This is Later with Lee Matthews the Lee Matthews Podcast More What You Here Weekday
Afternoon's on the Drive. Kelsey Sheritt is a combat veteran and artillery gunner in
the Canadian military. She served in Afghanistan from in two thousand and nine with
the Canadian, American and British forces and has come back to tell her tale
in a book that is called Brass and Unity. One Woman's Journey through the
Hell of Afghanistan and back and joined Us. Now, Kelsey, what was
the first thing that attracted you to the military life. Oh, I feel
like this is going to get repetitive. I've met a lady on a bush
and she said, she said, you ought to join the army. Honey,
let me give you some contact. So in Canada we call it Remember
this Day. In America you call it Veterans Day. And I go down
to the ceremonies every year. And I was in Ottawa and I was going
to college at the time, and I was on my way back from that
ceremony and there was this lady on a bus in an Air Force uniform with
a row of medals, and I had a quick conversation with her and something
sparked, something in my heart, whatever you want to call it, just
snapped and said, all right, we're doing this. I got off the
bus. I quit college that day, and I went and I found the
recruiter's office. Well, and you ended up being the smallest person in your
basic training. Yeah, I mean that's the thing. So many, so
many of us are all different types of people. It takes all types,
right, But yeah, I'm five foot tall, one hundred ten pounds.
Now in particular, what attracted you to artillery? Well, I actually wanted
to go infantry. And in Canada, Yeah, in Canada, we've we've
always allowed women to be combat arms rolls if you can do the job,
and so they give you the opportunity. And they said I was too small.
So the next option was either armored or our chilly. I chose artillery
because the idea of being in a ten scared the hell of Okay. Well,
also, artillery is a little more like rifle practice, just on a
larger scale. Yeah, it's a one five five millimeter how with her that
shoots up to forty kolometers with one hundred pound rounds. So it's a it's
a good time. Yeah. Yeah, And a little more math involved.
I imagine, yeah, yeah, if you're on the if you're on the
site, but if it takes about five to seven people to run that gun
efficiently. So if you are, you know, you're in a group of
people, you're a team, you're a family, you're a unit. So
it is it's quite nice because you're not you're not alone in it. Kerrie
Sharon is with us. She's a combat veteran who's written about her experiences in
a book called Brash and Unity, One Woman's Journey through the Hell of Afghanistan
and back. But the brass and Unity term comes also from a new brand,
you have Begun. So my brand has been around since twenty and sixteen.
We uh, we'd take we'd produce shellk things, turn them into jewelry
and then donate twenty percent of the net pro seats different organizations like Heroic Arts
Projects, Defenders of Freedom, That Solutions, and Boot Campaign in America and
all over the world. And our pieces are really really just a means to
end and end a vehicle to put the money in the hands of these organizations
that are helping our veterans on the boots on the ground well and with PTSD,
depression, anxiety and suicide, the things that we hear so much about
our returning veterans. I'm curious because I deal with a lot of spent cartridge
shells and spent cartridge brass, because I do my own reloading. Is there
anyone Is there any particular caliber that is easier to turn into jewelry than another?
Not at this point. I mean, we've gotten to the point where
we've actually had to started manufacturing our own case things because of the demands,
but predominantly used thirty eight rounds seven six two or five five six, okay,
because there's plenty of those to go around, and those are very difficult
to reload. Yes they are. Yeah, I know I've done my share
of that brass. And Unity is the brand, but it's also the name
of the of the book that has been written by Kelsey Sharon, One Woman's
Journey through the Hell of Afghanistan and Back. When did you realize you too
were suffering from PTSD? I would diagnosed in country. I was not.
I did not come to that conclusion on my own. It was I was
after I was with the British. The doctors and my staff started to see
some issues and I started to seeing very unwell very quickly, and that is
when they sent me back to Canada three weeks early before the end of my
deployment to go see some doctors. And was it a long involved struggle.
It is only recently got better, starting around twenty twenty when I started using
psychedelic asists of therapy instead of overprescribed pharmaceutical medication. Now, um, yeah,
when once you start, Now, I know you are married in the
process. Here Were you married before or after your deployment? No, I
met my now husband right before I deployed. We've been together all through everything
and I've been very fortunate because it takes a community in a family to heal,
and so many of our veterans they don't have the family support or quite
as much community. And we know now that that is such a huge component
to healing. Kelsey Sharon combat veteran artillery gunner from the Canadian military. She's
written about her experiences. What was was writing the book also part of the
healing process for you as well as your jewelry business. You know, I
can't stress it enough that there are so many different ways of healing, whether
it's through journaling, whether it's through art therapy, whether it's through anything that
you can do with your hands that's creative. If you can get outside of
yourself and you can sit down, whether you can get outside, go ground,
go swim in the ocean, just be outside, move your body and
try these different types of healing. But journaling, art therapy, these things
are so so important in different ways to heal, and she writes all about
it in Brass and Unity. Is there anything in particular you're trying to get
across in the book to other returning veterans, Absolutely that you matter and that
you can heal, and that suicide does not have to be the option.
It may be a long road in a dark road, but I promise you
there are communities out there that want to help you. They want to see
you stride, They want to see you stay with us. We do not
need another suicide. We're up to over twenty two a day. We need
people to stay with us. So if you are struggling, please reach out
to Bress Immunity. We will do our best to send you to resources in
America. We just want to see you strive the way we know that you
can. You served your country honorably. It's your turn now for us to
help look after you well. And keep that in mind the Brass and Unity
brand as well, because when you make per chases of her designs, a
good bit of the profits go to help veterans who are suffering from PTSD,
depression, anxiety and suicide. When returning veterans do come home, isn't the
going from wondering if you're going to die any minute to a peaceful situation?
Is That is what is so nerve racking about returning home from service. For
me personally, it was a it was a ton of different things, to
be honest, but you're right, that's that's a huge one, right,
people come home, they're very uncomfortable. You go from you know, the
the Iraq guys they were in the city. If you go from having garbage
on the ground and you never know where IDs are, and that's always an
issue. But it's it's you know, for us coming home, I think
it's a shock to the system because we need more support when we come home,
and that's just what it comes down to. Yeah, one of my
personal friends served three tours in the Middle East and he was telling me his
PTSD was and triggered by what he saw in combat. His PTSD was relatively
peaceful patrols when he was in Angola, and for him, it was the
cheapness of life that is regular in that country that got him. I mean,
watching people hack each other to death over a broom. That kind of
thing is what drove him into his PTSD and he was able to get help
as well. Well. I'm really happy that he was able to get help
because there's so many people. It doesn't matter what your deployments look like.
We you know, every deployment is different for everyone and everyone will experience trauma
in a different way. But there are ways to heal. There are people
that want to see you heal, and we don't need to rely on the
government. Our community, people like Heroic Hearts, Project Boot Campaign, Defenders
of Freedom that solutions. These people want to see you heal and they're willing
to help. So reach out to these people if you were struggling, But
please no, don't reach for the bottle, don't reach for the gun,
reach the phone, reach for the hand. We are all here to help
you and you matter, and please stay with us. Brass and Unity.
One Woman's journey through the Hell of Afghanistan and back. Kelseley Sharon. We
thank you for sharing your story and where can people learn more about your jewelry
line. Absolutely, thank you so much for having me and holding space for
this. I really appreciate it. You can find everything at brass and Unity
dot com and then the book is available anywhere people buy their books. Thanks
for listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast, and remember
to listen to The Drive Live weekday afternoons from five to seven and iHeartMedia Presentation