JAY — After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Marjorie Eastman was motivated to serve her country in the armed forces.

“I knew our country was now at war, and I wanted to help,” said Eastman, whose mother and father-in-law are Wil and Martina Eastman of Jay. “I wanted to be an active participant in my generation’s story. At the time, I had recently finished college and was beginning to fill out graduate school applications.”

She recently wrote a book about her experiences serving in the military. “The Frontline Generation: How We Served Post 9/11” is her firsthand account of life inside the front lines. It is the culmination of four years of writing and editing.

Eastman served as a U.S. Army intelligence officer and commander. Her 10 years of post-Sept. 11 military service include two combat deployments, one in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the other in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Eastman progressed through the ranks to become the No. 1 military intelligence commander in eastern Afghanistan for the deployment cycle of 2009-10. She was awarded the Bronze Star and received the Combat Action Badge for her service.

“As a commander I was responsible for the lives of over 100 soldiers spread out on nearly half a dozen bases in eastern Afghanistan,” Marjorie Eastman said. “They were performing full-spectrum intelligence operations, which meant they could be on a base interrogating Taliban fighters to patrolling villages trying to collect information and build rapport with local leaders.

People are gradually becoming more accepting of women on the front lines, she said.

“Women have shown that they, too, can serve well, and mission success requires a diverse force,” she said. 

Less than 1 percent of the people in the United States have served in uniform post 9/11. This has had an impact in the sharp decline of U.S. senators and representatives with military service, Eastman said.

“With so few who have served in the military today, people are less connected and do not have ‘skin in the game,'” she pointed out. “

Also, Eastman said, the honor of having worn a uniform is something no one can ever take away.

“It is deep and powerful, and can become a reservoir of strength for you to know you can do the next big, or difficult, thing in your life,” she said.

Since Eastman completed her deployment, she and Charles have started a family and are raising 5-year-old Henk in Tennessee. Henk was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at six months old. He has since recovered and is healthy today. Although he never had the chance to see his mother in uniform, Eastman takes him with her to perform community service projects so he can see the service characteristics of veterans.

“When my son passed the seminal milestone of one-year cancer free, and became a cancer survivor, I knew I needed to write down what had helped me survive his fight with cancer,” she said. “Writing these stories was also a way for me to cope with that terribly difficult time in my life when my husband and I thought we were going to lose our son. My time in the military not only hardened and shaped me, but shaped my hope for the man I wanted my son to become one day.”

She met her husband in the military. His love and support was crucial in having the book come to fruition, she said.

She said that Charles joined the military before Sept. 11 and continued to re-enlist time and again, “because of his unshakable sense of duty.” Since his first deployment in October 2001, he has served 17 combat tours.

An example of his thoughtfulness and support for Eastman came over the holidays in 2009, when she was deployed to Afghanistan. He sent a live Christmas tree and gifted it to her soldiers. Charles made sure to include a tree stand, tree skirt and numerous strings of Christmas lights.

“Charles knew all too well what it felt like to be deployed over the holidays, considering he had spent the past two Christmases in Iraq,” Eastman said. “This was our third consecutive Christmas in which one of us was serving in combat. Outside of our family and close friends, not many people knew this. Thus, his gesture meant so much more to me.”

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“The Frontline Generation” is available online at Amazon and at Barnes & Noble. To learn more about author Marjorie Eastman, visit her website at www.marjoriekeastman.com.