Crissy Ashcroft, 50, has been battling a personal war since she came back from Afghanistan in 2011.
“I saw things that I can’t unsee that will be with me forever,” the retired Army corporal told The Voice Australia cameras.
Because of these experiences, she’s been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“When I came home, I was diagnosed with PTSD and I have triggers.”
“If I hear a car backfire, I used to just hit the deck and go onto my stomach no matter where I was— which looks kind of strange in the middle of Sydney.”
“I want my war to be over. I don’t want to feel like this anymore.”
Crissy didn’t want to retire from the military, but the physical and emotional symptoms left her no choice. Since coming home, the veteran has used music to cope with her PTSD, and it’s made a tremendous difference.
“It’s [PTSD] a bit like alcohol,” she told Who.
“You’re always going to have trouble. It’s just a matter of working out how you deal when it happens.”
Crissy decided to audition for The Voice Australia as a way to gain closure and finally step away from her military past. The song she has chosen for the big moment is fitting— “When the War is Over” by Cold Chisel.
When Crissy steps onto the stage for her blind audition, she is adorned in military regalia, and dimmed stage lights set the scene.
“When the War is Over” is a power ballad released by Cold Chisel as part of the 1982 album Circus Animals. It deviates from traditional song structure in that the choruses are sung at the beginning and end, with the verses sandwiched in between. The lyrics talk about a soldier who struggles to move on from the war. The words seem to indicate the singer has lost a sense of their self, and their dreams are now faded. They are not the same person as they were before.
The song choice is powerful in light of her story.
The emotions come through Crissy’s voice as she sings lyrics, such as:
“You and I, we sent each other stories,
Just a page, I’m lost in all its glory,
How can I go home and not get blown
away?”
From the first few seconds, judge Delta Goodrem is enchanted. The other judges are subtler, but they all interject with praises like “nice” and “I like it”.
At one point, Delta stands up and sings along with Crissy before finally smashing the buzzer.
After the audition, Crissy tells the judges about her service and experiences with PTSD
Crissy was eliminated during the second episode of the Battle Rounds— but the real publicity came when former veterans accused her of lying about her service, claiming Crissy had only been a desk clerk and had never fought in combat. This discovery obviously drew fury from the media and other veterans— but I’d like to clear it up here.
Afterward, Crissy told Who that while she did serve in terms of an office job, she also participated in two “outside the wire” missions. “During my 13 years of service, including a deployment to Afghanistan, I have suffered both physical and mental injuries as a direct cause from my military service,” she wrote.
Kellie Dadds, a volunteer spokesperson for the Women’s Veterans Network, has additionally stated: “We’ve done extensive open-source research on Ashcroft’s case and found no evidence that supported allegations against her. Other people in the media have misrepresented her story and Cris acknowledges that fact.”
Regardless of how Crissy served, I think this veteran deserves a round of applause and some respect.
See the powerful performance below.
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