In this episode of Dog Tag Diaries, we delve into the powerful and deeply personal story of Amber. Born in Redmond, Oregon, and raised in Bend, Oregon, Amber shares her experiences growing up as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses alongside her sister, Ariane. Despite a sheltered and often challenging childhood, marked by constant comparisons to her sister, Amber sought to carve her own path and prove her worth.

Key Points:

• Early Life: Born to Guy and Jane Thomas, Amber describes her upbringing in a strict religious household and the pressures she faced to live up to her sister’s achievements.

• Marriage and Move: At 18, she moved to Quantico, Virginia, with her high school sweetheart who joined the Marine Corps.

• Military Service: Inspired by the challenging nature of the Marine Corps, she enlisted at 19 and became a military police officer, striving to prove her strength and capabilities in a male-dominated environment.

• Personal Struggles: While serving, she faced significant personal traumas, including being sexually assaulted by her first sergeant, leading to a difficult decision to have an abortion.

• Career and Resilience: Despite facing gender discrimination and personal abuse, Amber served for 12 years and worked at four different duty stations. Her perseverance and dedication were unwavering, even as she dealt with the pain and struggles of being one of the few women in her field.

• Medical Retirement: At 31, she was medically retired from the Marine Corps due to multiple injuries and PTSD stemming from her experiences.

• Post-Military Life: After leaving the service, she pursued education in hairstyling, barbering, and esthetics, becoming a self-employed professional.

• Healing Journey: Over the past year, Amber has been living in Sedona, Arizona, focusing on healing and working through her trauma, embracing her journey of self-discovery and resilience.

Join us as Amber opens up about her journey, from a quiet, sheltered child to a strong and resilient woman who continues to overcome her past and look forward to the future. Her story is a testament to the strength and courage of military women everywhere.

Follow Amber:

Instagram: @its_ambervi

Facebook: Amber Donnelly

https://www.roadwarrior.org

Follow Captain Kim & Captain Dakota:

• Instagram: reveilleandretreatproject

• Facebook: Reveille & Retreat Project

Contact Us: Have a story to share? Reveilleandretreat@gmail.com

Be sure to follow or subscribe to Dog Tag Diaries wherever you listen to podcasts.

Learn more about Reveille and Retreat Project:

reveilleandretreatproject.org

Instagram: @reveilleandretreatproject

Facebook: Reveille and Retreat Project

You aren’t alone.

If you’re thinking about hurting yourself or having thoughts of suicide contact the

Veteran crisis line: Dial 988 then press 1, chat online, or text 838255.

A young woman enlisted in the military seeking structure and a sense of professionalism. Instead, she encountered challenges, sorrow, and hardship while fulfilling her duties stateside and overseas. To cope, she had to suppress her emotions. Only when she discovered a supportive community of female service members sharing her experiences did she feel comfortable enough to confront and work through her emotions, beginning the path toward healing.

Be sure to follow or subscribe to Dog Tag Diaries wherever you listen to podcasts.

Learn more about Reveille and Retreat Project:

reveilleandretreatproject.org

Instagram: @reveilleandretreatproject

Facebook: Reveille and Retreat Project

You aren’t alone.

If you’re thinking about hurting yourself or having thoughts of suicide contact the

Veteran crisis line: Dial 988 then press 1, chat online, or text 838255.

We honor Laura's friend, who served in the military and which Laura shared with us tragically lost her life in a domestic violence encounter.

Elizabeth Estabrooks served as the Deputy Director at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Women Veterans (CWV) in Washington, D.C. where she operated as the subject matter expert on women veteran issues, concerns, and needs both within and outside VA, speaking vehemently in favor of changes that improved safety and equity for women veterans. She was the lead on organizational and strategic planning, led development and implementation of new initiatives to support and enhance CWV’s mission and vision, and worked with researchers to lead the production of two Congressionally mandated studies: 1) Study on Unemployment Rate of Post 9/11 Women Veterans and 2) The Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence in the Veteran Population. She was also the VA lead on development of a first-ever VA woman veterans’ survey to identify and understand low rates of VA benefits and healthcare usage by women.

Prior to assuming her role as Deputy Director, Elizabeth served as the Oregon Woman Veterans Coordinator with the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs where she brought decades of knowledge and experience gained from her career working on relevant issues that included: domestic violence, (military) sexual assault, peer support services, community safety, gender- and culturally responsive services, and adult learning. In 2017, Elizabeth co-founded the I Am Not Invisible campaign and photo project for women veterans: a project that, due to her efforts, was adopted as a permanent program by the VA Center for Women Veterans in 2018.

Previously, she worked as an independent consultant advising clients that included the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; Oregon Department of Human Services; Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training; Battered Women’s Justice Project; Mental Health Partnerships of Pennsylvania; and the Edmonton Police Department in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Elizabeth is a Peacetime Cold War Veteran of the United States Army, serving at Harvey Barracks in Kitzingen, Germany. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Gender Studies and Political Science from Eastern Oregon University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University in New York. She was appointed to the VA Secretary’s Task Force on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access in 2021 and the VA National Domestic Violence Task Force in 2012 and was a 2013 Fisher-Cummings Washington, D.C. Fellow.

She now travels and focuses on writing a blog and two books, speaking, and engaging as a freelance changemaker and consulting as a subject matter expert on women veterans.

www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethaestabrooks

https://www.instagram.com/lizzzarde/

https://medium.com/@ElizabethEstabrooks

Trigger Warning: Foul Language

Be sure to follow or subscribe to Dog Tag Diaries wherever you listen to podcasts.

Learn more about Reveille and Retreat Project:

reveilleandretreatproject.org

Instagram: @reveilleandretreatproject

Facebook: Reveille and Retreat Project

You aren’t alone.

If you’re thinking about hurting yourself or having thoughts of suicide contact the

Veteran crisis line: Dial 988 then press 1,