Stories from the Front: Pain, Betrayal, and Resilience on the MST Battlefield
Bronze Star-decorated combat commander Colonel Lisa Carrington Firmin outlines her own experiences with military sexual trauma (MST) and recounts the stories of 13 others: veterans as well as active duty women and men who are bravely sharing their stories of sexual assault and sexual harassment while serving in the United States military. Stories from the Front authentically includes the lived experiences of a diverse group representing all military branches, ranks, eras of service, wars, races, and ethnicities, from Vietnam to the present days and carefully tells their stories of trauma and the resilience and empowerment they display in their lives.
Eerily similar in the retelling, their experiences with MST range from hazing, bullying, misogyny, and sexual harassment to sexual assault and rape. Stories from the Front also includes incidents of race, ethnic, gender and sexual orientation disparities. Many of the book’s participants have never previously shared the full details of these experiences or spoken publicly before.
After serving 30 years in the Air Force, and as its most senior-ranking Latina officer upon retirement, Colonel Carrington Firmin was horrified by the appalling murder of a fellow Latina, Army Specialist Vanessa Guillén, in April 2020. Vanessa’s horrific death became the catalyst for repressed memories of the colonel’s own sexual assault during initial training and the repeated sexual harassment she endured early in her career and catapulted her on a soul-searching journey to document her own and others’ experiences and to advocate for change within the armed services. The colonel is proud of her service and the strong bonds she had with so many military professionals but acknowledges that now is the time to share the full reality of all that she experienced and endured. Stories from the Front: Pain, Betrayal, and Resilience on the MST Battlefield (Blue Ear Books www.blueearbooks.com April 2022) was awarded a Silver medal from the Military Writers Society of America in September 2023.
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