Justice and Fair
Play
Are they just words when
applied to rape by U.S. personnel and the military?
December 27 2004
Counterbias.com
by Jack Dalton
It has been common knowledge in this country that if
you want justice or fair play you'd better have deep pockets. One
only need have a cursory look at the body of information in the
public arena to support this: corporate executives that lie, cheat
and steal and then receive only a slap on the wrist after destroying
thousands of peoples life savings and retirements, and the spectacle
of the O.J. Simpson trial, are but two of the many examples of what
money can and does buy – a lot of
'justice'.
This also applies to the U.S. military. Take, for example, the case
of Jennifer Dyer, a 1st LT in the New Jersey National Guard who was
raped at Camp Shelby, MS, while undergoing pre-Iraq deployment
training. One would think that this would singularly be the most
horrific thing a woman could be subjected to. In Jennifer's case,
the rape was only the start of her horror and victimization.
After reporting the rape, her ordeal truly began. I won't go into
all the details but here is the link to where all the reports
concerning her ordeal are located (http://oldamericancentury.org/jennifer.htm).
It is "interesting" reading to say the least.
For close to 5 months Jennifer has had to hire an attorney at a cost
of $25,000 to try and get the Army – not
the N.J. National Guard as she had been transferred into the 278th
Regimental Combat Team at Camp Shelby –
to do the right thing, which simply stated would have been to
investigate the rape and accused rapist, get medical help and
treatment for the victim, and transfer her to another base. These
would have been the correct and compassionate things to do.
Did any of that take place? No.
What did take place was the Army coming at Jennifer
as though she were the criminal, not the victim. She was forced to
hire an attorney, Fred Klepp, to get the Army to understand exactly
who the victim was. After over a month of getting nowhere with the
military people at Camp Shelby, the Pentagon, and the Department of
Defense, it was decided that the only chance Jennifer had at justice
was to go public – drive her story into
the internet media, and national mainstream media
– embarrass the Army publicly to force them into doing what
they should have done in the first place.
Within a week after the first article I wrote appeared on the
internet, it was in over 90 national newspapers, with a major
broadcast news program working up a segment on Jennifer's plight to
be aired sometime in January. That got the Army's attention real
fast.
The investigation was closed just days after Jennifer reported it
was re-opened – this was only done after
Jennifer's story gained national attention (not to mention the
hundreds of people that started to bombard the DoD, Pentagon and
those at Camp Shelby with phone calls on Jennifer's behalf).
Now, as a result of a $25,000 legal bill, and having her story
splattered all over the nation, the Army finally has it right. The
rapist has already faced an Article 32 hearing on December 10th and
it is expected he will be bound over for a General Court Martial on
charges of rape, conduct unbecoming of an officer, and adultery. The
Army is now processing discharge papers for Jennifer under Honorable
conditions.
If the resignation paperwork she had submitted many months before
being sent to Camp Shelby had been processed, none of this would
have ever taken place. The Army screwed up and now many lives have
been forever affected in a profound and negative way.
It is a fact that rape is rampant in the U.S. military. There are
hundreds of unresolved cases as of this writing. Rapes, murders and
other assorted crimes committed by U.S. military people were in
great part responsible for the U.S. being told to get out of the
Philippines. South Korea is up in arms, and has been for a long time
now, about the high number of rapes and murders by U.S. troops.
Okinawa has been trying to get U.S. bases closed for the same
reason. The list goes on and on.
If this had happened anywhere but in the military, the victim could
have brought a lawsuit in court for the harm done. However, the
Feres Doctrine has relegated people in uniform to 2nd class citizens
and taken away their Constitutional rights of redress. It disallows
people in uniform, and veterans, from suing the government for harm
done.
That Jennifer finally received fair treatment and justice is great.
At the same time, I am absolutely livid at what she has had to
endure to receive 'justice'. And what about the growing number of
women in the military going through he same thing? Where do they
turn for help? Or do they continue being ignored and swept under the
military carpet? When will we as a nation stand up and join in the
fight to help these women receive fair and just treatment
– to be an active participant in helping to compel the
military to address the systemic problem of rape in and by this
nation's people in uniform?
This I know: never again will I stand silent about this, not after
five months on the learning curve. I, like many others, have known
for a while about rape in the military. But like so many others, I
did or said nothing, to my shame. Since my involvement with this
story and getting to know Jennifer and her husband Edward (who is a
N.J. police officer), I was forced to look at the reality of
military rapes. What I've learned mandates personal involvement to
try and help end it. Never again will I be silent. As William Rivers
Pitt wrote (in the title of one of his books), "The Greatest
Sedition is Silence."
Further Reading:
Jack Dalton is a disabled Vietnam veteran and
activist who lives in Portland, Oregon. He can be contacted at
jack_dalton@comcast.net.
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