PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Rosiland Atkins Green comes from a military family, and she knows a life of service to her country.
“Twenty-four years in the Army. I retired as Sergeant 1st Class, Hooah,” said Atkins Green.
She’s served all over the globe, including in Germany, Augsburg, Heidelberg, Munich, England, Fort Hood Texas, and in Iraq.
“I served with the 4th Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade Combat Team in a forward operation base in Baqubah, Iraq, which is what they call a hot zone,” said Atkins Green.
In Iraq, the war hit her team.
“I was walking out of the tent and the mortar came in, and it caused me to do what they call a “foosh”, that’s when you fall forward,” Atkins Green said. “It tore the ligaments in my wrist, and my shoulders, my neck, all of it.”
She had five surgeries, but the emotional scars lasted longer.
“I lost tons of friends. In fact, as a Personnel Sergeant, my job was to take all of the injuries, and all of the casualties. All of the… people that didn’t return,” through a sigh Atkins Green said, “To see them get hurt or ultimately lose their lives and to know them, to have touched them, to have talked to them that’s… an experience.”