Author Cecilia A. Garcia

Change is not always easy. In fact, more often than not, change is extremely difficult and can be uncomfortable. Everyone at some point in their lives has to go through change. Whether it be changing schools as a child, going off to college, changing careers as an adult, or changes in family dynamics.

Disclaimer: The following content is solely my point of view. I do not speak for any other Veteran or Veterans Organizations. I have a love/hate relationship with the Fourth of July. I know as an American I should be proud to celebrate our Nation’s Independence Day; however, as a Veteran who has found her moral compass, it’s a very complex day to celebrate. Most Americans honor this day with fireworks. Setting off big, colorful ones and loud, booming cannon-like ones. But fir

Memorial Day is always a solemn day for me, but this year, it has an even deeper meaning, as it’s the 22nd anniversary of my Alive Day. As I pay my respects to all my fallen brothers and sisters, I also take a moment to reflect on what I have learned about my own journey of surviving war and a roadside bomb attack. If I could go back to the afternoon of May 25, 2004, and face my blood-soaked self, these are the 22 things I would tell her: 1. The person you were before today i

For days leading up to May 25, I have been trying to think of something meaningful to write. With the impending 20th anniversary of the explosion, I felt I should have a well-written, thoughtful statement to share with the world.

May 25, 2004, is a date that has permanent residence in my brain. Throughout the years, I have tried hiding from the events of this day, I have tried out running the traumas, I have spoken out about them, and finally, I have faced those memories.

I am often asked if I liked being in the Army and what lessons I learned from my service. My initial response is that I loved every minute of serving my country. Yes, there were terrible days; by bad days, I mean getting shot at and blown up. But I would do it all over again, and I would not change one thing about my time in service. The second question is a loaded question. Of course, there are lessons I learned from my time in the Army. So many I could write an entire book

Last night, I went through photos from my time in Iraq, trying to gain some inspiration for a blog post. If you haven’t noticed, I have been a little behind with my writing and figured a stroll down memory lane might be good for the creative brain.

The following commentary is strictly my perspective around the holidays while being deployed. I do not speak for members of the military. Like many of my previous blogs, this is my point of view only. When you are celebrating holidays while on deployment, it can be difficult. You miss your family, you want to know what everyone is doing for the holidays, but then you also want to shut everyone out and block out anything related to Santa, gifts, and everything else that comes

My eight years of service in the Army shaped me into the woman I am today. I was seventeen years old when I left home, flying for the first time to basic training. While my friends partied before leaving for college, I was in South Carolina, being called Pizza and stripped down and built back up into a fighting soldier.

I recently went to social media to ask people what they want to know about being a Veteran. I am an open book, and I know that sometimes it can be intimidating to ask a Veteran what it was like to serve in the military. So, today’s blog post is to answer the following question: What was a typical day like in Iraq?

I left for Army Basic Training when I was seventeen years old. I was equally excited and terrified of what the next sixteen weeks of Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training would bring. My father, being the ever realist, gave me this advice before leaving: “Keep your head down, and whatever you do, DO NOT VOLUNTEER.”

When I first came home from my deployment to Iraq, I would dream about Iraq almost every single night. Some nights it was that we were engaged in small arms fire, and some nights it was another IED (improvised explosive device) blowing up around me. For those first few months, I didn’t know how to cope with what was happening when I was asleep. I didn’t share with anyone, not even my partner, that I was having these dreams.

After my battle buddy was flown out of Iraq to Germany, I was in shock. The first night back, I sat in my camping chair and just stared straight ahead as fellow soldiers and my roommate tried to talk to me. I couldn’t tell you one word they said, or if I said anything back to them. All I could think about was my battle buddy, lying in my lap, repeating over and over again that he would never see his unborn son.

Since my last five years of blogs mysteriously disappeared, we are going all the way back to 2021 and reposting every single one again. In this post, I share what it was like right after I was injured by an improvised explosive device.