{"id":482,"date":"2025-09-19T14:04:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T14:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riseofmilitarywomen.vt.domains\/?page_id=482"},"modified":"2025-12-15T18:30:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T18:30:56","slug":"christina-helferich-polosky","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/riseofmilitarywomen.vt.domains\/index.php\/christina-helferich-polosky\/","title":{"rendered":"Christina Helferich-Polosky"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Army, 1998-2009<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Transportation and Information Operations Officer<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Go to full interview<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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BIOgraphy<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Major (Retired) Christina Helferich-Polosky was 100% disabled and medically retired by the U.S. Army in 2009 because of multiple physical and mental injuries and illnesses she suffered after 11+ years of successful active-duty service as a Transportation and Information Operations Officer. Most of her disabilities were later attributed to burn pit exposures that occurred during her combat deployments to Kuwait\/Iraq (OIF) in 2003 with the 7th Transportation Group (Forward) out of Fort Eustis, VA where she was awarded the Bronze Star, and Bagram, Afghanistan (OEF) in 2008 ith CJTF-101 out of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) from Fort Campbell, KY where she was MEDEVAC’d home after becoming seriously ill several months into the deployment. But some injuries\u2014some wounds and abuse\u2014 she buried deep and couldn’t bring herself to talk about or report, until very recently. So, after decades of living in darkness and hiding the pain, she finally took steps to undergo Post-Tramautic Growth and several other different and unconventional forms of art therapy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Art, in all its healing forms, for Christina\u2014painting, sculpture and mixed media\/collage\u2014genuinely aids in helping her see that she is more than her broken past. A major component of her process lies in attempting to translate her confusion and sorrow into some sort of tangible art using whatever media is at hand. By physically displaying her story this way, it gives her separation to analyze her hurt instead of continuing to internalize it. She equally enjoys applying thick applications of acrylic paint mixed with heavy mediums on very large canvases as she does creating small intricate collages out of vintage scraps of paper and cloth, funding 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 constructions, finding peace between the crudeness and beauty of it all reflective of how she is feeling on the inside on any given day. Christina’s artwork has been displayed in national art exhibits at the Military Women’s Memorial, the Library of Congress, and the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., both Dulles International and Reagan National Airports in Virginia, and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland\u2014all through a nonprofit called UnitedUS.org, centered on healing through the arts, where she is a featured artist. She is also currently collaborating with award winning author Col. Lisa Carrington Firmin, USAF (ret.) by illustrating her most recent book Latina Warrior<\/em> (Oct. 2023 – Blue Ear Books), an authentically raw autobiography told in poems, prose, and art. Most recently, she travels to events with Lisa to promote their book and share their process about successful female collaboration, as well as conducting art\/collage workshops, artist talks, and panel discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The power of art has finally set Christina on a true and healthy path forward to finding the voice she thought she lost, or had been taken from her, over all those years. Finally, she is able to express hat she could barely say out loud: “I may be wounded, but I am NOT worthless. Thus, as part of her specific healing process, she created the free online art gallery cooperative WoundedNotWorthless.com LLC for female military, veteran, and wounded warrior artists as a source of inspiration and empowerment as they all search to find their own true artistic vision and voice. Christina invites all female military-related artists to join her site for mentorship, writing guidance, and artist statement advice, as well as just discovering a safe space to share works and brands within a galvanized network of support. While she still has days where she feels like she is stick in the murky pit of her past, she now has a medium with which she strives to create a new self-narrative using her wounds as a positive source of inspiration. She accepts there will be good days and bad days and will try to create art through them all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Deployments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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