Military Student Affairs Office

Voices of America: Veterans and Military Families Tell Their Own Stories collects dozens of personal accounts of military life from World War II to the present day. These narratives from Texas Christian University students, faculty, staff, alumni, and family range from deadly combat to downtime, from family dynamics to life after military service. Although the contributors share a connection with TCU and each experience is unique, they share a common bond with all Americans who have served their country across far-flung zones of conflict and decades of history, and speak with urgent relevance to American society today.

Military Finances is essential reading for any soldier, veteran, or military family member concerned with their financial future. Members of the military often have a tough time handling their finances, whether it be while serving active duty or when returning to civilian life; and our uncertain economy and job market only magnify those issues. Many serving in the military are young, with little or no training in financial affairs, and face frequent deployments and relocations--all of which can wreak havoc on a person's finances. This book provides a one-stop guide to navigating the many financial questions facing today's military in all phases of service: -Active duty -Preparing for transition or retirement -And post-military lives and careers It covers general financial planning along with many specific aspects of money management vital to military members and their families, proving an indispensable and informative resource for those who fight to defend our freedoms every day, and have for generations.

Too Strong to Be Broken explores the dynamic life of Edward J. Driving Hawk, a Vietnam and Korean War veteran, chairman of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, former president of the National Congress of American Indians, husband, father, recovered alcoholic, and convicted felon. Driving Hawk's story begins with his childhood on the rural plains of South Dakota, then follows him as he travels back and forth to Asia for two wars and journeys across the Midwest and Southwest. In his positions of leadership back in the United States, Driving Hawk acted in the best interest of his community, even when sparring with South Dakota governor Bill Janklow and the FBI. After retiring from public service, he started a construction business and helped create the United States Reservation Bank and Trust. Unfortunately, a key participant in the bank embezzled millions and fled, leaving Driving Hawk to take the blame. Rather than plead guilty to a crime he did not commit, the seventy-four-year-old grandfather went to prison for a year and a day, even as he suffered the debilitating effects of Agent Orange. Driving Hawk fully believes that the spirits of his departed ancestors watched out for him during his twenty-year career in the U.S. Air Force, including his exposure to Agent Orange, and throughout his life as he survived surgeries, strokes, a tornado, a plane crash, and alcoholism. With the help of his sister, Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, Driving Hawk recounts his life's story alongside his wife, Carmen, and their five children.  

From Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, the author of the New York Times bestseller The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, comes the story of a unique team of warriors -- women who could not be Army Rangers and Navy SEALS in their own right, but who answered the call to get as close to the fight as the Army had ever allowed women to be -- including Ashley White, a beloved soldier who was killed serving her country's cause In 2010, the Army created Cultural Support Teams, a secret pilot program to insert women alongside Special Operations soldiers battling in Afghanistan. The Army reasoned that women could play a unique role on Special Ops teams: accompanying their male colleagues on raids and, while those soldiers were searching for insurgents, questioning the women living at the compound. Their presence had a calming effect on enemy households, but more importantly, the CSTs were able to search adult women for weapons and gather crucial intelligence. They could build relationships in ways that male soldiers in an Islamic country never could. In Ashley's War, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon uses on-the-ground reporting and a finely tuned understanding of the complexities of war to tell the story of CST-2, a unit of women hand-picked from the Army to serve in this highly specialized and challenging role. The pioneers of CST-2 proved for the first time, at least to some grizzled Special Operations soldiers, that women are physically and mentally tough enough to become one of them. The price of this professional acceptance came in personal loss and social isolation: the only people who really understand the women of CST-2 are each other. At the center of this story is a friendship cemented by "Glee," video games, and the shared perils and seductive powers of up-close combat. At the heart of the team is the tale of a beloved and effective soldier, Ashley White. Much as she did in her bestselling The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, Lemmon transports readers to a world they previously had no idea existed: a community of women called to fulfill the military's mission to "win hearts and minds" and bound together by danger, valor, and determination. Ashley's War is a gripping combat narrative and a moving story of friendship--a book that will change the way readers think about war and the meaning of service.

As more women serve in the military, the number of women veterans has grown substantially, doubling from 4 percent of all veterans in 1990 to 8 percent, or an estimated 1.8 million, today. The number of women veterans will continue to increase as service-members return from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of these women veterans, like their male counterparts, face challenges readjusting to civilian life and are at risk of becoming homeless. Additionally, as more women veterans are seeking care at VA facilities, Congress and others have raised concerns about how well VA's health care system is prepared to meet the unique physical and mental health needs of these women. This book examines the issues of women veterans health care and the key policies needed to improve oversight processes and the necessary actions that need to be taken to ensure safe and appropriate housing upon their return.

How have Americans grappled with the moral and financial issues of veterans' health care? In the World War I era, veterans fought for a unique right: access to government-sponsored health care. In the process, they built a pillar of American social policy. Burdens of War explores how the establishment of the veterans' health system marked a reimagining of modern veterans' benefits and signaled a pathbreaking validation of the power of professionalized institutional medical care. Adler reveals that a veterans' health system came about incrementally, amid skepticism from legislators, doctors, and army officials concerned about the burden of long-term obligations, monetary or otherwise, to ex-service members. She shows how veterans' welfare shifted from centering on pension and domicile care programs rooted in the nineteenth century to direct access to health services. She also traces the way that fluctuating ideals about hospitals and medical care influenced policy at the dusk of the Progressive Era; how race, class, and gender affected the health-related experiences of soldiers, veterans, and caregivers; and how interest groups capitalized on a tense political and social climate to bring about change. The book moves from the 1910s--when service members requested better treatment, Congress approved new facilities and increased funding, and elected officials expressed misgivings about who should have access to care--to the 1930s, when the economic crash prompted veterans to increasingly turn to hospitals for support while bureaucrats, politicians, and doctors attempted to rein in the system. By the eve of World War II, the roots of what would become the country's largest integrated health care system were firmly planted and primed for growth. Drawing readers into a critical debate about the level of responsibility America bears for wounded service members, Burdens of War is a unique and moving case study.

The Navigation Case reveals the drama and sacrifice expended by America's pioneering pilots' first ever demonstration of air superiority, during the greatest campaign in U.S. Air Force history. An aged and glossy leather briefcase was discovered when our family house was cleaned out and sold. We came to learn that my father had meticulously collected his military documents, private letters, and souvenirs, and packed them away in this--his pilot's navigation case. From randomly within, a newspaper article tumbled out. It described a massive typhoon in New Guinea causing "horror and tragedy" and resulting in incredible untold loss of men and aircraft. But larger questions remained unanswered: What was my father, or any American, doing in New Guinea, of all places? If America was fighting Japan, why were we fighting in New Guinea? Aviation as an industry was in its infancy. The sagas of pioneering pilots detail fascinating but deadly cadet training and violent air missions. The narrative flourishes into an incredible story giving the context for all the Pacific war stories from Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Midway island, and Iwo Jima, up to the avoidable catastrophes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Blending illustrative narratives from veterans with cutting-edge research, this book provides a model for a needed shift from treatment post-trauma to psychological training pre-trauma to prevent deep depression and resulting suicides. As suicides among members of the U.S. military and veterans continue at a rate higher than in the general population--nearly 20 each day--and their calls for help become louder, with three veterans waiting for treatment outside Veterans Administration hospitals in 2019 committing suicide, authors and former U.S. Marines Kate Hendricks Thomas and Sarah Plummer Taylor present a call for a new approach to help halt the needless deaths. Thomas, now a researcher and assistant professor of public health, and Plummer Taylor, now a social worker and adjunct professor, detail a plan to establish preventative training for mental fitness that will help psychologically "vaccinate" service members against depression and PTSD, the most common precursors to suicidal thoughts. Thomas and Plummer Taylor detail their mental fitness training program to shift from post-trauma treatment to pre-trauma prevention. Each topic addressed is illustrated with stories from veterans. Part of the solution, Thomas and Plummer Taylor explain, is to present prevention as something for all service members and as a positive, strength-building, challenging activity for champions, as opposed to a post-trauma treatment only for "weak and broken" warriors.

"An utterly compelling account of the African Americans who played a crucial and dangerous role in the invasion of Europe. The story of their heroic duty is long overdue." --Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation The injustices of 1940s Jim Crow America are brought to life in this extraordinary blend of military and social history--a story that pays tribute to the valor of an all-Black battalion whose crucial contributions at D-Day have gone unrecognized to this day. In the early hours of June 6, 1944, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, a unit of African-American soldiers, landed on the beaches of France. Their orders were to man a curtain of armed balloons meant to deter enemy aircraft. One member of the 320th would be nominated for the Medal of Honor, an award he would never receive. The nation's highest decoration was not given to Black soldiers in World War II. Drawing on newly uncovered military records and dozens of original interviews with surviving members of the 320th and their families, Linda Hervieux tells the story of these heroic men charged with an extraordinary mission, whose contributions to one of the most celebrated events in modern history have been overlooked. Members of the 320th--Wilson Monk, a jack-of-all-trades from Atlantic City; Henry Parham, the son of sharecroppers from rural Virginia; William Dabney, an eager 17-year-old from Roanoke, Virginia; Samuel Mattison, a charming romantic from Columbus, Ohio--and thousands of other African Americans were sent abroad to fight for liberties denied them at home. In England and Europe, these soldiers discovered freedom they had not known in a homeland that treated them as second-class citizens--experiences they carried back to America, fueling the budding civil rights movement. In telling the story of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, Hervieux offers a vivid account of the tension between racial politics and national service in wartime America, and a moving narrative of human bravery and perseverance in the face of injustice.

Veterans' Journeys Home is a vivid portrayal of military life and its aftermath for US troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Highlighting the challenges US veterans face in today's changing military culture, the book depicts the haunting and visceral memories of returning soldiers, conversations with mental health providers, and offers an alternative approach to healing the emotional wounds of war. For anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the human costs of recent wars this book is invaluable. It combines a moving narrative with a penetrating analysis of the welfare and post-conflict treatment of veterans.

As soldiers return from war, they begin the difficult process of re-assimilating into society. Veterans' Rights and Benefits is written for the returning and active soldier and his or her family in an effort to clarify those rights available to them, as well as explain some of the obstacles they may encounter in seeking them. Author, Margaret C. Jasper explains in detail rights and benefits such as basic health care, including specializations including PTSD or amputation therapies; education and vocational rehabilitation, which spans from college education and funding to basic reintegration rehabilitation; compensation and pension benefits, applications, qualifications, and spousal support; home loans, applications, qualifications, and rate details; life insurance, terms of applications and extent of coverage; and burial and survivor benefits. This Almanac serves as a one-stop resource for accessing the most up-to-date information on the rights and benefits of Veterans in an easy-to-read format.

Readers will explore the treatment of veterans, and the impact, positive or negative, of the Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.) on veterans' needs. Across four chapters, essays are either for or against various topics, allowing readers to sharpen their critical thinking skills. Essays discuss service issues for veterans diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, and looks at ways in which the government can best help veterans, from a new G.I. Bill to assured funding for V.A. services.

Active duty military and veterans face special challenges in dealing with Higher Education. Written by those who have both served and taught, this text provides invaluable information, Web pointers, and insights. It is designed to help those serving and veterans-but also professors, advisors, and administrations. Treatment provides unique considerations for both campus-based and online education.    Infuse student success into any program with our "IDentity" Series booklets.  Written by national subject matter experts, the material contains strategies and activities for immediate application.  If you like this IDentity Series: Finding Finding Success as a Returning Veteran or Military Student, you will love the other options available: Financial Responsibility (Clearpoint Financial), Now You're Thinking about College (Judy Chartrand et.al.), Now You're Thinking about Your Career (Judy Chartrand et.al.), Ownership (Megan Stone), and Financial Literacy (Farnoosh Torabi).   AVAILABILITY: It is available via our Pearson Custom Library program as a standalone product or as part of a custom text.  Go to http://www.pearsonlearningsolutions.com/custom-library/pearson-custom-student-success-and-career-development  to view the content and build your book! 

Eleven wounded U.S. veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, each, dealing with different issues and looking to move on with their lives. They join an expedition to climb the 20,000 foot Himalayan giant Mount Lobuche. Led by blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer and a team of Mt. Everest summiteers as their guides, they set out on an emotional and gripping climb to reach the top and heal the emotional and physical wounds of the longest war in U.S. history.

In his breakout bestseller, The Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger created "a wild ride that brilliantly captures the awesome power of the raging sea and the often futile attempts of humans to withstand it" (Los Angeles Times Book Review). Now, Junger turns his brilliant and empathetic eye to the reality of combat--the fear, the honor, and the trust among men in an extreme situation whose survival depends on their absolute commitment to one another. His on-the-ground account follows a single platoon through a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. Through the experiences of these young men at war, he shows what it means to fight, to serve, and to face down mortal danger on a daily basis.

We have a strong instinct to belong to small groups defined by clear purpose and understanding--"tribes." This tribal connection has been largely lost in modern society, but regaining it may be the key to our psychological survival. Decades before the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin lamented that English settlers were constantly fleeing over to the Indians-but Indians almost never did the same. Tribal society has been exerting an almost gravitational pull on Westerners for hundreds of years, and the reason lies deep in our evolutionary past as a communal species. The most recent example of that attraction is combat veterans who come home to find themselves missing the incredibly intimate bonds of platoon life. The loss of closeness that comes at the end of deployment may explain the high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by military veterans today. Combining history, psychology, and anthropology, Tribe explores what we can learn from tribal societies about loyalty, belonging, and the eternal human quest for meaning. It explains the irony that-for many veterans as well as civilians-war feels better than peace, adversity can turn out to be a blessing, and disasters are sometimes remembered more fondly than weddings or tropical vacations. Tribe explains why we are stronger when we come together, and how that can be achieved even in today's divided world.

After completing military service, veterans can have a difficult time finding employment when returning to civilian life. Out of Uniform, Second Edition is designed to help all transitioning military personnel, regardless of service, branch, rank, rating, time in service, time in grade, or specialty. Although all service members share common denominators, each individual brings something unique to the job market. Not only does this book cover the basics--search techniques, networking, interview preparation, résumés, negotiation, and a new chapter on social media--it also offers guidance on topics that are often overlooked, specifically the central issues of self-knowledge, interviewing empathy, and the power of questions. In addition to the technical guidance, readers will also discover important information in the anecdotes based on the experiences of soldiers, sailors, air force personnel, and marines. Out of Uniform, Second Edition is an invaluable resource for veterans who want to make the most out of their civilian career opportunities.  

In War & Homecoming: Veteran Identity and the Post-9/11 Generation, Travis L. Martin explores how a new generation of veterans is redefining what it means to come home. More than 2.7 million veterans served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their homecomings didn't include parades or national celebrations. Instead, when the last US troops left Afghanistan, American veterans raised millions of dollars for the evacuation of Afghan refugees, especially those who'd served alongside them. This brand of selflessness is one reason civilians regard veterans with reverence and pride. The phrase "thank you for your service" is ubiquitous. Yet, one in ten post-9/11 veterans struggles with substance abuse. Fifteen to twenty veterans die by suicide every day. Veterans aged eighteen to thirty-four die at the highest rates, leading advocates to focus on concepts like moral injury and collective belonging when addressing psychic wounds. Martin argues that many veterans struggle due to decades of stereotyping and a lack of healthy models of veteran identity. In the American unconscious, veterans are treated as either the superficially praised "hero" or the victimized "wounded warrior," forever defined by past accomplishments. They are often appropriated as symbols in competing narratives of national identity. War & Homecoming critically examines representations of veterans in patriotic rhetoric, popular media, literature, and the lives of those who served. From this analysis, a new veteran identity emerges--veterans as storytellers who reject stereotypes, claim their symbolic authority, and define themselves through literature, art, and service. Their dynamic approach to life after military service allows for continued growth, agency, individuality, and inspiring examples of resilience for others.

Mothers occupy a complex gendered location during wartime. Even though women are now serving in combat positions, they have historically held down the home front, where family labor is still assigned disproportionately to women. Mothers of the Military examines the distinctive kinds of support required during an increasingly privatized war, specifically material, moral, and health-care support. Mothers are a key part of the current support system for service members, and Wendy Christensen follows mothers of US service members in the War on Terrorism through the stages of recruitment, deployment, and post-deployment, and brings to light the experiences and stories of women who are largely invisible during war. Book jacket.