{"product_id":"the-lonely-soldier-isbn-9780807061497","title":"The Lonely Soldier","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Lonely Soldier\u003c\/i\u003e--the inspiration for the documentary \u003ci\u003eThe Invisible War\u003c\/i\u003e--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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eMore 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.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Lonely Soldier\u003c\/i\u003e, 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. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBenedict 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, \u003ci\u003eThe Lonely Soldier\u003c\/i\u003e is a clarion call for change.One. The Lonely Soldier\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e PART ONE \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBefore\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  Two. From Girl to Soldier: Life before the Military\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Tthree. They Break You Down, Then Build You\u003cbr\u003e Back Up: \u003ci\u003eMickiela Montoya\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Four. They Told Us We Were Going to Be Peacekeepers:\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eJennifer Spranger\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Five. The Assault Was Just One Bad Person, but It Was a\u003cbr\u003e Turning Point for Me: \u003ci\u003eAbbie Pickett\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Six. These Morons Are Going to Get Us Killed:\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eTerris Dewalt-Johnson\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Seven. This War Is Full of Crazy People:\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eEli PaintedCrow\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e PART TWO \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eWar\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Eeight. It’s Pretty Much Just You and Your Rifle:\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eJennifer Spranger, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nine. You’re Just Lying There Waiting to See\u003cbr\u003e Who’s Going to Die: \u003ci\u003eAbbie Pickett, –\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ten. You Become Hollow, Like a Robot:\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eEli PaintedCrow, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Eleven. I Wasn’t Carrying the Knife for the Enemy,\u003cbr\u003e I Was Carrying It for the Guys on My Own Side:\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eMickiela Montoya, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Twelve. Mommy, Love You. Hope You Don’t Get Killed\u003cbr\u003e in Iraq: \u003ci\u003eTerris Dewalt-Johnson, –\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e PART THREE \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eAfter\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Thirteen. Coming Home\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Fourteen. Fixing the Future\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Appendix a. Military Ranks and Organization\u003cbr\u003e Appendix b. Where to Find Help\u003cbr\u003e  Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e  Notes\u003cbr\u003e  IndexBenedict'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, \u003ci\u003eForeWord\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Whether the soldiers' language is plainspoken or poetic, Helen Benedict's book gives them a place to tell their stories. . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Lonely Soldier\u003c\/i\u003e has strong merit as an account of women's military experience in this long and reckless war.\"—Amy Herdy, \u003ci\u003eMs.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"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 \u003ci\u003eAnd Their Children after Them\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Lonely Soldier\u003c\/i\u003e 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, \u003ci\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A stunning chronicle of abuses suffered by women enlisted in the U.S. Army and serving in Iraq.\"—\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"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 \u003ci\u003eThe Vagina Monologues\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eHelen Benedict, \u003c\/b\u003ea professor of journalism at Columbia University, has written frequently on women, race, and justice. Her books include \u003ci\u003eVirgin or Vamp: How the Press Covers Sex Crimes\u003c\/i\u003e and the novels \u003ci\u003eThe Opposite of Love, The Sailor's Wife, Bad Angel\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eA World Like This\u003c\/i\u003e. Her work on soldiers won the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism.\u003cb\u003eOne: \u003c\/b\u003eThe Lonely Soldier\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn a blustery night in March 2004, I joined a small crowd in New York\u003cbr\u003e City to honor the citizens and soldiers who had died in the first year of\u003cbr\u003e the Iraq War. Among us were children, Vietnam veterans, and a mother\u003cbr\u003e whose young soldier son had just been killed; she held his wide-eyed\u003cbr\u003e picture up throughout the vigil. Huddling together for warmth, we lit\u003cbr\u003e candles and read aloud the names and ages of the dead. After each\u003cbr\u003e name, a woman struck a huge drum, making a hollow thud that chilled\u003cbr\u003e us more than any cold.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e We began with the soldiers: Christian Gurtner, 19. Lori Ann Piestewa,\u003cbr\u003e 23. . . .\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Once 906 American names had been read, a young man took the\u003cbr\u003e microphone and read the names of some of the many thousands of\u003cbr\u003e Iraqis who had been killed thus far: Valantina Yomas, 2. Falah Hasun,\u003cbr\u003e 9 . . . infants and teenagers, mothers and fathers, toddlers and grandmothers\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e It took at least an hour to read all those names, and afterwards the\u003cbr\u003e young man explained why he knew how to pronounce them: “I’m a\u003cbr\u003e soldier just back from Iraq,” he said, “and we’re being used as cannon\u003cbr\u003e fodder. We’re being sent into war without body armor or decent vehicles\u003cbr\u003e to protect us. And most of the people who are dying in this war are\u003cbr\u003e civilians.”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e I was taken aback. This was the first anniversary of the U.S. invasion,\u003cbr\u003e and it was unpopular for anyone to criticize the way the war was\u003cbr\u003e the lonely soldier\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e being run, let alone someone who had fought in it. Surely this young\u003cbr\u003e soldier was going to be called a traitor by his comrades. So I began to\u003cbr\u003e follow the other few veterans who were speaking out like him, curious\u003cbr\u003e to see what they were up against, which is how I found army specialist\u003cbr\u003e Mickiela Montoya and learned about women at war.\u003cbr\u003e I first saw Mickiela in November 2006, standing silently in the back\u003cbr\u003e of a Manhattan classroom while a group of male veterans spoke to a\u003cbr\u003e small audience. Sentiment had shifted by then, and a poll had just been\u003cbr\u003e released showing that the majority of soldiers were now highly critical\u003cbr\u003e of why and how the war was being fought. Among women serving in\u003cbr\u003e Iraq at the time, 80 percent said they thought the United States should\u003cbr\u003e withdraw within a year, and among men, 69.4 percent agreed.1 Wondering\u003cbr\u003e how this young woman might feel, I approached her. “Are you a\u003cbr\u003e veteran too?” I asked.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Yes, but nobody believes me.” She tucked her long red hair behind\u003cbr\u003e her ears. “I was in Iraq getting bombed and shot at, but people won’t\u003cbr\u003e even listen when I say I was at war because I’m a female.”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “I’ll listen,” I said. And soon I was listening to all sorts of female\u003cbr\u003e soldiers from all over the country who wanted to tell their stories.\u003cbr\u003e In the end, I interviewed some forty soldiers and veterans for this\u003cbr\u003e book, most of them women. The majority had served in Iraq, but a few\u003cbr\u003e had been deployed to Afghanistan or elsewhere. I included a variety of\u003cbr\u003e ranks, from privates up to a general; all military branches except the\u003cbr\u003e Coast Guard; and soldiers on active duty as well as those in the reserves\u003cbr\u003e and the National Guard. I thus use the word \u003ci\u003esoldier \u003c\/i\u003eto mean members\u003cbr\u003e of the Marine Corps and air force as well as the army.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Some women had only positive things to say about their service: it\u003cbr\u003e had given them a responsibility they never would have found in civilian\u003cbr\u003e life, and they were proud of what they’d accomplished. This was particularly\u003cbr\u003e true of soldiers in medical units. Captain Claudia Tascon of\u003cbr\u003e the New Jersey National Guard, who immigrated to the United States\u003cbr\u003e from Colombia at age thirteen and served in Iraq from 2004 to 2005,\u003cbr\u003e was one of these. “Because I’m more in the curing business than the\u003cbr\u003e killing business, I’ve seen the good of what we’ve done. We had dentists\u003cbr\u003e and doctors put themselves in harm’s way to help kids in villages. I was\u003cbr\u003e in charge of a warehouse, supplying medical and infantry units all over\u003cbr\u003e northern Iraq, and I was also supplying the Iraqi army, who had nothing\u003cbr\u003e for wounds except saline solution. So I can’t say anything bad about the\u003cbr\u003e the lonely soldier\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e war.” Then she added, “In the civilian world, you’d never have a twentythree-\u003cbr\u003e year-old in charge of people’s lives and millions of dollars worth\u003cbr\u003e of supplies like I was.”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Marine Corps major Meredith Brown, who comes from New Orleans,\u003cbr\u003e was so proud of her service in Iraq that she said she would go back\u003cbr\u003e in a flash if called, even though she’d had a child since her return. “If I\u003cbr\u003e got killed out there, my son would understand that I’d died to protect\u003cbr\u003e him and other Americans from terrorists coming to our backyard.”\u003cbr\u003e But most of the Iraq War veterans I talked to were much more ambivalent.\u003cbr\u003e Some praised the military but considered the war disastrous,\u003cbr\u003e others found their entire service a nightmare, while yet others fell in\u003cbr\u003e between.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e From all these women, I chose to feature five whose stories best\u003cbr\u003e reflected the various experiences of female soldiers in Iraq, although I\u003cbr\u003e have included the stories of others as well. As different as these soldiers\u003cbr\u003e are, they all agreed to be in this book because they wanted to be honest\u003cbr\u003e about what war does to others and what it does to us. Above all, they\u003cbr\u003e wanted people to know what it is like to be a woman at war.","brand":"Beacon Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301242622181,"sku":"NP9780807061497","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780807061497.jpg?v=1767740298","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-lonely-soldier-isbn-9780807061497","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}