The Beginning of an Idea

My name is (SSgt) Hallie Olsen. I was active duty Air Force for four years as a Security Forces member. I am now a weekender in the Reserves. I got out of the Air Force to follow my dreams of making art — hopefully this is the start of that!

I’m starting this podcast because I know there are stories that simply are not being told or are being ignored when they are told all across the Armed Forces. I can’t say for sure but I think those untold and ignored stories are what causes the 22 a day statistic of suicide among military.

For me, writing is a refuge and I believe when you listen to your own story or to other peoples stories it is more powerful than if you simply read it yourself. I have been lucky enough to have family and friends that will read what I write and talk to me about what it means and why I felt the need to write it in the first place —not everyone has that. This podcast will change that. Every single person that listens and that writes in will find me and the actors that will voice the stories. Even if we can’t reach out to you because you chose to write in anonymously this is the start of a conversation.

In the military there is a stigma, no matter how hard some people try to fight it, it surrounds mental health, it surrounds sexual harassment and assault, it surrounds the idea that everyone should be resilient. If you want people to be resilient you can’t have stigma around the things that people struggle with the most.

While I was deployed I wrote about how I felt on many occasions — each time for different reasons. Below are two “poems” that express just some of the reasons I want to create this community for everyone who is serving and who ever has served.