After graduating from high school, I bounced from construction to painting to roofing jobs. But in 1988, I enlisted in the Army. After completing Boot Camp, I joined the 25th Infantry in Hawaii, as an M60 assistant gunner. I soon married and planned to use my G.I. Bill to study art. But one Memorial Day,…
After sixteen years of military service, veteran and artist Ron Kelsey discovered that combat doesn’t end on the battlefield. His art piece, War and Peace, depicts his personal journey towards recovery, as he continues to fight war’s scars through PTSD and other disabilities. Over ten years ago, Kelsey founded Reflections of Generosity (RoG), a traveling…
I feel honored to have served 15 years, 1 month, and 18 days in the United States military as an airborne Ranger, part of the Special Forces. While fighting in Iraq, and other undisclosed places, I received three purple hearts. But each time, I got patched up and returned to fight the next battle. In…
For seventeen years, I have done my best to explain the world to my son, and my son to the world. For the longest time, I would simply shout, “Welcome to Autismland!” as a shorthand to explain his startling behaviors in public. Then, as he got bigger, it just became easier not to go out…
I enlisted in the Army in 2003. In 2004, I left for a 12+ month deployment to Iraq. Typically, we worked seven days a week in a country, where the painted landscape displayed various shades of brown. Triple-digit temperatures made daily life hard. With ordnance exploding all around us, the biggest take away was all…
As a female marine, I learned that the battle within the mind determines one’s overall health. Although I experienced combat duty, the internal battle started years before Iraq. The emotional conflict began in my early childhood. At age 4, my life changed forever when my parents divorced. I struggled growing up, and my brother and…
Early in life, I never envisioned myself as an accomplished artist. During Desert Storm, I served aboard the L. Y. Spear AS-36. My mode of service was precision calibration of the 7th fleet’s fast-attack nuclear-powered submarines. This opened the door to a lifetime of learning. I am honored to have been a part of such…