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Catalog number: VIS 508.010
This interview is conducted by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Atlanta Branch.
In this interview, Gwynn Galloway-Salazar recalls her experiences serving in the United States Army and the Army National Guard. She describes how and why she joined the military; what basic training was like; what she learned from her drill instructors; and the process of adjusting to military life. She finished basic training just before the September 11 terrorist attacks and by Christmas of that year her unit was called up to active duty. She served as a finance specialist and postal clerk at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and remembers the thousands of soldiers they processed as units deployed overseas for Operation Enduring Freedom. It was that work that compelled her later to seek a graduate degree in counseling. Her post-military career has focused on assisting active-duty military, veterans, and their families, and advocating for better mental health care. She describes the difficulties of being a single mom while on active duty and recalls how close the people in her unit became and what a great source of support they were for her. Her post-military work has included producing and delivering health care provider training programs as well as law enforcement officer training programs to enable communities to better serve veterans, particularly those who suffer from PTSD, and prevent veteran suicide. She recalls how she met and married her husband and how difficult it is to be a military spouse. She reflects on war, the military, the prevalence of sexual trauma in the military, and her passion for serving the military community.