Welcome Abbie Pickett!
I want to introduce our newest addition to the Rock the Vote blog: Abbie Pickett.
A member of the Army National Guard, Abbie served with the 229th Combat Support Equipment Company. She now lives in Madison, WI. Abbie is devoted to increasing awareness of women's issues within the military. Abbie has been working with the Wisconsin VA on the Returning Women Veterans Appreciation Gift Project along with former First Lady of Wisconsin and Founder & President of the Wisconsin Women's Health Foundation, Sue Ann Thompson. She has also worked as an intern in External Affairs for Governor Jim Doyle. Currently, Abbie is working with OpTruth, America's largest Iraq and Afghanistan veterans' group.
Abbie will be posting periodically with her point of view on military issues at home and abroad.
A member of the Army National Guard, Abbie served with the 229th Combat Support Equipment Company. She now lives in Madison, WI. Abbie is devoted to increasing awareness of women's issues within the military. Abbie has been working with the Wisconsin VA on the Returning Women Veterans Appreciation Gift Project along with former First Lady of Wisconsin and Founder & President of the Wisconsin Women's Health Foundation, Sue Ann Thompson. She has also worked as an intern in External Affairs for Governor Jim Doyle. Currently, Abbie is working with OpTruth, America's largest Iraq and Afghanistan veterans' group.
Abbie will be posting periodically with her point of view on military issues at home and abroad.
posted by Hans Riemer at 2:36 PM
6 Comments:
Die interessante Neuheit, Danke für die Publikation
Abbie---Although you may feel terror and pain for many more years due to your trauma, let me tell you firsthand
that your service and dedication is, first and foremost, appreciated beyond anything you can imagine. You, and the hundreds of thousand(s) of others have gone above and beyond the call of duty---you are the true unsung hero(ines) in a world full of greed and ignorance. You will have my unequivocal support---regardless of the political idiocrats!
There are times that we cannot choose our path, but, our destiny, to regain our self-worth, and, our subsequent re-birth, are the first steps toward a renewed human existence.
Keep on surviving! You are not alone---BLESS YOU~! :)
Dear Abbie,
Thank you for your service in the defense of our freedom. I'm sorry that your service has left you with the PTSD problem but I want to tell you that life goes on. Yes, you will carry the extra baggage but as with all of life's experiences the choice as to what you do with it will be yours. I see from articles that you are very active in a lot of causes and I applaud you for staying in the fight.
John Stuart Mill (English economist & philosopher (1806 - 1873) made an interesting point when he said "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
A long time ago I had that on a plaque in my room in Viet Nam. It remains true today as it was then. I'm too old to go to this round so it always falls to the young to do the actual fighting but your service was a blessing to me, my family and the country and we all thank you.
God Bless,
Zot
Covey 250 / Rustic 55
OV-10 pilot in Laos & Cambodia '70-71
Please feel free to drop me a line direct zot250 -at- ameritech.net
Welcome home Abbie. I also thank you for your service to America. You are fortunate to be so young and to receive your benefits so soon after returning home. There are and were so many of us, especially women who died never knowing they even had anything coming to them and died suffering PTSD. I am one of them. I always knew something was wrong and so did so many others around me. But what? I secluded myself away from everyone and everything. What else could I do? It seemed so natural. While the VA was always there just around the corner outside my door, it was not there for me or others like me. First being a woman and secondly PTSD was not even defined. It was even less defined if the PTSD one experienced was from a sexual assault. It wasn't until 1984 that the VA even got a Women's Advisory Committee to even begin looking at the unique needs of women veterans. Then it took them until 1999 to even begin looking at MST. Then it was not advertised. Only for women like me and other advocates who personally suffered and endured so long without help were you and the women today at a better advantage for the help you are able to receive now without prejudice. At least you have a great hope for recovery. In addition, a more productive life ahead of you. My PTSD has kept me out of the workforce and life for 35 years.
I served in the Army during the Vietnam Era. We were all spit on and called terrible names. War was something we could deal with, the way we were treated by our own peoples and the VA is something we still have a difficult time dealing with. At the age I am now, who wants to hire me after so many years of unemployment? I don't understand if you suffer PTSD how can you be so public and active? How do you even have the desire?
This is a female in the 229th ENG. I have to tell you I am appalled at your references to my company. You are not right for that. You were a soldier that was punished many times for not following orders, having sex with several male soldiers including married men. Had to be told to put a bra on when in front of male soldiers. Keep your lies away from MY company and the Army. You are not a proper spokesperson for females in the Army.
abbie? em i.....
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