Last week I had the privilege of attending a classroom interview of Debbie Helton, one of the brave women whose live during the war was narrated in the biography Soldier Girls by Helen Thorpe. The biography follows Debbie as well as Desma Brooks and Michelle Fischer, all three women from the Indiana National Guard, for almost eight years while they struggle balancing deployment as well as life in the military and civilian life.
The biography starts with Michelle Fischer, which is an alias because she did not want to reveal her true name with all of the personal information revealed in the book. She joins while in college so she can pay for classes and Michelle mentions that getting in shape is a bonus. She seems the least likely to join the military but figures that only a couple weekends a month and two weeks a year is worth achieving her dream of going to college and finally becoming more than her siblings.
Desma Brooks signed up for the military on a dare and grew to love working in the military. She dealt with an unsteady marriage and her children before being deployed to Afghanistan and makes friends with both Michelle and Debbie, a friendship that they all still uphold today. Desma’s story is easily the most inspiring to read about the hardships she faced and still persevered through two deployments. She pulls pranks constantly to maintain her sanity in what she calls “an ocean of green tents”. Desma refuses to left her deployment change her.
Debbie resembled the mother figure for all of the women during deployment, making sure all the women still felt feminine by providing haircuts and helping with most of their needs. Debbie joined because she is in a military family and always thought it was her calling. She loved being deployed and said she would go back if they asked, even though she’s retired from the military.
Helen Thorpe reveals the truths about women in the military, something that is very controversial in recent times. She reveals that soldiers find a community through deployment that they can always depend on. Debbie revealed that all three women still maintain contact and find a way to meet each other every year, although they are now in two different states. Thorpe’s narration of the three lives is moving and inspiring and Debbie Helton is as wonderful in person as she seems in the biography.
The biography starts with Michelle Fischer, which is an alias because she did not want to reveal her true name with all of the personal information revealed in the book. She joins while in college so she can pay for classes and Michelle mentions that getting in shape is a bonus. She seems the least likely to join the military but figures that only a couple weekends a month and two weeks a year is worth achieving her dream of going to college and finally becoming more than her siblings.
Desma Brooks signed up for the military on a dare and grew to love working in the military. She dealt with an unsteady marriage and her children before being deployed to Afghanistan and makes friends with both Michelle and Debbie, a friendship that they all still uphold today. Desma’s story is easily the most inspiring to read about the hardships she faced and still persevered through two deployments. She pulls pranks constantly to maintain her sanity in what she calls “an ocean of green tents”. Desma refuses to left her deployment change her.
Debbie resembled the mother figure for all of the women during deployment, making sure all the women still felt feminine by providing haircuts and helping with most of their needs. Debbie joined because she is in a military family and always thought it was her calling. She loved being deployed and said she would go back if they asked, even though she’s retired from the military.
Helen Thorpe reveals the truths about women in the military, something that is very controversial in recent times. She reveals that soldiers find a community through deployment that they can always depend on. Debbie revealed that all three women still maintain contact and find a way to meet each other every year, although they are now in two different states. Thorpe’s narration of the three lives is moving and inspiring and Debbie Helton is as wonderful in person as she seems in the biography.