Stars & Stripes Podcast: Force for Hire
By MICHAEL S. DARNELL | STARS AND STRIPES
Published: June 5, 2019
Cindy Waldron has done a little bit of everything, it seems. She has taken big rigs up and down America’s highways. She has delivered much-needed supplies to troops in Iraq, braving gunfire and improvised explosive device attacks along the way. She’s a proud mother of a U.S. soldier and author of the 2006 book “Cindy in Iraq: A Civilian’s Year in the War Zone,” which chronicles her experiences.
She’s also a survivor – of firefights, of abusive relationships and of a sexual assault while deployed. Through it all, she not only persevered, but flourished, becoming one of the few women driving supply convoys through Baghdad in its bloodiest years.
Waldron talked with Stars and Stripes about her experiences in Iraq, in a raw, unfiltered look back at a singularly unique career. She goes over it all, from happy family moments, to dealing with PTSD, to finding peace after coming home from war.
Along the way Waldron gives advice to abuse survivors, talks about her support of U.S. troops and paints a picture of Iraq in its most war-torn days. This is one episode of Force for Hire that you won’t want to miss.
About The Author
Cynthia I. Morgan drove a big rig across the U.S. for twelve years before venturing on a one-year contract in 2003 with KBR in Iraq, where she became a civilian convoy commander in charge of up to thirty trucks delivering supplies to American bases throughout the war-torn country. After seven months back in the U.S., she returned to Kuwait and Iraq to keep driving for IAP and then PWC. She came home for good in May 2006.
In November 2008, Cindy took a tumble off a loaded flatbed and suffered a devastating injury that shattered her nose and both of her wrists. After several surgeries, multiple doctors and 3 years of recovery, Cindy found that her truck driving career was over. With heavy restrictions on the use of her hands and wrists Cindy was not left with many options for a new career.
With a powerful love for the road and refusing to sit back and do nothing, Cindy started her own pilot car business in the summer of 2011 in Mississippi. Cindy now lives in Arkansas, runs her growing business, rides her Harley when she can and is enjoying being close to her 5 grandchildren.
Cindy's support of our troops did not stop when she came home from Iraq. She joined the Patriot Guard Riders while still in Kuwait in 2005. After shattering her wrists Cindy served as the Help on the Homefront assistant coordinator for a 1 1/2 years then as the coordinator for another year. She attended several PGR missions for homecomings, send offs, as well as KIAs. This photo was taken at the Chris Kyle memorial service at Cowboy Stadium in Dallas, TX.
In July 2021 Cindy married Chris Bowen in a SciFi/Monty Python/Red neck ceremony out on the family farm. Their honeymoon was a 5 day motorcycle trip all around Arkansas.
