Fear for My Daughter - Mother of AWOL soldier who was deployed THREE TIMES...

bush was AWOL. If ONLY they had come and taken HIM away.



[link to www.countermilitary.org]
Editor's Note: Sara Rich is the mother of an AWOL US soldier. Facing three deployments to Iraq in less than four years, Sara's daughter Suzanne Swift searched her soul and decided that she could not go back to Iraq and continue to go out on what she calls "useless missions." Nor could she continue to cope with the constant sexual harassment and fear of rape by her own officers and fellow soldiers that she had to endure. On Sunday night, the city police of Eugene, Oregon, without a warrant, raided Sara Rich's home and took Suzanne away. She was taken to Fort Lewis, Washington. Her family is now asking for letters in support of Suzanne's request for a medical or honorable discharge. Her family insists that Suzanne deserves the medical benefits due to any war veteran. Addresses are at the end of Sara Rich's letter. -KW


Fear for My Daughter
By Sara Rich
t r u t h o u t | Letter

Wednesday 14 June 2006

It started out with being scared for her life when she signed up for the military. She assured me that she was promised she would not go to Iraq. I was not as trusting.

She was sent to Iraq right out of her basic training. While she was packing, we cried, as she assured me she would be okay. One of her sergeants assured me, "Don't worry, ma'am, we'll take good care of your daughter." I desperately hoped that I could trust him to watch over her. I later found out he was one the first predators to try to have sex with her and make her "his private."

She spent a long year in Iraq. I feared for her safety every waking minute. She frequently called me crying, telling me very little of the horror she was witnessing - only telling me it was hard. She told me that almost all of the other soldiers were sexually harassing her and that many of her sergeants and lieutenants were really pressuring her and making her life miserable for rejecting them. Calls from her often ended with "Oh, there goes gun fire - gotta go mom, love you."

When she returned from Iraq, she was much more quiet and anxious than when she left. I offered to get her help, but she refused. She told me that if she opened that can of worms she would not be able to function as a human being. I asked her if she wanted to deal with the horrible sexual harassment charges against so many of her fellow soldiers. She said, no mom, it would only make my life even more of a living hell. Then she finally blew the whistle on one of her superiors for sexually harassing her, and she was treated like a pariah, while he was moved to a different unit and promoted. She put her head down and worked as a Military Police officer on Ft. Lewis. She was always shocked by the number of domestic violence calls she went out on. The fear of a mother of a peace officer was there, but at least I could call her and knew she was safe. We knew that she was going to be re-deployed to Iraq sometime after the mandatory 18 months' stabilization time is over. So, we were looking at November of 2006 for a second re-deployment. Our hearts were heavy at the thought.

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[link to www.countermilitary.org]

Last Edited by SPUD on 12/31/2011 10:25 PM