Regina Nelson — Marine Corps veteran and creator of “Fatigues Clothesline”

Regina Nelson was threatened into silence and forced to isolate within her trauma after two Marines raped her during her time in the Marine Corps. Years later, she stumbled across an online platform for women veterans to share their experiences in the military, and Nelson re-lived the trauma she experienced as a young teenager in the Marine Corps.

Through community support first found through Hays Caldwell Women’s Shelter, Nelson began her journey of healing from her trauma. In 2011, she created “Fatigues Clothesline” to help herself and other military sexual trauma survivors share their stories.

“When I first created Fatigues Clothesline and it hit social media, I received over 3,000 emails from fellow rape survivors in less than a month,” Nelson said. “Despite all the chaos that was trapped in our bodies, we gave each other a gift of releasing that chaos through art.”