My name is Major (Retired) Christina Helferich-Polosky, and I was 100% disabled and medically retired by the US Army in 2009 because of multiple physical and mental injuries and illnesses I suffered after 11+ years of successful active-duty service as a Transportation and Information Operations Officer. Most of my disabilities were later attributed to unknown chemical, environmental and burn pit exposures that occurred during my combat deployments to Kuwait/Iraq (OIF) in 2003 with the 7th Transportation Group (Forward) out of Fort Eustis, VA where I was awarded the Bronze Star and Bagram, Afghanistan (OEF) in 2008 with CJTF-101 out of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) from Fort Campbell, KY where I was MEDEVACd home after becoming seriously ill several months into my deployment.

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But some injuries—some wounds and abuse—I buried deep and couldn't bring myself to talk about—or report, until very recently. Instead of seeing my professional accomplishments, the differences I made in the lives of my Soldiers, and the role model I was to my children—I just became overwhelmingly sad and overcome by darkness. So, after decades of hiding the pain, clarity following an acrimonious military divorce in early 2021 and several unconventional therapies that incorporated different forms of art—I am finally beginning to truly believe it is not what's wrong with me—it is just what happened to me.

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Art—in all its healing forms; for me painting, sculpture and collage—genuinely aids in helping me see that I am more than my broken past. The power of art—to include the written word, has finally set me on a true and healthy path forward to finding the voice I thought I lost—or had taken from me—over all those years, finally being able to express what I could barely say out loud:

 

"I may be wounded, but I am NOT worthless."

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Thus, as part of my specific healing process, I created the free online art gallery cooperative WoundedNotWorthless.com LLC for female military, veteran, and wounded warrior artists, like myself, as a source of inspiration and empowerment as we each find our own true artistic vision and voice. I invite all female military related artists to join my site for mentorship, guidance on how to write and develop their own artist statements, as well as just discovering a safe space to share works and brands within a galvanized network of support.

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I still have days where I feel like I am stuck in the murky pit of my past, falling back down into that gloom and muck. But now, I have a medium with which I strive to create a new self-narrative using my wounds as a positive source of inspiration, instead of something that I allow to drag me back down into that black pit of despair. I am still sick with what I call the “burn pit trifecta,” struggling with neurological, gastrointestinal and immune disorders that require multiple VA medical visits each month. I always will. I also continue to battle depression, anxiety, PTSD and most of all: pain, which can be physically and psychologically induced. But I now accept there will be good and bad days and I will try to create my art through them all.

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A major component of my process lies in attempting to translate my confusion and sorrow into some sort of tangible media using whatever is at hand—be it paint, plaster, clay, steel, wood, metal, embroidery, vintage paper products or a mixture of all these and more. By physically displaying my story this way, it gives me separation to analyze my hurt instead of continuing to internalize it. I equally enjoy applying thick applications of acrylic paint mixed with heavy plaster mediums on very large canvases as I do creating small intricate collages out of vintage scraps of paper and cloth—finding the ‘messy’ part of making extremely satisfying on a very basic level. The resulting effects range from paintings with a very sculptural aesthetic to intimate collages with painterly three-dimensional constructions—finding peace between the crudeness and beauty of it all reflective of how I am feeling on the inside on any given day. Granting voice to these feelings matter because they are important.

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And I’m ready to have this conversation with the world!

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I'm ready for my art to spark conversations that are uncomfortable about women in the military—about our real experiences without all the eye rolls. Can we please sit down and have an honest talk without being marginalized again by being labeled just another group of angry females without even uttering a sound? Our experiences matter and they are all worth sharing. From the awe-inspiring to the awful. And so, I will say it again: what we say and how we say it matters. Which is why the all-female veteran collaborations we create for ourselves matter. Books like Latina Warrior that COL Lisa Carrington Firmin, USAF (Ret.) invited me to illustrate for her, matter. The work that a Midwest tomboy from Ohio and a Valley Girl from the 956 make together, means something because we created that opus—together.

 

And. That. Matters.

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We truly hope you enjoy our collaboration, but more importantly we hope that it has the power to inspire you to go out and form a team of your own, to create work of your own, that will ultimately become raised voices of your own. Support each other. Promote each other. Empower each other. But above all remember:

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We may be wounded in body, but we are not worthless!

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Support. Promote. Empower.

 

Christina Helferich-Polosky is a Virginia Commonwealth University Distinguished Military ROTC Graduate. She earned her BA in History, BA in Political Science and Masters in Teaching before being commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army in 1998 and medically retired as a Major in 2009. She received the Bronze Star for her service in Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 7th Transportation Group (Forward) in 2003, serving as an Operations Officer in Kuwait during the buildup and a night Battle Captain (forward) in Iraq with the Headquarters element before being ordered home early from that deployment to command the mighty Road Warriors of the 508th Transportation Truck Company, 765th Transportation Battalion, 8th Brigade out of Fort Eustis, Virginia.

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Other career highlights include being named the US Army Transportation Corps 2003 Active-Duty Component Regimental Officer of the Year, earning her belt buckle on the Goldminer Team as an Observer/Controller at the National Training Center in 2005 and serving as the CJTF-101 Strategic Communications Officer in Bagram, Afghanistan in 2008 with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

 

Christina is a Lifetime Member of the MOAA (Military Officers Association of America), the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #8252, the Women Veterans Alliance, and the DAV (Disabled American Veterans). She is privileged to be a current member of WOVEN (the Women’s Veteran Network) and AUSA (the Association of the United States Army). She is also a Featured Artist with UnitingUs.org (a Veteran Arts Non-Profit Collaborative), the US Library of Congress, and the Military Women's Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.

 

In 2017, Christina was honored by being bestowed the titles of Kentucky Colonel, signed by then Kentucky Governor Matthew G. Bevin, and Tennessee Colonel Aide de Camp signed by then Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam.

 

In 2023, Christina was awarded the Daughters of the American Revolution Pennsylvania State Outstanding Veteran Volunteer Award.

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