Sara:
Years ago, just before I headed off to Navy boot camp, my aunt took me aside and read me a list of rules to live by. She was the first female in our family to enter the armed forces. She was Army and sent to Vietnam.
She told me that rule number one was never be alone with a male, enlisted or officer. Rule two, if you find yourself in trouble, don't fight it and never report it.
I went to boot camp in Orlando Florida. At that time it was women only, so there were no problems there. Then, being the person I am, I went through Air Crew School. I was one of the first women to go to that school and serve in an Air Crew Squad. I needed to work four times as hard as our weakest link to be considered half as good as he. I did it, I graduated. I was one of twenty women out of a class of eighty. Sixty attended graduation ceremony. Four of us were women.
Later, at my PDS, I heard horror stories of rape and sexual harassment. Never once, did I forget my aunts list of rules, maybe that's why I was one of the lucky ones. I knew a girl, a yeoman, who reported a rape by her boss. He was a Chief, she was a second class. She did time for harassment and defamation of character, he was transfered. More than likely, to commit his crimes once again. I heard she needed a medical discharge, a section eight.
I told many of my stories to my aunt after I got out. She was glad that things had gotten better. Better?
I had hoped and prayed that things my aunt and other women had braved would have made it better for people like your daughter.
It is a disgrace to women who serve and a shame for the hell they have to go through just to have their voices heard. I have always felt a pang of guilt. I told others of my aunts rules. Maybe if more spoke up, maybe if more got the media involved and maybe.... Maybe by just hearing your daughters story, it will give hope and take away the loneliness of those still in pain.
She is a brave and wonderful woman, just like her mom.
The above is a comment I wrote in response to this article. PLEASE read it! It shows once again how this "parental" government supports the troops.
ITMF'sA!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
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10 comments:
I am by no means an innocent blue eyed boy but an old grizzled fart. Little did this help me to stave off the depressing and profoundly sad feeling which I felt after reading the Suzzanne's story. Of course, it's not a secret, that these types of, mainly male, institutions have been dragging their feet to "modernize" their thinking and mentallity. My goodness, I wasn't quite prepared for the extent that it still is prevailing. There are no excuses for it and there should be nothing on the way of an immediate reform. If need to be, heads should be rolling!
Hey. Ziem, thanks for the Peace Train referral.
Sara Rich has campaigned on this issue and I have been aware of it ever since she called me up several years ago, looking for help, before her daughter went AWOL.
Sara has worked closely with Cindy Sheehan and Codepink in trying to bring attention to the way the military mistreats or allows the mistreatment of many of its female soldiers.
All soldiers deserve repect, equity and justice. And no one should ever think they have to accept abuse from a peer or commanding officer and have to shut up about it. What is that but sexual slavery??
They have made Suzanne an object lesson to other women soldiers and by keeping them afraid to speak out, they perpetuate this systemic abuse. We need a change and its way overdue to overhaul this system.
Corporations would never allow this kind of harassment and rape of women in the workplace! Why does the military? Because we the people allow it. Because we do not DEMAND a system that respects women!
A fish rots from the head down. I say get rid of all the brass and bring in a completely new team.
Yeah, Maria! Let's petition Jack Murtha to volunteer to become War Tsar!
the statistics coming out about how many women soldiers are being sexually assaulted absolutely blows my mind and makes me ill. alternet recently did a piece about it. i had no idea it is all even to the level that it is.
i'm going to link a piece i wrote recently. i'm sure you've already heard of this woman's story, but just in case:
http://always-a-musing.blogspot.com/2007/03/one-million-blogs-for-peace-tuesday.html
what suzanne did is really amazing. i can't imagine the fear involved in her taking action. sexual assault is horrific enough in and of itself - but to be far away from family and friends, knowing that your complaint may never be heard and there will be hell to pay if you speak out...
Man in this day and age, I wouldn't let my daughters OR MY SONS join the military.
I don't get it. I spent 4 years (74-78-peace time) active duty in the Air Force and never once heard of an incident of a WAF being raped.
If there had been one, the commanders I served under would have cut the perps balls off right after we kicked his ass.
Stram,
That we didn't hear about these rapes in the 70's might be the same as we didn't hear, back in those good old days, too much about homo sexuals, incests, predatary priests etc. We are finally starting to face up to these hush, hush items that were left out of our lexicon in the name of the propriety. This taboo mentallity might partially make it still so very hard, for a person like Suzanne, to get justice without torture.
I agree Pekka, back in the 60's, 70's and even into the 80's. No one talked. All the women I knew, knew they'd not get justice, but ridicule and judgment instead. Just because it wasn't talked about, didn't mean it wasn't there.
You're quite welcome Maria!
I really believe women in the military must do what those before them did not have the courage to do. Yell, scream, call a reporter, demand to be heard. Remember, it was a mere enlisted that broke the Abu Ghraib story, at great personal risk to herself. Suzanne, she is doing the right thing, talk, and keep talking until everyone listens.
It's always a good idea to be vocal on the subject, however the complaint should never stop at the department's chain of command. If all else fails, the base command should be notified because it makes everyone accountable.
I am currently in the Navy, (12 yrs & counting), and I have been to new training school to deal with such problems discussed in this topic.
Some departments despise me and try to bust me down in rank because my new duties is to take the matter over their heads. As the command CTTI and CMEO coordinator, my new responsibility is to see to the welfare of those in predicaments of those specifically mentioned in this blog.
CTTI,(Command Training Team Instructor),
CMEO, (Command Managed Equal Opportunity).
This is a new program implemented almost two years ago to instruct and to protect those who have been mistreated or in this case, to the extent of raped by higher ranked personnel, (Officer or Enlisted).
My rank is E-6,(E: Enlisted). I have represented individual who were wrongly accused and those who reported to me from other commands on my base, who were abused, threatened, or even to the point of raped and had nothing done by their command.
So far, I have had two chief take early retirement and one with charges against him, some junior officers dismissed, not transferred. I have more than one Admiral on my side, to help me "clean house", if you know what I mean. Admirals are viewed by how the way their command is runned and the welfare of those under his or her command. As one Admiral told me, "It takes one bad apple to ruin the batch. Those who abuse their position will have no place in my command". She basically gave me the authority to report to her if I had to if departmental commands couldn't or wouldn't do anything to those who violated UCMJ articles pertaining to the well being of personnel.
What was new to me was when I represented an Army private who accused her seargent of sexual misconduct, and her command was reluctant to do anything about it.
Because they were stationed on my base, legally, I had the authority to pursue matters and bring it to the attention to my command for a full investigation.
She is now a Seargent in her same unit with different Officer leadership.
Even before the Tail-Hook scandal broke, anyone, (male or female), who were of low rank were abused in one way or another. It's a shame when we are now just beginning to do something about it.
The Navy is the first to implement this program with excellent results, but only in few fleet commands. The object now is to summarily discharge or bring charges to those accused of conduct non becoming, or dereliction of duty.
It's a shame when Army or Marine bases and commands allow these things to continue and sweep the issue under the rug, out of sight of those who could do something about it, on base or in the field.
Suzanne has the right idea and sound advice to anyone contemplating military service. Military service is not for everyone, and caution should be advised.
The Army and Marines are now giving waivers to those with a felony conviction to join up and are 42 years of age. The Marines age requirement went from 29 to 34 years of age.
The Navy and the Air Force want people with, at least, a high school diploma or GED with no felonies. Both branches age requirements end at 34.
When you hear of these crimes being committed in the Army and the Marines, remember who they are accepting.
It doesn't just make them look bad, it makes all military branches look bad.
Very nice gunner & well siad. I too, back in the late 70's and early 80's served with many who enlisted to escape jail time.
What you do deserves respect and admiration. Keep up the excellent work! Blessed be.
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