VERO BEACH — In 2011 while most were going about their normal daily routine, Tiffany Cloud Olson of Conyngham, PA was thinking of her husband, SSG Erik Olson, a decorated Special Operations combat veteran serving outside the wire in eastern Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush near Pakistan. Based upon insurgent activity in the region, a high probability existed that he would be injured or worse.
Olson, the son of Erik and Susan Olson of Vero Beach, was not naive to battle, as prior to Afghanistan, he served two year-long tours with Special Operations in Iraq where he was awarded numerous commendations, among them, three bronze stars, including the bronze star for valor. But despite being a seasoned combat veteran, the risks for him were real, and the fears for her, palpable.
SSG Olson returned from his Afghanistan tour earlier this year, recipient of The Purple Heart. He is currently recovering from injuries at a military base near Washington D.C. where he is in The Wounded Warrior Program.
As self-imposed therapy, Cloud Olson began to write about her experiences as a military spouse lacking sleep, worrying daily, checking the casualty report incessantly, & coping sometimes well (often horribly) while her husband was at war.
Her writing evolved into a book entitled Sleeping with Dog Tags, which released this week and is available in major bookstores, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble/NOOK, Kindle, eBooks etc.
She does not only wish to raise awareness of the military family experience with this book, she also wishes to raise money for an organization benefiting her community.
Cloud Olson intends to donate a portion of the profits from Sleeping with Dog Tags to The Rolling Angels for Armed Forces, a motorcycle group that supports military and their families in multiple ways—soldier send offs, return home celebrations, presence at military funerals, and gifts for military children during the holidays, among the many things they do. Amy Crego, Founder of The Rolling Angels, authored the book’s foreword.
