As a United States Marine, I was taught that pain is “weakness leaving the body.” I learned to endure without complaint, believing that silence was strength. It’s a great honor to be one of “The Few, The Proud.” However, the pride that comes with that can sometimes be overwhelming and often hides the struggles service members and veterans face, even after leaving the service.
My artwork is a life-sized pillow made from military-patterned fabric, white silk stained with blood spots, decorated with military ranking pins, veteran patches, and the USMC blood stripe embodies this struggle. White silk was used to represent the innocence of some young people who join. The soft, faceless figure is a symbol of the countless service members who have given so much, only to find their pain ignored or dismissed. It is a representation of the silent battles that persist long after we leave the service: the invisible wounds of sexual assault, abuse of authority, mental illness, PTSD, and long working hours.
Get Jaay’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
This piece is a voice for those who feel unheard or unseen. It speaks to the injustice many service members and veterans face, including the crushing reality that even those who served their time may be denied the care they were promised. They have served their time, but their needs aren’t severe enough to qualify.
It exposes the hypocrisy of a system that demands so much but can never offer enough to heal the invisible scars.
I hope this challenges viewers to confront these uncomfortable truths, and I want them to see beyond the uniform, to recognize the human cost of service, and to acknowledge the silent suffering of those who gave everything for a cause that has too often forgotten them. This is a call for empathy, and for understanding.
