Statement before Congressional Committee on Sexual Predators in the Military
By Diane Chamberlain MA, LMHC April 20, 2006

I have not been invited to testify before your committee, but I should be. I am sending a statement, nevertheless to several members of Congress with hopes it will be heard anyhow. Its message needs to be heard by you and I hope you will open your heart and mind to what is said here and carry it to others.

I have written an autobiographical expose of rape, torture and corruption by military commanders in a post Vietnam Era, having disposed of the draft, with its build-up of women. This once young naïve mother of two, with hopes, dreams and a strong sense of duty, stood – during my brief Army stint in 1975-1976.

Why haven’t I got over it? How do you get over being the walking dead? How do you get over knowing when you died but your body goes on with half a life? How do you get over your life not being right again? Years lost without living and the ones who did this to you are honored and protected, their crimes are covered-up in a society in the society in which you live? How do you get over the opportunity to tell being denied you because of the 5 year statute of limitation that you didn’t have access to in the first place? How do you get over the very ones charged with protecting you are the very ones who perpetrated crimes against you because they had access to you and opportunity? How do you get over the hopelessness and helplessness they made you feel and then laughed at your weakness because they could? How do you get over the damaged relationships, the distance, the hurts because of what they did to you? The suffering of innocent children, how do you ever get over the damage done to them?

How do you get over something happening to you in the country that you loved and served that you thought could only happen in barbaric nations? How do you reclaim innocence lost?

How do you get over the intrusiveness of the nightmares, flashbacks of the terrors that still live within you? How do you get over the multiple triggers that seem to be legion? How do you get over the high price you are forced to pay while those who did this to you are given pensions, medals and their crimes are whitewashed and condoned by leaders of a country you thought was yours?

How do you get over the feelings of hate you never felt before, the anger that is unrecognized as righteous by others, the sacrifices you were forced to make for some evil men’s pleasure, the degrading humiliations? The perpetrators who got away with giving you a lifetime of pain and then forgot about you and what they had done to you, the daily battles just to live they left you with and then no medals, no thanks, nothing. You never, ever, ever get over it! You never stop grieving, hurting, dying, being angry about the evil!

We have had decades of statistics, reports, recommendations, GAO follow-ups to Secretaries of Defense, Air Force, Army, Navy and so on. Still rape, battery, stalking, child abuse, kidnapping, torture, emotional abuse, harrassment, and homicide are major problems in the military.

I personally lived a hell that almost left me dead and then that hell returned to haunt me anew twenty-seven years later. There is a pattern of the Fox cover-up efforts despite endless studies, newspaper reports, and other congressional hearings. The Fox continues to do business as usual.

My perpetrators were all in a position of power over me.

They were people of higher rank!

Three of my seven perpetrators were black sergeants, two of which perpetrated on our whole platoon. One was one of my rapist. He was with the IG’s office at Fort Dix New Jersey. His friend, another white sergeant with the IG was another rapist perpetrator. The chief warrant officer of Training used psych op methods on me by isolating me from my female command and peers, pulling me from training and allowing me no contact unless he ordered it, put me in a room alone, gave me isolated duties, and tortured me daily for one month while his hand picked medical review board abused me more. One colonel in his team performed an unorthodox pelvic exam. The details are revealed in my book. Another doctor during my basic training performed an unorthodox breast examination which left me in pain until the fibro adenoma was removed by the VA in 2005. This pain caused problems in relationships and triggered flashbacks of the incident.

At Fort Dix men were allowed to yell, bellow, scream, hiss, and whistle, pat us on the buttocks and breasts and treat the females like cattle in chow lines with command in our presence. When we looked to them for support they looked away. Gang rape was common and fraternization was open and blatant. Men would protrude their penises from their barracks windows as we passed by with no fear of retribution.

My ongoing struggles are just one of many  and continues within the Veterans Administration and that signifies a mindset that, shockingly, has not changed in over a quarter of century. How can current soldiers expect any better treatment than those of us who went before?

In 1975 General Bailey noted her concerns about unresolved matters and strong antifemale bias and hardships. She made strong recommendations. General Mary Clark who followed in 1975 went farther in recommending a training film on rape, yet her office and staff were dissolved and her recommendations never implemented.

I do not tell my story to degrade the military, but to give you, the Congress a chance to once and for all address the problem of rape that has gone on long enough, to restore honor and integrity to our Armed Forces. There is no honor unless there is first truth, and the truth has been covered up far too long.

I listened with deep concern to the testimony of Justin Berry pleading with you to change the inadequate laws of the federal government that allowed him to become a victim of sexual predators.

 I was shocked that so few members heard his dramatic soul wrenching testimony. It is sad such a courageous young man feels it is NOT helpful for others to come forward due to the inadequacies he has experienced so young at the hands of his government.

 This betrayal of innocents is not new. It is sad so few of our congressmen and women seem to be interested in changing and participating in such a committee.Where were the women participants? Now with the revelations of Congressman Mike foley's  resignation who headed the committee for missing and exploited children, I empathize more with Justin's plight and admire him all the more for his courage to come before that very committee.

As far as the military, it has been unwilling to address this problem fully far too long and developed a culture that perpetuates and minimizes the behavior. This has caused a breakdown of those military values my father and forefathers fought for, and a loss of honor to those who cover it up and perpetuate it. There exists now a disconnection from the military’s mission, and it is a cancer that is bringing shame on our country, and to all who would serve honorably.