Women in Combat Series

NPR recently had a series on Women in Combat. The five part series looks at a variety of factors that affect women.

I heard the fourth part yesterday as I was driving home from school. It talked about women not only dealing with the problems of PTSD, but also some of the difficulties in dealing the sexual assault as well. I can't even begin to imagine...

A couple days ago, I was listening to Ken Burns talk about World War II and his documentary on this during a late night show. He was talking about how some of these men had never shared their stories. Their families didn't even know what they went through. However, many of these stories were quite vivid even though these events happened sixty years ago. I wonder if sixty years from now if we'll look back and see if we've done any better in listening.

From All Things Considered, here's the link to the series:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14964676

Recent Demonstrators Regarding the War

A few photos from a recent protest in my town. Code Pink Orange County demonstrates in the center of the city of Orange, CA every Wednesday night from 5:30 until 7:00 pm. Sometimes they are joined by counter-protesters, as they were on this recent Spring night.

Support The Troops Video

For Mother's Day

In the United States, Julia Ward Howe tried to start Mother's Day as a protest to war. Here's her original proclamation in 1870. It still seems so applicable today.

Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have
hearts, whether our baptism be that of water or of fears!

Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.

We women of one country will be too tender of those of
another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the bosom
of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says "Disarm, Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."

Blood does not wipe our dishonor nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summonsof war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for agreat and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.

Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after their own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.

In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.

Julia Ward HoweBoston 1870

Newsweek Article: The War in the Words of the Dead

Newsweek published an article this week that shows the letters from those fighting in Iraq. It does the same thing that we attempt to do with the Women and War project: it shows a variety of perspectives and it shows how families are affected. Author Jon Meacham says,

"No matter where one stands on the decision to invade or on the conduct of the
conflict over the last four years, the Iraq War is indisputably a curious
thing. For the first time in the experience of any living American, we have
sent an all-volunteer force overseas to advance our interests for a
prolonged period, and virtually nothing has been asked of the vast majority
of those who do not have loved ones in the line of fire. The bargain is
hardly fair. If we take the president at his word, the men and women of the
armed forces are fighting and dying over there so that you and I will not
have to face mortal danger over here."

Thoughts about war, Peace Corps

I estimate, conservatively, that I am a week away from submitting my Peace Corps application and beginning that process. I think talking about this war with friends and with strangers made me consider my values like I never had before, and it made me realize how many values I didn't act on. I remember telling Emily at one point, "But everyone lives their values every day, whether it's conscious or not." I reflected on my day-to-day existence and realized that my values were on the side of what was easy, or convenient for me, more often than I thought about what the impact would be on other people. I have reduced the amount of driving I do in order to reduce my carbon emissions (and hopefully alleviate global warming). I'm saving some money now, too. Ultimately I also realized that I couldn't stand by while children and their families all over the world lacked the means to a secure life and future. And I started to look into the Peace Corps. Ultimately, I decided to apply before Christmas, and have been working on my application since. Thinking about leaving my family and friends for two years is scary, but I know it's worth it for what I will do AND will get from it. I believe I'm able to contribute to the welfare of people who don't have access to the information, resources, education, or technology that I take for granted in the United States. I'm also looking forward to being a representative of the Unites States abroad, to talking about the rights I enjoy here and how I exercise them.

Relationships in a Time of War

As Margaret and I start to revise the script and interview some of the women we've talked to, I'm struck by how much relationships change. As husbands and boyfriends come back from the war, it seems like many relationships can't withstand the strain. It seems to be one of the recurring issues.

I know that's how many long distance relationships are. When I was far apart from my now husband, we'd be uncertain that we could both grow and change and then come back together and have a similar relationship to the one we had. But we had the benefit of communication. And I had no worries that he might be wounded or killed. I guess I wonder if there becomes a point when separate experiences can no longer be bridged. You may want to share everything that you can with your partner, but can war experiences really be shared? And can they really be understood?

80-20 rule

A couple weeks ago I interviewed a fiftysomething professional about her activism against the war in Iraq. We ordered dinner, and she was just so personable and down-to-earth that I ended up talking with her as I would a close friend. I was explaining the frustration I felt at my former job that led me to leave when she said, "Well, you know about the 80-20 rule, right?" I thought, "Huh?" and then- lightbulb!- "Oh- 20% of the people do the work for the other 80%?" I flashed back to a New Yorker cartoon I'd cut out that showed a rower hard at work, supporting ten others who faced him, yelling into megaphones.

I have always felt, even before she articulated it, that 20% of the people actually care enough to do something about an issue, while 80% lay around like housecats. I cynically know that I'm in the minority, because I believe that the only way to show you want something to change is by actively working towards that change. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. Sure. Judgmental. But as far as I can tell, true.

Last week I met a comedian who recently toured Iraq performing for the troops. When he introduced himself I told him I'd just worked on a play about women's experiences related to the war. He was polite, but seemingly unimpressed. We talked briefly, but I felt like he could see straight through my chest to my big bleeding heart -- after all, what other angle would a "women's" play take? I tried to demonstrate my moderate level of knowledge about the war and the military by asking where he'd been, through what organization, and, when he told me he used to be in the service, asking what branch, but then our conversation was cut short.

Part of me felt like some weird wartime starf*cker. Now that the war has become so unpopular and divisive, anyone who wants to talk about it must be looking for another opportunity to say "I told you so", right? Well, I wanted to tell him, because I can't tell them, that they are good people. "Thank you!" I wanted to say. They are, for the most part, regular people actively contributing to something they believe in- taking an active role, like the anti-war activist does, or like the military Mom, supporting her sons. They are the 20%.

Still, it doesn't feel right. I know this 80-20 rule is not a fair representation of how people exist. Some of those 80 percent are wholly invested in raising their children, or caring for their parents, staying sober, staying sane, staying fed. There isn't time for letter-writing or care packages. But as long as I can be a part of the 20, I know that I should. It's a luxury I can't take for granted. For that freedom, among many others, I am grateful.

Supporting the troops

Here's a photo of the box we sent overseas to an Army sargeant to distribute amongst the soldiers in her division in Iraq. (I don't know if that's a platoon, squadron, etc?-- need to find out.)

Contents:
32 Valentines signed by us and our family and friends (with a note from me & Emily & the web address of this blog)
Conversation hearts
Valentine's day chocolate candies
Bagel chips and Chex mix (snacks were requested)
Cotton squares (they requested something like this for use with facial astringent, which you can understand given where they are stationed)

I put the chocolates and snacks in individual, sealed, gallon-size Ziploc bags so that, just in case that stuff it out in the sun OR exposed to some fleas or sand mites or something, it's protected, but also so that the other stuff is protected from it.

I sent this 7 lb. package via priority mail for under $20! If you are interested in supporting the troops but don't know who to send things to, check out www.anysoldier.com, and feel free to ask any questions that you might have via the blog.

Valentine's Project

This week Margaret and I met to discuss revisions for Hardcore. As we were talking, I mentioned that I hadn't ever done anything like send a letter to the troops or a care package as I was putting together the script for Hardcore because I wanted to try and remain somewhat "neutral." However, in my research for the project I came across many great causes and always thought about trying to help in some way. While I'm sure there's many people who send things for the holidays, I told Margaret I should probably send something now when the troops were probably not remembered by as many.
She said, "You should do something for Valentine's Day."
And I replied, "Yeah."
She then said, "Let's do it, let's send valentine's."
So we devised a plan to ask our friends and family members for messages and we then bought some valentines and treats to send to them.

Tonight we wrote out the messages and we'll soon send them off. It took us only about an hour and a half to do this. As we were finishing, we talked about how easy it was to do. And we decided that there are many more things that one can accomplish in about an hour. What could you do?

Troops who led 2003 invasion deploy for third tour

POSTED: 11:21 p.m. EST, January 10, 2007
FORT STEWART, Georgia (AP) -- Twice before, Sgt. Michael Konvicka has picked up a rifle to go to war. Doing it a third time won't be any easier.
"Every time I come back from Iraq, I tell my wife, 'I'm done honey, stick a fork in me,"' said Konvicka, 36, of Flint, Michigan. "I'm not really looking forward to it. But I've got 10 years in the Army, and I'm not about to throw that away."
Hours before President Bush was to announce his plan Wednesday to increase U.S. forces in Iraq, soldiers of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division said goodbye to their families as they deployed on their third tour. (Watch U.S. troops fighting in streets of Baghdad )
The 19,000-troop 3rd Infantry, which helped lead the 2003 charge to Baghdad, is the first Army division to be tapped for a third deployment to the war. Barely a year has passed since its soldiers returned from their last yearlong rotation.
"It's another year I have to endure, and it's not easy," said Konvicka's wife, Sharon, resting her head on her husband's shoulder while soldiers piled duffel bags and rucksacks into trucks for shipping to Iraq.
Wives wept and wrapped their arms around husbands with rifles slung over their shoulders. Some 400 troops of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment departing Wednesday are among 4,000 soldiers of the division's 1st Brigade Combat Team deploying this month.
"I hope it's the last one," said Staff Sgt. Harold Hensel, 30, of Little Valley, New York, hugging his pregnant wife, who is due in May, before leaving for his second combat tour. "I was hoping the first one was the last one. But duty calls."
The 3rd Infantry's three remaining combat brigades are scheduled to deploy later this year, including the 3rd Brigade at Fort Benning, Georgia, where Bush planned a visit Thursday.
Sgt. Brad Weston, 23, said he could see positives and negatives to the president's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq while he's deployed there.
"The benefit is you do get more time where you're not having to be out patrolling," said Weston of South Bend, Indiana, who is deploying on his third tour. "The negative thing is there's more violence when there are new people there who don't know the area well."
When the 3rd Infantry first deployed to Iraq in 2003, it quickly helped topple Saddam Hussein's regime. During its second tour in 2005, troops saw Iraqis elect their first democratic government.
But Cpl. Matt Venn, 21, of Wichita, Kansas, said he sees few signs of hope in 2007 with the increasing violence from insurgents and sectarian militias.
"There's not many people over there who are on the straight and narrow," said Venn, who had deployed to Iraq once before, in 2005. "Out of the year, you'll find two families who are really innocent. And that's the people, I guess, we're trying to help out."
Venn's wife, Theresa, said she fears Iraq has become "a hopeless cause."
Unlike most military spouses, she served in Iraq in 2004 as a surgical technician, treating everything from bullet wounds to burns and cuts from roadside bombs.
"It makes it harder, because I've dealt with every injury known to man," the 25-year-old said.
She is no longer in the military. "It's unnerving, but I like to be positive and just put it out of my mind."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Hard Core: Women's Reflections on Iraq First Production

Hard Core cast members: Catherine Cox, Kenlyn Kanouse, Neda Armstrong,

and Amber Scott. Photo by Steve K. Zylius

So after about a year of working to put together Hard Core: Women's Reflections on Iraq, the first script from the Women and War project, we finally had our production which opened on Veteran's Day at the Hunger Artists.

I'm quite proud of the production. We had 8 wonderful actresses and one actor fill the shoes of our interviewees and they brought truth and compassion to these roles. It was quite scary and difficult for me to be in the audience when some of the people we interviewed came to the show, but I can't imagine how it may be for them to relive some of these moments. However, I think that it was a thought-provoking show and many audience members commented that they still wanted to know more. My amazing co-editor, Margaret O'Hora, and I plan on revising and hope to take this script to other theatres as well.

As I worked on editing the interviews into a script as well as rehearsing, I became more and more obsessed with hearing as much as I could about Iraq. I'd read as much as I could and tried to listen to the news often. Everything became more personal to me and I kept thinking about it as much as possible. I can't say that it was ever the same as some of the people I interviewed, but I definitely became more aware and that was my hope for the project--to make people more aware.

However, after the close of the show, I went back to not being quite as obsessed with Iraq. Yes, I still listen and read articles, but I have the luxury of not having this consume my thoughts. And then I keep thinking of those who can't push this as easily away as many Americans do.

Catherine Cox, Amber Scott, Katie Chidester, and Rose Chang rehearsing Hard Core.

Photo by Steve K. Zylius.

From NY Times
Editorial
Life During Wartime

Published: June 13, 2006
About the time the 2006 New Year's confetti was being swept away from Times Square, a small group of Iraqi bloggers began posting for The Times. "It is a new year, but it is not a happy one," said a 57-year-old doctor who called himself Truth Teller.
Reading the bloggers has helped to fill one of the big gaps in Americans' view of the war in Iraq. Danger in the streets and security fears for anyone seen speaking with Western reporters has made it increasingly hard to get real glimpses of what it's like for the people who have to live there.
At the beginning of the year, the bloggers' complaints were less about car bombs than power failures, black-market fuel and a curfew that didn't allow for much, if any, celebrating. But not always. In January, Zeyad, a Baghdad dentist, wrote: "Over the past two years, I have crawled away from two armed clashes and one carjacking incident; I have witnessed two people being shot in the head and one young kid who had been sprayed by bullets begging my friends and me to take him to the hospital ... and just recently, an American sniper shot right at me and missed on a Baghdad highway for no apparent reason when we pulled over behind their convoy. My taxi driver tried to comfort me by saying it was probably just a rubber bullet."
In May, when three of the bloggers returned — joined by one Iraqi-American writer — their postings had changed. There was less talk of shoddy infrastructure and running for cover from American soldiers, and more fear of radical Islamists and the Sunni and Shiite death squads bringing terror to their neighborhoods. The watershed they referred to repeatedly was the destruction of the golden dome of the Askariya mosque in Samarra, a revered Shiite shrine, on Feb. 22. The bloggers also wrote more about the increasing presence of Taliban-like Islamists, violently imposing restrictions on the Baghdad residents. "These are people who are enforcing their rules by death threats," Hassan, a college student, wrote in May.
Hassan wrote of his 6-year-old sister, who was not allowed to go out to play because her family feared she would be kidnapped or killed. His sister "has never gone to a zoo" and "has only gone to a playground once." Zeyad told the harrowing tale of witnessing the execution of a local generator operator: "When I tried to turn him over so they could carry him into a car, my hands touched his blood-soaked shirt. I could now see that he was shot four times in the chest. There was also a bag nearby with a box of peaches, medication and a Pepsi bottle; he was obviously going to take that home to his kids. I stared in his anguished face again, then at my bloody hands. And that was when I momentarily lost it."
Bloggers, who cannot be fact-checked in normal ways, are no substitute for journalists. But the Iraqis' voices are hypnotic — troubling, fascinating and a critical reminder of the quirky individual humanity of those at the center of what the invasion has unleashed. "[A]midst the blackness of time and the wounds of fate, Iraqis still find a way to crack a smile, even if it hurts," wrote Konfused Kid, a Baghdad college student, at the beginning of the year. "Despite my cynicism, I believe in God (or Allah or whatever you care to name Him), and I pray for the well-being of this country every day. And every day I listen to Metallica and read Philip K. Dick."
"Day to Day in Iraq" can be read online at daytodayiniraq.blogs.nytimes.com.

From CNN:
Women at war: Mental health toll unknown
By Amy CoxCNN


Friday, May 26, 2006; Posted: 10:32 a.m. EDT (14:32 GMT)

Post-traumatic stress disorder in women at war is still in the early stages of research.

(CNN) -- More American women are closer to combat in Iraq than in any other modern war, and there are many unknowns about the mental health effects they may experience when they come home from the war zone.
"In the civilian world, post-traumatic stress disorder has traditionally been much more common in women than in men," says Col. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, the psychiatry consultant to the U.S. Army surgeon general.
"This is the first time that we've really had a large number of women that are over in a combat zone so we are studying how they do, but the results aren't out yet." (Gallery: Women in the military)
Shell shock, war neurosis, battle fatigue. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, has gone by many names in a century's worth of wars. First recognized as an official diagnosis five years after the Vietnam War, the psychiatric disorder can strike a person after life-threatening events -- such as wars or natural disasters -- with symptoms such as flashbacks, detachment or depression, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
"What we're seeing now, very commonly, is similar to PTSD after Vietnam, but it has its own pattern -- we're seeing a lot of nightmares, we're seeing people who have hyper-vigilance and then some difficulty fitting back in," Ritchie says. "And I think it will actually be awhile before we really have the full picture."
But how post-traumatic stress disorder affects women who served in war zones is still at the early stages of research. One of the few studies done involved female Vietnam veterans in 1983 and found more than a quarter suffered from the disorder sometime during their postwar lives, according to the National Center for PTSD. In the general population, women suffer from the disorder at twice the rate as men.
Today, the Department of Veterans Affairs reports that about a third of the servicemen and women from Iraq who sought health care were seeking help for mental health issues. The proportion of women is not known, according to spokesman Jim Benson.
One survey released by the Army in 2005, however, found that the rates of mental health problems among returning male and female soldiers from Iraq were similar -- 13 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
Ritchie explains that any difference in the rates between men and women may be due to the fact that women are less exposed to firefights in most cases than men.
"I emphasize a little bit less because in most cases, they are in the combat zone, but to a large extent they're not out doing the patrols with infantry," she says. "It's a lower rate, but I don't want to predict that it will stay at a lower rate."
These findings mean even more research and funding needs to go to examining the mental health of women -- who make up 15 percent of the active duty force and almost a quarter of the reserves -- according to Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center, a nonprofit veterans advocacy organization.
"The VA currently does not have any specialized care program for female combat veterans," Robinson says. "And our VA health care system is based on males who go to war. ... It's different now.
"Men and women are different. We handle things differently; we perceive things differently," he continues. "I'm not saying women can't cut it because they can. Some of the best Special Operations warriors we have are females ... but there's a difference."
Ritchie also sees some differences in women adjusting to home life again after Iraq, especially those with children.
"Based on anecdotal evidence, not formal data, women who are mothers, especially with younger children ... tend to feel guilty being away from their children," she says. "This is where we really don't have a whole lot of data yet on re-integration."

Finding help
On returning home, all troops are required to fill out a health assessment and then another survey three to six months afterward. New mental health treatment programs and options have been added to military services over the course of the Iraq war, according to Ritchie.
Some, like Robinson, believe these steps are not enough, but Ritchie says the military is doing more than it ever has before to screen and treat servicemen and women.
As one of the latest steps in uncovering some of the mysteries of women and post-traumatic stress disorder, the VA launched a study last year looking at the disorder in women veterans from all eras and the types of treatment that are most effective for women specifically. The results are under review by researchers, possibly to be released later this year.
Like men, women usually get counseling and certain medications for the disorder. Robinson says such treatment is one area that the differences in the sexes become apparent.
"For example, if you co-mingle women and men in group therapy sessions, there are things those men and women will not talk about in front of other males or females," he says.
"I met a girl who had lost her leg in Iraq, and she was concerned about whether or not she was going to be able to hold her baby because every time she picked up her child, it reminded her of a baby she saw who got hurt in Iraq. That's not something she's going to talk about in front of a whole bunch of guys."
For now, Ritchie says the military doesn't see the need for a specialized treatment program, but it's "certainly possible that will evolve as time goes on."
In the future, she says she'd like the military to make sure women are a big part of any studies on post-traumatic stress disorder and other topics, especially the effect on family members.
But most inside and outside the military agree that it's imperative that women veterans, as well as their male counterparts, get the attention and treatment they need right now.
"Invest now to make sure they don't have problems," Robinson says. "Then we won't repeat the legacy of Vietnam where we just told people to get over it, and we've had 40-plus years of social welfare taking care of those people we didn't help when they came back."

Hi! My name is Emily Brauer Rogers and I'm a member of the Hunger Artists Theatre Company in Fullerton, CA.(www.hungerartists.com) We've recently decided to embark on a project currently called Women and War. The goal of this project is to create a play/performance that tells the stories of those involved with the Iraq conflict. The members of this project felt that even though we hear a little about Iraq, we really don't know what happens there, how it affects families, spouses and members of the military. We decided that we would like to gather stories through interviews and blogs. We do not have a political agenda in presenting these stories; our only goal is to present a variety of voices on the subject.

As this is named the Women and War project, we are interested specifically in how this has affected women who have been/are deployed, in the military, considering the military or those who have relatives and/or spouses there. This doesn't mean that we aren't interested in men's voices, but would like to discuss issues that could possibly be facing women specifically.

Of course we wouldn't include anything in our performance without receiving permission from that person first. Also, the comments that might be included could be anonymous, if you so choose.

We are interested in hearing stories which could be posted on this blog or emailed. What are the issues that you may face daily, but many Americans don't know about? Let us know how you are involved with the military and what that means to you. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me as well.

I'll also be updating the blog with questions about specific areas and would love to hear thoughts and opinions on these subjects.

Thanks,
Emily Brauer Rogers