Posted on 12/03/2003 4:02:06 AM PST by Cannoneer No. 4
A Stryker brigade soldier allegedly raped in Kuwait told her mother Tuesday she's been isolated from her unit and denied counseling and other emotional support, including a visit from an Army chaplain.
Barbara Wharton said her daughter, who reported being attacked outside a shower facility at Camp Udairi late Friday or early Saturday, "is having a difficult time right now. She's traumatized."
Camp Udairi is where the Fort Lewis-based brigade has been staging the last few weeks before advancing into Iraq.
Wharton, who lives in Lancaster County, Penn., said she spoke to her daughter by phone for about 15 minutes Tuesday before being cut off.
"She's not good, but at least I got to hear her voice," Wharton told The News Tribune in a telephone interview. "She's not eating. She's not sleeping. She has no contact, really, with anybody."
A Pennsylvania native, Wharton's daughter is a sergeant in the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. The woman, who married another Fort Lewis soldier Nov. 1, shipped out with the Stryker brigade last month.
The News Tribune generally does not publish the names of people who have reported being raped.
Wharton said her daughter, a four-year veteran who joined the Army at 19, described the attack during their call.
She told her mother she was near the showers when a man with "an American voice" hit her in the back of the head, knocking her unconscious. When she came to, she was gagged and bound with cord, Wharton said.
She then was hit in the head and face again and blacked out a second time, her mother said. When she awakened, she'd realized she'd been raped, Wharton said. The woman told her mother her attacker was wearing a mask.
Wharton said her daughter described suffering serious injuries and still was hemorrhaging Tuesday.
"This wasn't just a rape," she said. "This was a brutal assault."
The woman's husband, who asked that his name not be used, said he spoke to his wife briefly over the weekend, and she told him the same story. He declined further comment.
There are about 310 women in the Stryker brigade, out of about 5,000 total soldiers. Another 2,000 troops who are not part of the brigade are stationed at Camp Udairi permanently to maintain it. Several hundred civilian contract employees also live there.
The brigade's public affairs officer, Lt. Col. Joseph Piek, said the alleged victim has been transported to Camp Doha, the main camp for U.S. troops in Kuwait.
Piek said he expected it would be several days before the Army's Criminal Investigation Command made its report to the brigade's commander. Piek said there won't be any further information from the brigade until then.
Attempts by The News Tribune to reach a spokesman for the Criminal Investigation Command were unsuccessful.
Wharton said she has contacted U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter's office for help, and that an aide for the Pennsylvania Republican is looking into her daughter's case. Attempts to contact someone in Specter's office for comment Tuesday also were unsuccessful.
Wharton said she also has been working with her state senator, who told Wharton her daughter probably would be flown soon either to Germany or Fort Lewis.
Wharton said her daughter wants to return home where she can get treatment and support.
Wharton said her daughter joined the Army so she could qualify for college tuition assistance under the GI Bill.
Staff writer Mike Gilbert in Kuwait contributed to this report.
Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644
adam.lynn@mail.tribnet.com
(Published 12:01AM, December 3rd, 2003)
A Stryker brigade soldier who said she was raped in Kuwait has told her mother she has been isolated from her unit and denied counseling and other support, including a visit from a chaplain.
Barbara Wharton of Lancaster County, Pa., told The News Tribune of Tacoma her daughter said she was "having a difficult time right now" in a telephone that lasted about 15 minutes Tuesday before it was cut off.
"She's traumatized," Wharton said.
The newspaper did not name the soldier or indicate how or why her phone conversation with her mother was cut off.
"She's not good, but at least I got to hear her voice," Wharton told the newspaper by telephone. "She's not eating. She's not sleeping. She has no contact, really, with anybody."
She said an aide to Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., had begun reviewing the case at her request.
Brigade officials would not comment pending completion of an investigation.
A Pennsylvania native, her daughter is a sergeant in the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, who married another soldier Nov. 1 while both were stationed at Fort Lewis near Tacoma.
She was sent to Camp Udairi with the Stryker brigade last month to prepare for assignment in Iraq.
Wharton said her daughter, a four-year veteran who joined the Army at 19, told her she was near the camp showers late Friday or early Saturday when a masked man with "an American voice" hit her in the back of the head.
When she regained consciousness, she said, she was gagged and bound with cord, then was hit in the head and face again and blacked out a second time, her mother said.
After she awakened a second time, she'd realized she'd been raped, Wharton said.
She said she was still was hemorrhaging from the attack Tuesday, her mother said.
The soldier's husband, who asked that his name not be used, told The News Tribune his wife gave him the same account when he spoke to her briefly over the weekend but would not comment further.
The newspaper report did not indicate whether the husband was still at Fort Lewis or elsewhere.
The Stryker brigade, trained at Fort Lewis as a faster and more agile armored fighting force, unit has about 5,000 soldiers, including about 310 women. It features 300 Strykers, eight-wheeled vehicles that can carry as many as 11 soldiers and travel faster than 60 mph.
Also at Camp Udairi are 2,000 troops on regular assignment to maintain the complex and several hundred civilian contract employees.
The brigade's public affairs officer, Lt. Col. Joseph Piek, said the woman has been transported to Camp Doha, the main camp for U.S. troops in Kuwait.
Brigade officials will not release further information until the Army's Criminal Investigation Command completes an investigation and makes a report to the unit commander, probably in several days, Piek said.
Addressing the troops Sunday, the brigade commander, Col. Michael E. Rounds, said the reported rape was "a terrible, incomprehensible thing" and asked that any soldier with information about it make a report to investigators.
He said he had "dedicated the resources needed to solve this as quickly as possible."
Would whoever wishes to comment on women in the Army/feminization/females have no place in combat/etc, please go to Female Stryker brigade soldier alleges rape and post it there. Thanks.
What!!!!?!?
If true, there's someone who had no business ever being enlisted into the Army running around loose.
The rapist might not have been a soldier. From the article:
Several hundred civilian contract employees also live there.
I expect she is isolated from her unit if she has been evac'd out of Udairi. If she is injured and in need of psychiatric care they probably needed to get her out of there.
Still no identification of Battalion. Her Company Commander and Battalion Command Sergeant Major are not looking good in this story so far.
91B -- Is Doha where the biggest medical treatment facility is? What do you hear?
If so this should be an easy case to crack, unless of course the rapist used "protection" or is a figment of an overly active imagination.
Can you tell me what other incidents have occurred? I'm not up on this part of the story and I'd appreciate your help in filling in those gaps. Thanks.
Would have to be one heck of an imagination to conjure up this:
"Wharton said her daughter described suffering serious injuries and still was hemorrhaging Tuesday."
Which can be proven or disproven.
Which gets to my question on military DNA collection. IIRC, I heard they do this routinely for ID purposes.
Very good point. I had forgotten about this.
As far as the other problems mentioned that are occuring in this unit:
Pilfering always happens. Scrounging is a better word. You don't want to come up short for anything so you "borrow". Happens in the motor pool in garrison too.
Lost M16: Twice when I was in a .45 and an M16 was lost. Both at the NTC. Well, the M16 wasn't really lost. The soldier "accidentally" dropped it in a PortaPotty. Poor guy had to fish it out too.
Break-in at the PX: Ok, this doesn't happen often. Funny how they had a 100% search and nothing is mentioned if they recovered anything. Wonder if it was really an American who did it?
I'm going to wait till this rape thing plays out. Hate to say it but it may be a soldier who doesn't want to be there.
Flame me now.
Taking the weapon could have been something innocent (wanting to teach the soldier on the phone a lesson about leaving his/her weapon unguarded), or it could be a clue as to who might be involved in the other thefts. Time will tell. Sooner or later, crooks always slip up. They get bolder and more careless as time goes on, and the perps will be caught. The question is whether the rape and the series of thefts are by one and the same person. If they haven't had anyone posted for guard duty on vulnerable areas since the thefts began, shame on them. If they have, and those areas have been robbed anyway, then I would definitely start looking at the people who were assigned to that duty.
Could be lots of things.
The beating and rape could be
the soldiers' own way
of delivering
a "message" to some crook-types
to stop being crooks...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.