KINGSVILLE — Texas A&M University-Kingsville hosted a book release event at the John E. Conner Museum on Tuesday, April 26, for university alumna and author Colonel Lisa Carrington Firmin, USAF (Ret.), for her release titled Stories from the Front: Pain Betrayal, and Resilience on the MST Battlefield.
The event served as the official launch of Firmin’s book tour which will also make a summer stop at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
Firmin’s book developed after seeing the response she received from writing a newspaper opinion piece in 2020 entitled, “Women protecting their country, yet military fails to protect them.”
“The response was overwhelming from people starting to contact me and share their stories,” Firmin said. “I decided I needed to write a book. I need to not only tell my story, but tell theirs as well.
“It includes 14 stories and frankly, I could have written a book with 50 stories. There were that many people who contacted me and unfortunately experienced very similar things throughout their time of service,” she added.
Firmin collected and shared the stories of other servicemembers within the book to highlight issues surrounding the treatment of women in the military. She hopes readers will treat others with the respect and dignity they deserve after reading these stories.
“For the people who participated in the book, it's a pretty brave thing to do, to be able to tell your story. I mean, we're talking about deeply intense personal trauma. But it's important and all of them want to help educate others,” Firmin said.
Firmin is driven to spread awareness about MST (military sexual trauma) but says that her book is relatable to anyone who has experienced harassment in a workplace setting.
“The military has had a hard time being able to combat the issue, so I'm hoping with these stories—personalizing them, showing the deep ramifications of what this does to people in their lives and their families and their work—perhaps they'll be educated and aware enough so that you can prevent this from happening and actually make a difference, too,” she said.
A resident of San Antonio, Firmin is still an active member of the university community. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019 by the Javelina Alumni Association and serves on the board of the Texas A&M University-Kingsville Foundation.
To order a copy of Stories from the Front: Pain Betrayal, and Resilience on the MST Battlefield or contact the author, visit blueearbooks.com.
