on a high note
AUREA FRANKLIN Silent Freedom By Amy Falkofske
A
urea Franklin of Woodbridge is a veteran of the 101st Airborne Division who released her debut book Silent Freedom in September of 2021. This memoir details her time in Iraq and examines life at war from a woman’s and mother’s perspective. Franklin said she was inspired to write the book because she wanted to tell what the men and women who served went through. “This book talks about our fallen heroes, our comrades and my friend, who didn't make it back. Writing this book was getting the pain out of my heart, and now that I have written it, it makes the pain easier to bear,” she said.
A Four-Part Memoir Franklin wrote her book in four parts, highlighting her different deployments. In Part I, Destination: Mosul, she talks about the miracle of being able to rejoin her unit in northern Iraq. This was a difficult time for Franklin. She left her young son home, was going through a divorce and did not have anywhere to go once her deployment was over. “The president of the United States finally found a replacement for us. So you know what? Hallelujah, we will be able to rejoin our families again. But I was homeless, so I entrusted everything to God. He was with me. So I said, I'm not going to worry about it. He'll take care of me. He'll provide a home. He'll provide shelter. He will provide everything. And that's what happened,” said Franklin. Part II, Second Deployment. Destination: Tikrit, Iraq, details her time on the support team ensuring soldiers got paid on time and coordinating their trips back home if there was an emergency. Franklin refers to this time as “historic” and talked about spending a lot of time with “pilots and warriors.” “I enjoyed my time with them. I was not a pilot. I didn't fly a helicopter, but they gave me an experience of a lifetime,” she said.
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February 2022 prince william living
Author Aurea Franklin
Part III, Back to Iraq. Destination: The Zoo covers Franklin’s return to Iraq after retiring from the Army. She decided to go back because she wasn’t feeling fulfilled in her role as a civilian
