Silena Dunaway

About the Founder

I am Silena Dunaway, the founder and executive director of Veterans Against Military Sexual Trauma (VetM.A.S.T.), a nonprofit whose mission is to bring awareness, foster support and ignite change in the lives of active duty or military veterans who have endured sexual abuse, sexual harassment or any extreme physical or mental mistreatment

I am a proud veteran of the U.S. Army. I served three years on active duty and was deployed in Germany before being honorably discharged in 1991.

I am a native of Dayton, Ohio, and now reside in Wake County North Carolina. I am the youngest of four children.

My path to the armed forces began at the age of 22, when I wanted to provide a better life for my five-year-old son.

I enlisted with my 19-year-old cousin. What I encountered while serving in the military was something that I never expected: persistent sexual harassment.

It all began when I was in Advanced Individual Training in 1989 at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. That’s where  a drill sergeant made a comment about the size of my breasts.

I had grown up with three brothers and male cousins, so I tried to brush aside the comment by firing back, “my man likes them.”

The drill sergeant’s insensitive response?  He ordered me to get down on the floor and do diamond push-ups.

Soon afterward, I was labelled as having an “attitude,” but that determination and resolve not to be bullied or intimidated enabled me to persevere and survive in the Army.

My first overseas deployment was in Gelnhausen, Germany. It was a small military post with less than six units that housed the troops. One of the units was coed.  The entire company was on one floor that housed the administrative offices and the living quarters.

While stationed in Germany, I was again subjected to repeated instances of sexual harassment and was targeted with sexual assault.

After my discharge in July, 1991, I went into the Air Force reserves. I briefly enrolled in college, but changed course, and worked for Ohio Emissions Testing Company as a mechanical electronic technician. I was also studying radio and television broadcasting, along with interning at a radio station in Ohio.

In 1998, I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder while seeking treatment at the Veterans Administration (VA) in Ohio. One year later, I moved to Cumberland County, North Carolina.

In 2004, a Pandora’s box was opened, revealing the true source of my struggle: my PTSD was a consequence of being a victim of sexual trauma while enlisted in the military. During that time, I was doing individual therapy through the VA in Cumberland County.

In 2014, after relocating to Wake County, I started group therapy sessions through the VA focusing on sexual trauma that was very helpful.

In 2020, after the heinous death of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillén in Fort Hood, Texas, I was determined to no longer be a victim. Fort Hood was my last duty station before I was discharged. I vowed to help bring about greater awareness for incoming soldiers and others, including active duty members and veterans, who are or have been targets of sexual trauma while serving in the military. That’s when the idea of starting VetM.A.S.T. began to germinate.

During the pandemic, I joined a recreational therapy through the VA and met other veterans. We discussed in earnest military sexual trauma and PTSD. During those discussions, someone said the greater public needs to be made aware of the issue.

That’s when God ordered my steps to start VetM.A.S.T, which was launched in March, 2023.

God continues to ordain me, as a mother and grandmother, to do this work.

VetM.A.S.T. features a ribbon that says it all:

“Protect Those Who Protect Our Country.”