'Soldier Girls': Complex look at women at war

The struggles of three women from the Indiana National Guard, who bonded before all were deployed to Afghanistan (and later, two to Iraq), are compellingly explored in Soldier Girls. It's an important eye-opener by Helen Thorpe about the female military experience in the challenging post-9/11 climate: how life could be as traumatic on the base or in the war zone as it is on the home front.

Michelle Fischer, Desma Brooks and Debbie Helton signed up before 9/11 and obviously got more than they bargained for with the outbreak of "the war on terror." We follow the trio from 2001 through 2013, weaving in and out of basic training and separation from their families or partners, and then coping with gender bias, sexual harassment, drug use and libidinous diversions.

Then came deployment and dealing with dangers in the war zones. Everything played on their psyches but all three women overcame great obstacles, even when tragedy struck. Afterward they had to cope with post-traumatic stress, panic attacks and, in one case, a brain injury.

Fischer, who was an outstanding student, joined the Guard at 21 so she could afford to attend Indiana University. But she was forced to give up her dream after 9/11; however, she excelled at becoming a marksman and, despite her rebelliousness, wound up being a smart, adept soldier.

Brooks, a single mom, entered the Guard on a dare when she was 20 and was deployed at 28. She became a whiz at military software and was the hero of Bravo Company when she fixed the radios so they could complete their readiness exercises. The military environment proved a good fit.

Helton, 34, gave up custody of her daughter (leaving the teenager to live with her grandparents) to join the Guard, and ran "the hot dog wagon," chatting with and comforting soldiers, which was a real morale booster.

Ultimately, Soldier Girls serves as a larger discussion about the trials of all-volunteer military service, testing the limits of human endurance.

As Brooks observes, "War meant pandemonium. It meant ghost records and missing trailers and lost gear. It meant having to obey a commander you did not respect, and losing the commander you did. ... It meant acquiring a tattoo you did not really want, because that's all you could control. War meant thinking you might never see the faces of your children again and then being told to go home. It meant getting jerked around in a cosmic fashion."

Thorpe, who's adept at mixing psychology and politics, offers a compassionate look at three fascinating women we won't soon forget, whose lives underwent dramatic change in a military that continues to evolve thanks to a larger female presence.

Bill Desowitz is the author of James Bond Unmasked.

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

By Helen Thorpe

Scribner

*** out of four