Author Colonel Lisa Carrington Firmin
In her newest book, Bronze Star-decorated combat commander Colonel Lisa Carrington Firmin outlines her experiences and those of 13 other brave women and men affected by Military Sexual Trauma. Join us for a frank discussion about the invisible wounds left behind by assault, trauma, hardship, and combat. Copies of Stories from the Front: Pain, Betrayal, and Resilience on the MST Battlefield will be available for purchase and signing.
Event Title: “Colonel Lisa Carrington Firmin: Stories from the Front”
Speaker: Colonel Lisa Carrington Firmin
Date: Wednesday October 19th, 2022
1PM in the Technology Campus Auditorium
6PM in the Pecan Campus Student Union Building
After serving 30 years in the Air Force, and as its most senior-ranking Latina officer upon retirement, Colonel Carrington Firmin was horrified by the appalling murder of a fellow Latina, Army Specialist Vanessa Guillén, in April 2020. Vanessa’s horrific death became the catalyst for repressed memories of the colonel’s own sexual assault during initial training and the repeated sexual harassment she endured early in her career and catapulted her on a soul-searching journey to document others’ experiences and to advocate for change within the armed services. Her poem “Into the Light,” featured in Stories from the Front, captures her feelings and recounts how she came to end her silence on the negative aspects of her military career. The colonel is proud of her service and the strong bonds she had with so many military professionals, but acknowledges that now is the time to share the full reality of all that she experienced and endured.
Stories from the Front is published by Blue Ear Books on April 22, 2022, to commemorate the second anniversary of Vanessa Guillén’s murder.
— Blue Ear Books official website
