“Military members have a ‘can-do’ mentality; together, we faced challenges head-on, relying on hard work and determination to achieve our objectives,” says Tonya Oxendine, the June speaker for the Northeast Florida Sisters in Crime.
The meeting will be held at 11:15 a.m. June 8 at the Ponte Vedra Beach Branch Library.
Oxendine had a 30-year Army career. But she also endured traumatic challenges, including harassment, rejection, stereotypes and prejudice in a “man’s world.”
She coped with her situation the same way so many other women, and men, have done.
“Many warriors tend to bottle up their emotions and think they can handle their mental health challenges on their own,” she said. “That tendency is even stronger within the military leadership community — the higher you rise, the more difficult it becomes to show any weakness.”
For this soldier, it hit her all at once in 2012 during deployment in Afghanistan.
“The memories of the death and suffering I saw — all this stuff came crashing down,” she said. “I couldn’t take it anymore.”
It was two years before she finally sought help for her post-traumatic stress disorder and the severe depression and anxiety she was experiencing. The Wounded Warrior Project Talk program gave her the connection she needed. Now, she travels the world to help others heal and find peace by sharing her story.
Meeting attendees will learn how Oxendine transitioned from being a shut-in to shining as an international voice for Wounded Warriors and an outspoken advocate for veterans’ mental health and physical fitness.
This will be an in-person discussion meeting. No zoom linkage will be offered. For further information, contact floridasistersincrime@gmail.com.
Bring your coffee and bring a friend. The group welcomes misters and sisters to learn more about writing, promoting and enjoying crime fiction.
