There was not a large turnout, and I was disappointed to not see the two men who work at the Vet Center present. Their support by being there would have meant a lot. One showed up to deliver fans to the room, but then left. But my family of Choice showed up and that was great!
There were also some other survivors who showed up to see it, and I thank them. I hope to get to know them better and be of help any way I can.
I spoke after the movie, and below is the text of my speech. However here, I have added links to the two requests I made to folks present.
----
Ladies and
gentleman, fellow veterans.
First I want to
thank the Harris County Veterans Center for hosting this showing of the
Invisible War. I also want to thank my family of choice who have turned out in support of me.
It was Dec of 2011
when I finally came forward after 35 years of hiding some terrible
secrets. I didn't do it for me, but for
a dear lady veteran friend out in Colorado that I had met online. She was covering a sick friend's duty watch
in Desert Storm so he wouldn't be AWOL, when her security partner for the watch
attacked and raped her, telling her she couldn't tell or he'd turn in her and
her friend and destroy both their careers.
She tried to report it anyway, and was thrown out on a dishonorable discharge
for having 'borderline personality dishorder'.
The military said it was all made up.
She hadn't made it up though. She
stil has terrible nightmares and flashbacks. She is the first person I ever
told the whole story to. I knew she
needed help, and she said if I'd go for help, then she would too. So I
did. I had no idea how badly I really
needed that help.
My story is much the
same as those you saw on the screen tonight.
I was attacked and raped by four different fellow service people while I
was in. I was told to never tell or I would be set up for court martial and my career would be destroyed and I would
be thrown out dishonorably. I saw it
happen to others who told. How they were harassed and ridiculed and told to just 'suck it up'. I knew I'd get the same
treatment. In my case, it was my
supervisors who also controlled my work hours and made sure I was the one
closing up the shop or working at an isolated location. They were predators who
had done it before, were doing it to others at that time, and I'm sure they
went on to continue. They had finely
honed skills. Command turned a blind eye and ear as it was their buddies doing
it. I know my first Chief had a good
idea what his first class was doing, and as he hated women in the Navy, he had
told me he would do anything he could to get me thrown out of 'this man's
Navy'... so I assumed this was one of those things. I could not fight him, but
I could survive, and as crazy as I might have gotten in years later, I hung on
tight and did survive. But it destroyed
my career anyways, because I gave up. I didn't even try to advance in rank
after the 2nd attack because I just wanted to get out. the devastation it made in my life has lasted
for three decades.
When I got out, all
I was was the proud veteran. All the ugliness was buried deep, so I
thought. I never told people the real
reason I couldn't have kids, that I'd been beaten so bad I couldn't. Or that
when my throat seizes up, its because CB2's idea of foreplay was to choke me
into compliance. Or that I've got this gap between my teeth because they hit me
in the jaws so many times my teeth fractured and as they've come out, my teeth
have slid around. PTSD like I have from
those years is invisible to most eyes, but not to those of us behind the eyes.
I want to say that I
also met some wonderful people while I was in, people I knew I couldn't tell or
else they would do something that would hurt their careers, and would only make
me feel worse. I love the Navy, they
just need to change the atmosphere. You
don't see IBM or other companies with rape rates like the military. It all comes back to Command.
What you can do to
help...
There are two things
right now I'd ask of you. Number one is to sign the petition linked off of
Protect Our Defenders web sight, on Causes..
To: Chuck Hagel,
United States Secretary of Defense
Last month with a
flick of his pen, Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin set justice aside and overruled a
jury’s verdict convicting Lt. Col. James Wilkerson of aggravated sexual assault
of a civilian contractor at Aviano Air Base. As his punishment, Wilkerson was
dismissed from the Air Force and sentenced to one year in jail. Franklin's
reversal freed his fellow fighter pilot and reinstated him back into the Air
Force, in part because he was described by friends and family as a “doting father and husband.”
To General Franklin,
it didn’t matter that Wilkerson had failed a lie-detector test or that his own
legal counsel recommended against overruling the verdict. Instead, Franklin
claimed that Wilkerson’s conviction and punishment should be overturned because
he was a “doting father and husband.”
Franklin failed to
mention that Wilkerson had a long history of misconduct. He had already been caught peeking over a
bathroom stall while a subordinate's wife urinated. Wilkerson egregiously
violated safety standards, pulled rank to fend off law enforcement officials,
was abusive to fellow military officials -- and that’s just what we know so
far.
Despite strong
corroborating testimony from independent witnesses and clear supporting facts
on the record, Franklin, who did not attend the trial, decided that he did not
believe the victim. Heard that before?
Unless Franklin is
dismissed from the service for his biased and unfounded reversal of Wilkerson’s
conviction, Franklin’s actions will have a chilling effect on victims who might
otherwise report being sexually assaulted. It sends exactly the wrong message
to bystanders, investigators, prosecutors, judges, and juries who otherwise
might try to do the right thing. It confirms to sexual predators that they face
little risk of being punished. "
--
The 2nd thing is
directly connected to this, and that is to contact your congress person and ask
them to support the STOP Act.
"At a press
conference April 17, Congresswomen Jackie Speier (D-CA) announced that she is
reintroducing the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act (STOP
Act) to address sexual assault in the military.
Jackie Speier has risen on the house floor over 20 times to speak out on
behalf of MST survivors. We deserve this
support and we must support this bill.
In an official
statement, Speier said “The epidemic of military rape and sexual assault is a
damning indictment of the military judicial system’s treatment of these cases.
True justice demands impartiality which is absent in a system that relies on
individual commanders who have no legal expertise to determine which assailants
get prosecuted and which go free. Instead of commanders making decisions about
guilt or innocence, no matter how senior, an independent military office of
trained experts should determine how these cases are treated.”
The STOP Act, which
has 83 co-sponsors, would take sexual assault cases out of the hands of chains
of command and place it under the jurisdiction of an autonomous Sexual Assault
Oversight and Response Office which will be comprised of civilian and military
personnel. This would prevent officers from being able to overturn sexual
assault convictions like in a case last month."
--
This is the way to
make a true change. The military has
been saying since I was in that they were going to change things. 35 years is enough time. This last event I spoke about above must be
the last nail in the coffin of injustice!
Thank you for
coming..
---------------
While there, Wendi came up and gave me her card. Here is the link to her web site that is amazingly helpful. I've adder to to our blog roll.
Thanks bunches Wendi, I look forward to getting to know you and any help possible!
Thanks to my friends and family for continuing to being there for me.
Over and out,
Myst
