ABSTRACT
It is a Saturday afternoon, Fall, 2008. I (LTC Rasmussen) am sitting in a room in a circle with 30 women veterans from Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and all branches of the Armed Forces. I am thinking to myself, “How am I going to keep a conversation on Military Sexual Trauma (MST) going here for two solid hours, especially at the end of a long day of speakers?” I ask them to introduce themselves and tell the group why they chose to attend this session and what they expect to get out of being here. I am thinking, “Whew, this will kill some time!” By the time it is the second veteran’s turn to speak, I realize that something is going to happen here that I had never expected, and that I have no control over it. The years and stories begin to flow—time is peeled back as we listen to the story of a Korean War female veteran; how she had been so proud to serve and wear the uniform until she was repeatedly sexually harassed and assaulted by fellow service members. “Breathe,” I tell myself, as she admits she has never shared this information in her life.
