Is This HOW We Treat Our FEMALE SOLDIERS?

[Segami]

:mad: :mad:



Army Spc. Morganne McBeth lived to jump out of high-flying aircraft. But after she mysteriously died in Iraq in the summer of 2010, the military initially said she "stabbed herself".



" U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher McBeth has endured two tours in Iraq, where he regularly engaged in combat hell. The 28-year-old has served for 10 years, but during summer 2010, war finally got him and his family. The military told him his younger sister, U.S. Army Spc. Morganne McBeth, had suffered a noncombat related death in Iraq and they weren't at liberty to explain exactly how she died.

All military families deserve closure after their loved ones' deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the McBeths are still waiting eight months after the tragedy.

"They haven't told me anything," said McBeth, fighting his emotions. "I have no clue what happened to her."

The military has not offered a definitive explanation as to what happened to 19-year-old Morganne, who lived to jump out of C-130 Hercules aircraft.

While leaving McBeth completely out of the loop, the military has attempted during the last several months to explain Morganne's death to her parents, Sylvia and Leonard McBeth, of Fredericksburg, Va.

Initially, the military told Morganne's parents she accidentally stabbed herself and that it might have been a suicide. Her parents didn't buy it and reached out to Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.). Pressure from Wittman apparently convinced the military to offer some kind of information because soon after his involvement, the military told them Morganne's death was likely a murder.

Two male soldiers from her unit have been charged and are free while the investigation continues. Spc. Nicholas Bailey, 23, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and conspiring to obstruct justice by giving a false statement. Spc. Tyler Cain, 21, was charged with conspiring to obstruct justice.

The story of the McBeth family and its need for closure is not an isolated experience. There are scores of military families who want clear answers about what happened to their daughters and sons in Afghanistan and Iraq. One of the most publicized stories is that of icon Pat Tillman, whose death some believe the Department of Defense tried to cover up to glorify the U.S. military as it aggressively continues to seek new volunteer troops in the post-9/11 world.

And like the Tillmans, there are at least 20 families who believe the military isn't telling the truth about how their daughters died in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to retired Army Col. Ann Wright, who served in Somali during the early 1990s and quit her State Department job in 2003 in protest of the Iraq invasion.


cont'

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Is-this-how-we-treat-or-Fe-by-john-lasker-110202-200.html



.

[cynatnite]

1. Yes, it is.

Sadly enough, this is how woman do get treated in the military.

[cleanhippie]

2. Please, do not not broad-brush smear the entire military like that.

This NOT how women are treated, this is NOT the norm.

[cynatnite]

3. Murder is not the norm, but if what precipitated this is what I think it is...

then that is the norm.

I'm a vet, BTW.

[cleanhippie]

5. Have you spent any time in the military?

And I do not mean that as snark, but as a serious question. Do you have first-hand knowledge of women being treated this way as the "normal"?

For me, in my 22 years of service, NEVER did I see anything get beyond the initial phase of harassment. 7 different commands in my career, and every one of them strictly enforced sexual harassment rules. Every time.

[cynatnite]

7. 4 years active duty army...I was a medic...

After that 6 years in the air guard.

So, yes, I've earned the right to speak on this. I have been sexually harassed by drill sgts, had my NCO come to my room, and was told that if I didn't go along, my career was over. I'd be out. I went along.

Woman are attacked and raped regularly in the military. The stats are very high.

So, yeah...I know what the hell I'm talking about.

[cleanhippie]

13. I do not mean to sound like I am questioning your right to speak on this.

Sorry if it came across that way.
Maybe the Army is different from the Navy, as it did happen, but usually was taken care of immediately.
I am sorry to hear that you had horrible experiences with this, perhaps it is a bigger problem than I know.

[cynatnite]

16. It is a huge problem...over a third of all woman in the military...all the branches...

experience sexual harrassment. That's not to mention the alarming rates of rape as well.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968110,00.html

Military leaders do what they can to silence rape victims and I think that may have happened here.

http://www.stopmilitaryrape.org/

Woman continue to be treated horribly even after all this time. I was in during the late 80s and early 90s. Little has changed since then.

[LiberalLoner]

17. It's a big enough problem that I have a hard time recommending the Army

for young females I have talked to. I'm really torn over this. The Army gave me experiences and training I could not have received in any other way, and sent me places (like Egypt) I never would have seen otherwise. I dearly love the soldiers I served with and am fiercely proud of the soldiers I see today. But...was it worth getting raped? Actually, for me, it was. But I think of that when I am faced with young women contemplating a hitch with the Army...and I become mute. I do not know how to advise them. And I think that's a sad thing.

[cynatnite]

19. I got so much out of my active duty time...

Saw the world and got an education. I grew up and some of the best people I knew were in the military. Some of the worst, too. I've been attacked and harrassed. It was horrible.

I wanted to urge my daughters, but knowing what I know...I couldn't.

[MedicalAdmin]

36. Advise them with the truth.

You are more likely to get raped in the military than anywhere else.

Having said that, they just need to know that pros and cons. Tell them your story. Be truthful. If you honor your service and intend to honor current soldiers and any who may serve then you should speak the truth.

Your story has great value. Share it.

[Maru Kitteh]

44. Coercion is rape. You were raped. I'm so sorry that happened to you. n/t

[tkmorris]

9. If you really spent 22 years in...

The only way your claim to have never seen anything worse than initial phases of harassment could be true is if you had your eyes squeezed tightly shut the entire time.

I am a vet and I can tell you that this sort of thing is unbearably common.

[cleanhippie]

12. No, my eyes were wide open.

As I moved up in rank I took it as my responsibility not to allow it. I facilitated annual NR&R (Navy Rights and Responsibilities) classes where I emphasized not allowing sexual harassment.

Perhaps the Army is different, because I just did not see it happen (very often, it DID happen, yes). Maybe it is worse than I know.

[LiberalLoner]

15. Since most of us who are victims choose to hide that fact, it probably is worse than you know...but

you are aware of in-house surveys done in the Army showing roughly 1/3 of females reported being raped or sexually assaulted while in service?

Even small things...when I was enlisted, before I became an officer, and in AIT, got walked in on in the shower by a male NCO who stood there grinning while I ran for a towel. I DID report him - nothing happened. I learned my lesson.

[cynatnite]

18. Women are usually intimidated to keep silent...

You didn't see it because women were too afraid for many reasons. The perpetrators are usually higher ranking NCOs and officers.

[LiberalLoner]

23. In my case, it was a desire not to appear damaged and in need of counseling...

One girl who only suffered an attempted rape, was repatriated from MFO because we did not have the psychological services there to treat her. Her career at that point was over. Fair? Nope. But that's reality.

I knew this when I made my decision not to report it or tell anyone. I knew that it was a choice of staying in the Army or having my career be over.

And I did not want my career to be over, at least not at that point.

Wanna know when I did resign my commission? When I had to go to bat for females who were being molested by an oral surgeon on post under the guise of him doing "official breast exams" while females were in the dental chair. I don't even want to go into it - but I resigned my commission so that I could go to the press. When the story was ready to break, the Commanding General of the post did the right thing and the dentist and his entire chain of command went bye-bye virtually overnight.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. tail hook, best example of this in the USN

It does happen, and yes you missed it,

[cleanhippie]

27. It does happen, but I did not miss it.

As I stated, it did happen, but was dealt with immediately, in all of my experiences.

[defendandprotect]

33. How many soldiers in the military ... ?

and you're basing what you know on simply your experiences?


:rofl:

[cleanhippie]

40. .

:wtf:

[defendandprotect]

32. Exactly ... and too much is going on in this right wing/privatized military to

avoid seeing the approval of higher ups -- from porn like videos -- to

rapes of women -- and pressures on soldiers/military academy applicants

to fall in line with "Christianity" -- it's a right wing military --

including at the highest levels where we saw Rumsfeld with Christian quotes

all over his messages! We have a military which went on a "Crusade" in the

Middle East for George W -- and we want to call this a few bad apples!

hmmm...

[seabeyond]

21. werent you on scorpios thread arguing girls/women are not regularly harrassed on street with comment

and that it is not degrading to female for men to be able to say a bunch of sexist crap to females? it seems that thread is the first one i encountered with you at du and women didnt know what they were talking about with sexism and and harrassment.

maybe your claim to not seeing it is you dont recognize or think degrading comments to women are a problem.

[Bluenorthwest]

22. Except for the discrimination and discharging people for their

sexuality, you mean. To claim a lack of sexual harassment in the military, which openly fires gay people is the view of a pair of tightly closed eyes.

[LiberalLoner]

8. I'm a vet, too...and I can confirm that women are not treated very well within the Army as a whole.

This case is clearly exceptional, but you catch a lot of crap as a female in the Army that men don't catch. Period.

[LiberalLoner]

10. Oh, yeah, and I was raped by a fellow officer. Never reported it due to fear it would

adversely affect my career. My story is not a unique one.

Oh, and I was one of those airborne soldiers too....not that it matters.

[MedicalAdmin]

39. I used to be a cop. Same thing on the blue line.

Women cops have to develop tough skins to deal with the shit from (some) other officers, civilians, and suspected criminals. They deal with shit the male cops don't usually have to. Some of the best officers (and the best watch commander) I ever served with were women officers. Percentage wise there was a much higher percentage of good officers who were women than men (comparing gender pools).

Just my 2 cents. Never served in the military.

[defendandprotect]

41. Female cops are rated very highly -- more effective in calming things down ...

the hierarchal male resistance remains, however -- I'm sure!

[MedicalAdmin]

45. Of course there is always one exception to the rule.

There was this one officer that EVERYONE was sure would get someone killed by escalating any situation she was in. She was short, had a bad temper, a sharp tongue and would wade where angels feared to tread and expect the rest of us to pull her skinny little ass out of the fire while putting our asses on the firing line. This happened time and time again. I finally took a lateral transfer so I NEVER had to work with her EVER again.

With that exception I wouldn't hesitate to work with any woman officer. We had one female officer who could tell from over a city block away if someone was packing just by the way someone was walking or how they wore their clothes or something. It was amazing.

[Desertrose]

4. It may not be the norm...but if it happens it shouldn't be covered up.

Clearly it is how SOME women have been treated...and 1 is too many.

[cleanhippie]

6. Agreed. Offenders and those that do try to cover it up need to prosecuted

to the full extent of the law. But to say this is "normal" is nonsense.

[bobbolink]

20. Tell that to the raped women at the Air Farce Academy!

Who were BLAMED for being raped! :nuke:

[MedicalAdmin]

35. MAybe not but sweeping shit under carpets sure is.

[lapislzi]

11. Her gender is irrelevant.

The facts are that a crime was likely committed and is being covered up by the army. Throwing the soldier's gender into it is simply a distraction.

[justiceischeap]

14. It's only a distraction if there weren't a clear pattern emerging. (eom)

[hfojvt]

24. gender is the key though

Because the crime was probably rape. A rape, covered up by a murder, and then a murder, covered up not just by the murderers, but also by others up the chain of command.

And such rapes and cover-ups seem to be endemic in the military.

[cynatnite]

25. Sad, but very true. n/t

[defendandprotect]

34. No -- in our military GENDER -- like sexual orientation -- is still relevant ...

When the military changes all of the training and all of the behavior which

negatively impacts females -- when there are no longer rapes in the military

and gang rapes -- and denials of these rapes and cover ups of them --

then maybe you can say that.

[DirkGently]

28. Accusing a murder victim of suicide is unspeakably vile.

[Pacifist Patriot]

29. +100

[polmaven]

30. This is apparently

how women are treated in many instances throughout our society. I find it amazing that so many males in the military are so afraid of being "victimized" by homosexual soldiers, yet this type of behavior is so ordinary any time those men encounter women in the military!

This case is shameful, to say the least!

[Aleric]

31. Really, this is how we treat all our soldiers

While I don't want to take away from the very important mistreatment of female soldiers by the military itself;

From the time we close our eyes and ears and let them be sent to illegal, undeclared wars to the time we cut their benefits from the VA we treat our soldiers worse than we treat criminals. We ask them to do our dirty work, to kill and die for us, to keep our dirty secrets and let us pretend it's for some noble cause and then, when they've done all we ask, we leave them to rot.

[Marnie]

37. This is how this country treats women, period.

This will end up with the guys in the military painting the female victim as a slut or a queer, or drunk or a combination of those, so whatever happened it was her fault and she asked for it. And Boys will be boys. They will be exonerated of receive a slap on the wrist.

Bet money on it.

[PinkTiger]

38. I was in the Army in the late 60s and early 70s

And women were treated terribly then. As a WAC, I was subjected to much sexual harassment; many of my fellow soldiers were raped. And there was a culture then, especially for the pretty women, that you must expect to be sexually victimized. It was different for the female officers, but I was an enlisted woman. The best escape was to get married, which I did as soon as I could. Female soldiers who were feminine and not butch were expected to "go along." It was degrading and very disheartening to find out that something you volunteered for, as a patriotic duty, could result in so much pain and anguish. And it is a type of pain that is still resonating within me, and other women soldiers, yet today. I was hoping things had changed. But apparently they have not. Our society makes this possible. And it makes me very angry. I wish we could sue for damages. I've known other women whose whole lives were ruined over this. I was lucky, and I survived with only a little trauma. Many were not so lucky.

[bobbolink]

42. {{{{{{{{{Pink Tiger}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

I'm so sorry...:cry:

What you have described is exactly why so many more women vets of Iraq and Afghanistan are homeless now than the men.

:nuke:

Is there any organization for women vets who have been raped by their peers?

[seabeyond]

43. "Our society makes this possible" yes... nt

[LiberalLoner]

46. (((((PinkTiger)))))) I hear you, sister.

[LiberalLoner]

47. Reading all of this, and my own experiences, make me want to ask...do women count? Are

we people? Do we exist outside of being objects for use/abuse?

So, DU...do women count?