Veteran Salute: “I just wanted to be a soldier”

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Growing up in Scranton, Kansas, Kristina Overman has always wanted to serve in the military. But that journey started a few years later than she wanted and ended with a two-decade career.

Originally Overman wanted to be a part of the Marines, and found herself wanting to join the military in some capacity. But her parents didn’t support the dream.

After attending Emporia State University for two years, she was ready to join the army. But when she joined, she didn’t have anything in mind for what she wanted to do. She just wanted to be a soldier. 

“You know, it sounds weird that I said that before, that it didn’t matter to me about the being a male or a female, but I just wanted to be a soldier. I wanted to and I picked transportation because that is the closest to combat at the time, because we didn’t have integration, male, female in combat arms,” Overman said. “That was the closest I could get to combat and make a difference.”

Since she couldn’t be in combat during her time, Overman found other ways to make a difference, as being a strong leader is what Overman strived for. During her time, she was commissioned as a transportation officer and ended her career retiring as a Major.

“Leadership was always a big deal with me,” Overman said. “An organization does far better with good leadership. You have to be convincing, I guess would be the thing. You got to be able to convince people, know that whoever is going to be leading you is going to be confident.” 

Like with any military obligation, it can be a very stressful situation, leading people to get post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD.

Overman used her experience and has turned it into something she feels passionate about – where she is now a peer specialist at the Veterans Affairs in Topeka. 

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