids in villages. I was
in charge of a warehouse, supplying medical and infantry units all over
northern Iraq, and I was also supplying the Iraqi army, who had nothing
for wounds except saline solution. So I can’t say anything bad about the
the lonely soldier
�
war.” Then she added, “In the civilian world, you’d never have a twentythree-
year-old in charge of people’s lives and millions of dollars worth
of supplies like I was.”
�
Marine Corps major Meredith Brown, who comes from New Orleans,
was so proud of her service in Iraq that she said she would go back
in a flash if called, even though she’d had a child since her return. “If I
got killed out there, my son would understand that I’d died to protect
him and other Americans from terrorists coming to our backyard.”
But most of the Iraq War veterans I talked to were much more ambivalent.
Some praised the military but considered the war disastrous,
others found their entire service a nightmare, while yet others fell in
between.
�
From all these women, I chose to feature five whose stories best
reflected the various experiences of female soldiers in Iraq, although I
have included the stories of others as well. As different as these soldiers
are, they all agreed to be in this book because they wanted to be honest
about what war does to others and what it does to us. Above all, they
wanted people to know what it is like to be a woman at war.
Most helpful customer reviews
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful.
Must Read, Stunning Accounts
By Alexandra126
As a female who is considering joining the military I wanted to read everything I could about the current environment. I purchased this along with others such as Band of Sisters (which is the complete opposite of this book - women who did enjoy the military, even making careers), Joker One, and I Love My Rifle More than You. I could barely put down this book reading horrifying accounts of not just the war in Iraq but the sexual assaults occurring. There is some obvious liberal bias but NOT in regards to what the women say in their own words. All wanted to join the country to do something patriotic and most to elevate themselves out of poverty so it was beyond disappointing to hear how the military treated these women. I believe all the women covered in these stories were in the Army or National Guard- you didn't hear from women in the Air Force, Navy, or Marines (which Band of Sisters). It's also not about just sexual assaults - the parts of Halliburton not getting the soldier's armor for their cars or vests or even food makes you so angry you have to take a deep breath to continue. Even if you're not considering joining the military - this is a good read to see what our military goes through on a grueling basis. These are strong women from all races and income levels who did not wimp out in any shape or form. Very eye-opening.
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful.
Putting ourselves in peril
By Michael Berger
I am not a woman and not a veteran. I am a psychologist who works with veterans, both female and male. This is, so far, the most accurate (and therefore the best) book I have read thus far about the experiences of female soldiers. Almost all the female soldiers I have interviewed report rapes, attempted rapes, and big time sexual harassment by men who are supposed to be their comrades and by the superiors in their chain of command. Some reported it; all were discouraged from doing this and harassed for doing this. Most learned not to report it, perhaps even to themselves. Many of these soldiers talk or do not talk about the rapes as if it is obvious to any idiot that no one will care about it or do anything about it. As a human being, and the father of a daughter, this saddens and horrifies me.
Benedict is also good on the sense of betrayal and loneliness these soldiers experience. Being raped or harassed by your own men is like being an incest victim: the very people who are most supposed to take care of you and be concerned for you, mess you over. Not surprisingly, these soldiers feel betrayed, on guard, and distrustful on a deep and intimate level which does harm to their marriages and their families. It is hard to trust your husband when he is a member of the gender that has screwed you. It is hard to be as casually close to your children as you would like when you don't trust the ability of humans, including yourself, to be compassionate.
Benedict's suggesions for change are good, especially the demand that the military make treating female soldiers in one's command well a criterion for promotion. Benedict is good also on the lack of services provided for these women in the service and upon return to civilian life; she is a little vague about the lack of services and concern offered to their families as well.
This book has its limits: it pays little attention to any good experiences female soldiers have had. But it is honest and accurate and tells a tale of suffering that we need to hear. If we permit our daughters and granddaughters to be treated like this without resistance, what are WE like, what do WE care about, what matters to US? These women offer their lives for men who may betray them and for we who are safe and often oblivious at "home." This is shameful and tragic.
24 of 28 people found the following review helpful.
A Must Read
By R. Ard
Being a female in the military myself, I can truely relate to these women and there situations. It's about time someone give the female view of how it is to serve and be under-minded and not looked at as an equal. To civilians that probably have no idea. Please read this book and maybe just maybe this could be addressed. Believe it or not the military will listen and take action faster if the concern comes from a non military personal. And what an owesome! title because at times, that's actually what I felt like.
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