Healing Combat Trauma

Honoring Women Veterans Who Served and Suffered

October 12th through 16th is "Military Rape Awareness Week." In observation of that, the story of Colleen Mussolino, as retold by veterans advocate Susan Avila-Smith:

In Memory of Colleen Mussolino, Women Veteran Trailblazer

"I wanted to be an aviation engineer," Mussolino said.  "The recruiter said I could get into the program, but I found out that was closed to women." Instead she became a cook.  Soon the young WAC would find out just how differently women were regarded in the military.  On December 29, 1965, Colleen was raped by four men and left for dead.  She spent one night in the hospital and was sent right back to her barracks.  Colleen was treated like a prisoner of war, interrogated and was blackballed on the post trying to force her to sign a paper that she would not prosecute. Threatened with a dishonorable discharge, Mussolino signed the paper and was honorably discharged in March 1967.

For the next 20 years, Mussolino raised two sons, and lived her life.  But as time went by, the traumatic assault that was supposed to be covered up and forgotten began to take its toll.  "I was getting more and more short-tempered," Mussolino said. "My temper was just bad."  One day, while fishing with a World War II veteran, he told her she was entitled to veterans benefits.  She applied and began to receive benefits. She also joined a women's support group at the Brooklyn, N.Y. VA Medical Center.  "I was looking for other women who went through what I went through," Mussolino said. "Your civilian counterparts have no clue."

Women Veterans of America
With talk of the war breaking out in the Persian Gulf, she realized more women would be involved in combat than ever before.  In response, she co-founded Women Veterans of America to offer support and attention to the issues facing women in the military.  "The transition from military to civilian life is difficult," Mussolino said. "Once the uniform goes on, it never comes off." Their mission: Information and support for women veterans; liaision to government agencies; obtaining veterans' benefits and health care; advocacy in local and national isues affecting women veteran and women serving in the military. Pressure on Congress and the Department of Defense to cahnge the Uniform Code of Military Justice to include a fair avenue for victims of assault and rape to be able to report their cases and get their day in court. Punish those who perpetrate such crimes and offer protection from intimidation and threats for women who report the assaults. "The repercussions from the way the victims are treated only adds to the problem and can cause severe PTSD symptoms," the statement reads. "The UCMJ does not protect the victim, but instead rewards some perpetrators with promotion, and does not punish except with a slap on the wrist and a finger shaken in the face it continues.  It is difficult for many to fathom the emotional and physical turmoil that the men and women of the armed forces are put through.  To add sexual assault to the burden is unconscionable."

In November 1996, reports of sexual harrassment and sexual assault against women at the Army Proving Ground in Aberdeen, M.D., prompted "20/20" to put together an investigative piece on the military's handling of sexual assault.  A member of Women Veterans of America wrote to 20/20 about her own experience. "She was afraid to be interviewed because she had been given death threats," Mussolino said.  Instead, Mussolino agreed to share her own story of sexual assault and cover-up in the military with Peter Jennings. "I figured if anything came out of it, women would know they are not alone, and there is help," Mussolino said.  "Not only women are raped, but men are raped. The story seemed to validate them, too." During the show's airing, the Department of Veterans Affairs made a toll-free number available for women to call in for counseling.  "Over 3,000 women called that night from all diferent wars and branches of service," Mussolino said.  "The Department of Veterans Affairs realized more had to be done for women veterans." "A lot of Vietnam veteran women in this country don't come forward," said Mussolino.  They don't talk about it.  Those are the ones I want to reach. There is help. There is therapy by talking to a brother or a sister."

Despite her disabilities which have put her in a wheelchair, she would be at every significant event for MST and Vietnam vets, and was the primary point of contact for the media since the early 1970s.  Since Colleen's terminal illness, Women Veterans of America "decided that WVA is taking too much time on the issue of MST, and has dropped it from their services."

PTSD from Military Sexual Trauma (MST) is caused by sexual harrassment, rape and intimidation, or any improper sexual behavior.  Perpetrators often go unpunished, and have no "record" in an effort to play down the prevalence of assault and harrassment.

Editor's note: There's a "fan page" for Colleen Mussolino on Facebook, linked here.

Gone Fishin' -- with the Veteran Anglers of New York

Veteran Anglers of New York, Inc., according to its website, "is dedicated to the emotional and physical rehabilitation of disabled active duty military personnel and veterans through fly fishing, fly tying and outings."

They are sponsoring a trip to Eldred Preserve on October 17th, with fly-fishing casting practice sessions on October 12 and 26. Click here for more details.

While a fly-fishing outing certainly won't cure PTSD, it is likely to provide a convivial, relaxing break from the day-to-day worries and concerns of a combat veteran. Thanks to organizations like Veteran Anglers that sponsor trips like this for those who can benefit from them. Wonderful stuff. (Thanks, Merri, for the link!)

Healing Combat Trauma is Now a "Cause" on Facebook: Please Join

Social media like Facebook and Twitter are the wave of the future, and a great way to get the word out about what's important to us. We invite you to join Healing Combat Trauma, the "cause" on Facebook. So far, almost 3,500 other people have. Here's the link.

Thank you.

"Not Victims, but Veterans": Max Cleland Writes an Open Letter to Other Combat Veterans

Max Cleland, decorated Vietnam war hero, triple amputee, head of the Department of Veterans Affairs under President Carter, and PTSD sufferer, who came to that knowledge in later life, decades after his military service, has written a new book, called Heart of a Patriot: How I Found the Courage to Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed and Karl Rove.

There was an interview with Cleland on NPR's Morning Edition yesterday, October 6, 2009, linked here.

But most interesting for our purposes -- since this blog is about combat veterans and PTSD -- is the "open letter" to other veterans that Cleland writes, and which is excerpted as part of the NPR piece.

"As combat veterans," he writes, "we have been through some of the most traumatic life experiences possible. War is as close to hell on earth as anything ever could be. That does make us different from our loved ones back home. War marks us all, some more deeply than others."

There's some wonderful, heart-felt expression in this letter:

"The soldier's lot is to be exposed to traumatic, life-threatening events — happenings that take us to places no bodies, minds, or souls should ever visit. It is a journey to the dark places of life — terror, fear, pain, death, wounding, loss, grief, despair, and hopelessness. We have been traumatized physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Some of us cope with exposure to hell better than others. Some are able to think of their combat experiences as but unpleasant vignettes in a long and wonderful life. It is not to those veterans I am speaking. I love them, but I am not afraid for them.

I am speaking to the rest of my brothers and sisters, those who find themselves trapped in the misery of memories as I was for so long. For them, I am afraid.To those veterans I say, you are not alone.

Many of us have been overwhelmed by war. Many of us have been unable to cope on our own with what has happened to us or with what we have done. Many of us have been left hopeless, lost, and confused about ourselves and our lives in ways we never thought possible.

That does not make us victims. It makes us veterans."

The rest of the open letter is equally wonderful, and well worth reading. In it, Cleland talks about his own personal highs and lows, what he understands about PTSD and his own case, and what has helped him get through. It's clear the concern and caring he feels for other combat vets. The letter is linked here.