Lt. Colonel Joan Burton
Encyclopedia
Colonel Joan Burton is a fictional character
from the Lifetime television series Army Wives
, portrayed by Wendy Davis
.
(Sterling K. Brown
), which makes Roland the lone "Army husband" among the main characters. After returning from deployment in Season 1, Joan struggles with PTSD resulting from her experiences while deployed. Her relationship with Roland suffers, and he has a one-night stand with a visiting reporter due to his feelings of alienation and dissatisfaction. He confesses to Joan when she returns from abroad, leading talk of divorce. But the two reconcile following her announcement that she is pregnant and the explosion at the Hump Bar.
Season 2 deals with Joan's pregnancy, and her daughter, Sara Elizabeth, is born at the end of the Season. Sara Elizabeth celebrates her first birthday in Season 4. Sara Elizabeth's godparents are Claudia Joy
and General Michael Holden
.
. In the pilot episode, she returns home from a two year deployment, suffering from PTSD. Her career nearly ends with an Article 15 after a decision she makes causes a soldier with PTSD to hold Roland and Claudia Joy hostage. Although she considers retiring to avoid a court martial, Col. Holden eventually has a change of heart and destroys the Article 15. Throughout the first season, she struggles to cope with events that occurred while she was deployed, eventually leaving for a treatment facility. During the Season 1 finale, she discovers she is pregnant.
While waiting for orders to return to her unit in Season 2, she is offered a plush (but demanding) job working for General Holden as his Executive Officer. During this time, she hides her pregnancy while deciding whether or not to keep the baby. When she finally confesses that she is pregnant, General Holden hires Evan as a temporary replacement while assuring Joan that her job will be there when she returns. Evan does his best to undermine Joan's capabilities in front of General Holden. He almost succeeds, but is finally thwarted when Joan's unit soundly defeats his in a war games exercise.
Despite doing everything she had to do to keep the job working for General Holden, Joan realizes via the war games victory that her true value to the Army is in combat. She asks General Holden if she can return to the field in Iraq
, which also causes much tension with Roland and a tearful goodbye moment with Sara Elizabeth. In Season 4, she is re-deployed to Iraq and suffers an eye injury after her patrol comes under attack from an IED. Upon her return to Fort Marshall, she is diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury
(TBI). Joan Burton was promoted to Colonel, She was notified of her promotion to Colonel by her Commanding Officer and also received the additional duty of Garrison Commander in Season 5, a job that brings her into conflict with Roxie Leblanc after TJ steals from the P/X.
Wendy Davis has also received two NAACP Image Award nominations for her portrayal of Joan Burton.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the Lifetime television series Army Wives
Army Wives
Army Wives is an American drama series that follows the lives of four army wives, their families, and an army husband whose wife is in the army. The series, shot at ABC Studios, premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007...
, portrayed by Wendy Davis
Wendy Davis
Wendy Davis is an American actress. She is currently appearing in the hit Lifetime Television series, Army Wives, as Colonel Joan Burton.-Early Years:...
.
Personal life
Joan is married to Dr. Roland BurtonDr. Roland Burton
Dr. Roland Burton is a fictional character from the Lifetime TV show Army Wives. He is played by Sterling K. Brown.- Personal life :Roland is married to Colonel Joan Burton . As such, he is the lone "Army husband" among the main characters, which include four Army wives. While he and Joan are at...
(Sterling K. Brown
Sterling K. Brown
Sterling K. Brown is an American actor.-Life and career:Brown was born in St. Louis, Missouri. An avid actor since he was a child, he went on to attend Stanford University, where he earned a B.A...
), which makes Roland the lone "Army husband" among the main characters. After returning from deployment in Season 1, Joan struggles with PTSD resulting from her experiences while deployed. Her relationship with Roland suffers, and he has a one-night stand with a visiting reporter due to his feelings of alienation and dissatisfaction. He confesses to Joan when she returns from abroad, leading talk of divorce. But the two reconcile following her announcement that she is pregnant and the explosion at the Hump Bar.
Season 2 deals with Joan's pregnancy, and her daughter, Sara Elizabeth, is born at the end of the Season. Sara Elizabeth celebrates her first birthday in Season 4. Sara Elizabeth's godparents are Claudia Joy
Claudia Joy Holden
Claudia Joy Holden is a fictional character on the Lifetime television series Army Wives, portrayed by Kim Delaney.-Personal life:...
and General Michael Holden
Michael Holden
Major General Michael James Holden is a fictional character from the Lifetime television series Army Wives, portrayed by Brian McNamara.- Personal life :Michael has been married to Claudia Joy Holden for 20 years...
.
Career
Joan is initially a Lt. Colonel in the Army, and leads a combat unit in AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. In the pilot episode, she returns home from a two year deployment, suffering from PTSD. Her career nearly ends with an Article 15 after a decision she makes causes a soldier with PTSD to hold Roland and Claudia Joy hostage. Although she considers retiring to avoid a court martial, Col. Holden eventually has a change of heart and destroys the Article 15. Throughout the first season, she struggles to cope with events that occurred while she was deployed, eventually leaving for a treatment facility. During the Season 1 finale, she discovers she is pregnant.
While waiting for orders to return to her unit in Season 2, she is offered a plush (but demanding) job working for General Holden as his Executive Officer. During this time, she hides her pregnancy while deciding whether or not to keep the baby. When she finally confesses that she is pregnant, General Holden hires Evan as a temporary replacement while assuring Joan that her job will be there when she returns. Evan does his best to undermine Joan's capabilities in front of General Holden. He almost succeeds, but is finally thwarted when Joan's unit soundly defeats his in a war games exercise.
Despite doing everything she had to do to keep the job working for General Holden, Joan realizes via the war games victory that her true value to the Army is in combat. She asks General Holden if she can return to the field in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, which also causes much tension with Roland and a tearful goodbye moment with Sara Elizabeth. In Season 4, she is re-deployed to Iraq and suffers an eye injury after her patrol comes under attack from an IED. Upon her return to Fort Marshall, she is diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injury
Traumatic brain injury , also known as intracranial injury, occurs when an external force traumatically injures the brain. TBI can be classified based on severity, mechanism , or other features...
(TBI). Joan Burton was promoted to Colonel, She was notified of her promotion to Colonel by her Commanding Officer and also received the additional duty of Garrison Commander in Season 5, a job that brings her into conflict with Roxie Leblanc after TJ steals from the P/X.
Praise for the character
Working Moms praised the Joan Burton character in a 2010 article, defining the character as a working mom balancing a military career with marriage and a newborn baby, and adding, "She defied expectations and became Fort Marshall's first African American female lieutenant colonel."Wendy Davis has also received two NAACP Image Award nominations for her portrayal of Joan Burton.