Retired Air Force Veteran Debi B. attended a Operation Red Wings Foundation therapeutic program in February of 2018. While she was with us, she wrote a powerful poem full of strength and hope. We were so touched by her work that we asked her if we could share it for the benefit of the veteran community. We are honored that she has agreed.
Debi shared with us that, “After retiring from the Air Force in 2006, I began looking for healing on a much deeper level. It has been a journey since, sometimes crawling at a snail’s pace, sometimes feeling as if I were in a whirlwind. The Operation Red Wings (Foundation) Program became a part of my path and was a transformative experience. This poem very much reflects the mental space where I was as the retreat ended.
Know. You are enough. You always have been enough.”
Broken pieces of the “world’s greatest military”
Coming together
Tattered and torn in our own respects
Like our Nation’s flag after battles fiercely fought
Wearing masks of survival
Full of fear
But refusing to quit
A safe space
Where vulnerability is not shameful
Each of us
Too strong
Too fierce to be destroyed
Collectively learning, searching, moving forward
Stepping into our own power
Remembering who we were
Before someone convinced us we were less
Knowing
As we part
Returning to our realities
New tools at the ready
Armed with new knowledge
And forever bonded
Powerful veteran women
Taking a new oath
Committing to the honor of self
We are each deserving of
Debi B.
USAF, Retired, 1985-2006
Operation Red Wings Foundation Program Feb 2018
