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I have very curly hair…

 

Learn more about PTSD from Marlene Diaz (US Navy, 1991-1995) and other Veterans who’ve been there: http://www.ptsd.va.gov/AboutFace

Transcript

Naturally, I have very curly hair.

And in bootcamp, it was only shampoo.

You can't use conditioner,
you can't use any other type

of product to maintain
your mane, so to speak.

And as a Latin woman,
curly hair is our mane.

It's our identifying mark
of who we are culturally.

And I just remember standing in formation,

and we were doing hat drills,

cover on, cover off.

And my hair was slicked back,

'cause that was the only
thing I could do with it.

And it just started to grow.

With every motion of putting a cover on

and taking the cover off, it just grew.

It wanted to be its magnificent self.

And I remember the company
commander who was Caucasian,

she was also from New York,
she got right up in my face,

and she was like, you're gonna
have to cut that hair off

because it's just too ****.

Excuse me?

I mean, right then and
then, who I was as a person

just literally fell out my feet.

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