Soldier Girls: The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War

Soldier Girls by Helen Thorpe explores women in the military through three women’s stories. These women signed up for the Indiana National Guard but eventually find themselves serving in combat zones in Afghanistan and Iraq. These three women all had different reasons why they join the National Guard, but none of them was expecting what happened on September 11, 2001. After that date, things changed and all three women were eventually shipped off to the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Through detailed interviews the author chronicles not only what it was like to find their lives disrupted, their family in turmoil as they were sent to far distant lands, but also each woman had their own backstory and history. What I found most show more interesting was when they described the boredom, the isolation and the terror of serving in places where land mines and roadside bombs were a constant threat. On top of all the problems that soldiers have, being a woman in a male dominated military was extremely difficult as they faced sexual harassment, lack of consideration and being treated as second class citizens from their fellow soldiers. Trying to be a good soldier in these particular countries was difficult as well as the religion of the civilian population dictated that women should be at home being wives and mothers not out in the world pursuing careers.

Soldier Girls read like a novel, as the author lays out their stories over the course of four years and relates incidences from both their time away and the difficult transition to being back home. These women come alive and become real people on these pages, and their story is powerful, moving and informative. show less

Helen Thorpe examines issues related to women in the National Guard during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars in her wonderful book, Soldier Girls. She follows three women who share many experiences with their male counterparts including multiple deployments, disillusionment with the military, substance abuse, difficulty in adjusting to civilian life after their return, PTSD, challenges receiving good medical care from the VA, and an intense sense of camaraderie from a shared experience.They vary in age and come from quite different backgrounds, but all were from modest means. Others have emphasized that these are the people who are fighting our wars today. Their motivations for joining varied but probably represent those of many who show more volunteer for the National Guard, including desire for a college education, a shared family military history, or interest in travel and adventure. Thorpe's investigation derives its value from its focus on the additional challenges that women in the National Guard face that the males feel less intensely. As the main childcare parent--often single--they are responsible for children. This can lead to parental guilt feelings, behavioral problems for the children and a sense of abandonment for both. These women also experience similar feelings with respect to their significant others. Although men who go to war are not immune to these feelings, as the primary nurturing partner, women clearly experience them more intensely. Being women in a male dominated profession, they also experience prejudices that can limit their chances for recognition and advancement. The issue of women in combat is handled quite well, suggesting that the manpower demands of conducting two wars with an all volunteer force inevitably lead to opening these opportunities up for women but it was already happening to some extent informally. Driving a truck in Iraq was definitely combat and this was a task open to women. Despite the prevalence of stories of sexual harassment in the military, it was surprising how well these three women coped with the social and sexual pressures of their situations. All three clearly were proactive in these matters and none were victimized. In fact they formed some of their strongest bonds with their male colleagues. show less

This book was a book club read, otherwise I might not have picked it up. I am a woman veteran; I enlisted in the Army in 1969. Things have changed in the military since then. These women are National Guard enlistees, and until their Guard Unit was called up, they were not in the military in the same way that an Army or a Navy enlistee is. Their expectation was one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer, not a year in Iraq. As an in depth examination of how being deployed can change the directory of one's life, the book succeeds. All of the women the book follows were damaged by their experiences, some more than others. I feel politicians who want to send people to war zones should be required to read this book.

Three women who enlisted in the National Guard pre-9/11, and were deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. Nothing extraordinary about the women, their circumstances, their experiences; and this is the strength of the book, a meticulous recording of decisions made, lives disrupted, bonds formed.

The stories of three women are explored in detail in this book, which tackles the weighty subjects of the War on Terror, women serving in the military, and gender roles. The gulf between the experience of military personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq and the public perception of the wars was striking throughout this book, delving into the mixed feelings even those serving in the military had about the conflicts. I would highly recommend this book for so many reasons, but primarily because it helped me better understand the American military, the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the lasting impact of those conflicts on veterans.

I was overall a little disappointed by the book. The three women featured in the book are every day women, the women you'd meet in line at the grocery store, or your neighbor or a co-worker. They are all very human, with a lot of faults and weaknesses, and it really made it hard for me to like them, especially one of the featured ladies. I just couldn't really relate to any of the three women, but the book is well written, the pacing is great, it held my interest, I just wish the women were a little more likeable.

On the other hand, I think it's fabulous that the author, Thorpe, chose to write about REAL, every day women.

I learned a lot about women in the military and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The women's lives were interesting and there was in depth information. However, certain parts of the text seemed manipulated to fit the author's point of view.