A Soldiers Story
We sit here in America completely oblivious to the realities of the soldier in the field. We judge a man
by one act of violence and presume to know all there is to know. A crazy soldier who apparently shoots
his own and then himself. Over and over again we read the story and make our petty assumptions. How
could they behave like that? What evil could be going through their minds?
But what if there were told the rest of the story….
A soldier has just spent the last 72 hours on patrol searching for a high level target who has just blown
up a highly sensitive building and who it is believed has plans on more destruction. This following the
previous 72 hour shift which ended with two losses of life by IED's, one MRE and two hours of sleep if
you want to call it that. Knowing the names has made it more difficult so to keep that at a minimum
everybody is Bob or John or if they are particularly interesting Oliver. It's not for a lack of caring but a
heart can only take so much pain. Their is a small band of brothers who you would die for but the new
guys are all the same till they have been in country at least six months.
Having finally come in and not knowing when you are going again, with more sand in your eyes than
on your boots you tell you battle buddy you have to get a shower. He is already out. You decide that
though you have heard the rumors about Iraqi troops looking for guys alone in the shower to rape for
some higher level of Islamic heaven you can not wait. You take your necessities and make your way to
the shower. You are careful to look and you circle the tent at least seven times, finally you duck in. The
water feels great and for once there is warm water. You finish lathering up and are almost rinsed when
you feel a sharp pain in the back of your head. Instinct takes over and you begin to repel the aggressor
only to discover there are six of them and you are on your stomach before you can react. The next
thirty minutes are a blur of pain, blood and shame. They leave you on the flower with the water running
and clean themselves over you. You manage to stand. It is unbelievable pain and as you pass a mirror
you notice why your vision is blurred you can only see out of one eye. You stumble back to your tent
and pass out on your bed. The next you know your battle buddy is waking you. What happened to you
he says? You mutter but nothing comes out. Did you go out drinking? Why didn’t you go to bed? You
look like hell, you’ll have questions to answer buddy!! And so will I so what happened? At first you
think it was a nightmare, but you make your way to a small mirror in the tent used to make sure you are
properly dressed for an inspection. When you look in the mirror you know it was real. Slowly you tell
your battle buddy, who is furious. Did you see them? Can you identify them? Lets go deal with this!
About that time your direct commander appears on the scene as your buddy has gotten pretty loud and
a crowd has gathered. He motions everyone to leave. He starts to ask you questions. You give him the
best details you can remember. He gives you a temporary leave and tells you to report to the infirmary.
You do as instructed. At the infirmary they say the need to gather evidence. Poking and probing, they
ask if you are in a sexual relationship, to determine the extent of the damage. You tell them never with
a guy. They look at each other and make notes. Next they take and begin their “rape” kit. After several
hours of waiting the MP’s show up and you are taken to a holding cell. No pictures of the assailants are
presented and no drawings are requested. Soon in comes two officers, one American and one Iraqi. The
American has a strange way about him. He says that in the report you were quick to say you had never
had a relationship with a man. Do you have a problem with Homosexuals, he asks? Did you have a
fight with a boyfriend? Have you had consensual sex before? It is common here you are told. The
questions make no sense…you were raped and they act like it is your problem….You asked them why
the Iraqi officer is there. You are told that it is their country and since you accused their officers. They
are very concerned over such accusations and that American soldiers have been caught lying in many
of these instances. With that they excuse themselves and you are left alone. The whole issue is now swimming around in your head. You want to just go back to your squad and head out again. Sir can I
return to duty? You inquire. No one speaks to you. Several more times you inquire. No response.
Finally another officer appears. He has a lower rank with him. Your swollen eye is making it difficult to
make things out. He says you need to sign some paperwork and then you can go home. Home? Yes in
cases where there has been an altercation with foreign nationals of this nature it is best that you are
shipped home. Altercation? I was….well I was…attacked you say. Yes we understand that this is what
you believe happened, however due to sleep deprivation, dehydration and you general mental
condition, coupled with your predisposed prejudice against homosexuals, we believe that this is not
what you think that it is. Now a paper is slid in front of you. Sign this and you go home, don’t sign and
you will be brought up on charges of falsely accusing foreign officers. This will require a lengthy trial
and you will be turned over to the Iraqi’s for imprisonment. How could this be? You sign and are
shipped home. When you arrive at home you are debriefed and told you are not to discuss the incident
and that you will be taking tolerance training courses and doing community service in the gay
community. Your friends are puzzled by your behavior. Your wife does not even feel she knows who
you are. You try to take a shower but the fear is too great to overcome. Simply walking around the base
alone becomes a nightmare. How do you tell your father a decorated soldier what was done to you?
How do you tell anyone? How could you let this happen you ask yourself. You slip further and further
away and no one knows why. But you do…you were led like a lamb to slaughter. When they should
have had your back they castrated your front. You served, gave blood, lost friends and then you were
thrown to the dogs. You come home to find that the very types of perverts that did this to you now have
all the power and you have none. They taunt you and make threats to you. You attempt to use the chain
of command and the nightmare starts to repeat itself all over again.
Get the picture? What would you do? This is the kind of sickness that is being done to our good men.
An entire generation of young men who were proudly choosing to serve their country are being
destroyed by this sick resident and his regime of evil.
So the next time tragedy strikes at a base and the shooter is not a jihadist, you might just wonder if he is
a victim of the very system he is fighting back against.