Suzanne Swift Update
I wrote a few weeks ago about the case of Army specialist Suzanne Swift, who went AWOL rather than return to her unit in Ft. Lewis, WA due to her charges that she had been sexually assaulted by a commanding officer in Iraq and is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She was arrested by military police last month and has since been confined to base, but has not yet been charged with anything. She was released on a weekend pass and was here in Eugene for a few days to visit with her family. The Army has begun a criminal investigation into her charges against three sergeants involved in the assault and the ensuing lack of response from the Army.
Specialist Swift has won the support of the Women Veterans of America, the Majority Visibility Project, and the Texas Womens Veterans Association. Her mother Sara has set up a website where you can keep track of the case, sign a petition supporting Suzanne's request for an honorable discharge, and get information about an International Day of Support for her that her mother has created on Suzanne's 22nd birthday, July 15. On that day, Sara will lead a vigil outside the base in support of her daughter.
This case brings up a lot of issues and has created a lot of consternation anywhere I've written about it, but it seems that the Army is acting in good faith and following up on the charges. I hope the attention brought to this case and the ensuing investigation make military service a safer venue in which women can serve their country, knowing the only enemy they have to face is outside their unit.
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July 9, 2006 |
Mary Conley | Comments (10 so far)
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Comments
Posted by: askquestions1st | Jul 10, 2006 7:08:55 PM
Mary -
We're going to learn a lot about the Blue Oregon audience and principle posters through this, and it may not all be pretty. I've found it extremely significant that Kari and the rest have not seen fit to comment on this story. I forwarded to Blue Oregon an item from Raw Story for the "in the news" threads of Blue Oregon and nary a peep was published.
Please keep us informed. I've called my electeds several times to about it to voice my views and offer my thanks when there is an inkling in the press they have performed admirably, as well as to given them the chance to express their views and the values of their boss. Unfortunately, I have to say that as a Democratic constituent, I was most disgusted by Wyden's office but not at all suprised given his generally dull-witted performance as an elected over the years. If you know any different about what electeds for which we should be gaining respect for their handling of this situation, it would be valuable to hear that.
Posted by: mconley | Jul 10, 2006 9:12:07 PM
Askfirst: This is a sensitive story for many folks, so I'm not surprised that I haven't gotten more reaction - though I got more the first time around since it was new. But I have to admit it was Kari who brought the update to my attention, so he's not shying away from it. To the contrary, it's in my ballpark to stay aware of as the Blue O person from the area. I'm glad you're interested and that you stay in touch with your elected officials. It's important to let them know how we feel.
I'm a little swamped right now, but I'm always game to have worthy stories pointed out to me. I just can't promise to always be timely with my response. Thanks for your interest and for being an engaged Dem, even if we don't always agree. That's part of the process, ain't it?
Posted by: Kari Chisholm | Jul 11, 2006 12:05:44 AM
Hey AQ1 -- You sent me an email with a fake address, I replied, and it bounced. If you want a response, use an email that actually works. Duh.
On the substance: You asked why there hadn't been anything about Suzanne Swift on BlueOregon. The reply I tried to send? There was - less than a month ago.
Of course, I also sent Mary a quick note - with your Raw Story link - and this is the post that resulted.
Don't be such a clod.
Posted by: Kari Chisholm | Jul 11, 2006 12:11:26 AM
p.s. Don't assume that a lack of comments equals a lack of interest. In fact, many of our most-trafficked and most-discussed (offline) posts are ones that get very few comments.
As I've told many folks, it's easy to pull a hundred comments -- just call the president a bunch of names. But if you write a thoughtful, intelligent, well-sourced piece on an unusual topic -- it won't draw many comments.
I haven't commented on this particular item because 1) I was in Indiana over the weekend with Senator Evan Bayh and his team, and 2) Mary covered the story just fine. I have nothing to add.
Since when is the righteousness of a story determined by whether I have something to say about it? Your estimation of my importance is way out of whack.
Posted by: askquestions1st | Jul 11, 2006 7:56:56 AM
Kari -
Thanks for passing on the story idea. The purpose of sending you the story (and I have absolutely no connection to AfterDowningStreet.org or rawstory.org where I read it)
Support Suzanne Swift
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/12690
was not to receive any personal response, but instead to make sure an important story got disseminated. And to also to accomplish the task in any conversation of also connecting folks with other sources of information as a starting point for them to do whatever additional personal exploration of the issue they may want to. Since you could verify the validity of the story yourself, there was no "source credibility" issue. Nor, I think, much a need to do anything more than add a sentence explaining it and running it as an "In the news" item to start a conversation. Bear in mind, the Swift/Rich family has been quite open about trying to get their story out, so I'm not sure how much more is required frother than to help them tell their story. In doing so, the military, the press, and our electeds will understand that there is growing popular awareness and disapproval of how they might have hoped to handle this case, and the war in general.
That said, it is great that Mary, apparently with your support, took a personal interest and wrote a followup to the first item on Blue Oregon that you cited and I previously read. But I think this is starting to hint at what was really meant by my comment about learning something about Blue Oregon, and blogging as a political medium, as this conversation and your apparent reaction to the specific comment "what Kari and the rest" has started to illustrate: Blogs are personal diaries and personal conversations made public, and speaking frankly with no value judgement intended, most of the thread-starting posts aren't much more than drawing attention to other news stories rather than true journalism. Perhaps the foremost challenge bloggers face in "coming of age" as mature political force will be the almost structural characteristic of grassroots media that bloggers conflate their personal and blog-identity building efforts with disseminating the underlying story, and how that impedes effective political action in many cases. This is not an observation directed at any individual, but about blogs as media.
Posted by: Sara | Jul 26, 2006 8:00:59 PM
Here is an update on Suzanne. Take some time and read some of the comments made on the petition. It breaks my heart daily.
Things continue to move forward for Suzanne. The Army has not yet
disclosed the results of the commander-directed investigations. The
investigator took statements from witnesses, including Suzanne, and
forwarded his report to the command. The command now has to decide
whether Suzanne's allegations require the Army to take action, and
whether they have any bearing on Suzanne's own case. We expect to learn
the results of the investigation any day now.
Suzanne's military psych evaluation came back. She was told she does
not have a personality disorder, and that she has symptoms of post
traumatic stress disorder but not enough to diagnose her with PTSD. No
mention of military sexual trauma. So, she sits in limbo, restricted to
base and assigned to "weeds and seeds" details, not knowing what her
future holds.
Whatever the Army decides to do, we have total confidence in Suzanne's
attorneys, Keith Scherer and Greg Gagne. They were trial attorneys in
the JAG and know their way around military law. They are aggressive and
very thorough. Their website is:
HYPERLINK "http://gslattorneys.com/indexaspx" \t "_new"
http://gslattorneys.com/indexaspx
They were recommended to us by people from Military Families Speak out
as being very good at protecting their clients and advocating for
families.
We are still doing fundraising to pay Suzanne's legal costs, which are
substantial. There is now a link on Suzanne's website to make direct
donation. Check out Suzanne's website for updates, new pictures,
articles and action alerts. Suzanneswift.org. Huge thank you to Robin
Bernardi for all her hard work on the website. She is a patient genius
and we owe her so much.
How is Suzanne? She is OK. She is bored and tired most of them time.
The stress of not knowing what the Army is going to do with her case
has been hard on her. She is pretty isolated and the work she is
assigned to do is mundane. She is so amazed at how much support she has
received from around the world. I have been trying to see her every
week or so to just hug her and give her encouragement. Her moods
fluctuate from sad to angry and then just exhaustion. I tell her to
hang on and we are doing all we can do to get her home. She is hopeful
that the Army will do the right thing. As I mentioned in earlier
updates her new unit captain is a very steady and kind man and we
appreciate his thoughtful responsiveness to making Suzanne feel better.
We continue to be amazed by the activity on the petition. We are moving
slowly towards 5,000 signatures. Let's get this done ASAP!!! The
comments being made are powerful and significant.
Remember we have Suzanne wear available on cafe press. I wear my shirt
frequently and just saw my dad at a rally yesterday wearing his own,
"Free Suzanne" shirt.
The family is hanging on. We want her home. I have joined CODEPINK'S
Bring Them Home Fast and am not eating every other day for peace. I
have been speaking out and communicating with many people all over the
world. Something that has come up is that we need to create a resource
list or how to list for women that are experiencing "command rape" and
"military sexual trauma" right now. So, that is something we are
working on.
We owe a huge amount of thanks to so many people. It is just amazing.
First, all of the thousands of people that have been organizing for
Suzanne around the world and the many groups that have signed on to
help Suzanne and end military sexual violence. We are continually
humbled by you. Amy Goodman is one of my new heros. Democracy Now is a
world wide wonder. Thanks to her and the many journalists and media
people who have told Suzanne's story with the light of truth. Elaine,
Aria, David, Stacy, Michael, Sharon, Ann, Robin, Lori, Melissa,
Dorothy, Susan, Amy, Elizabeth, Betsy, BJ, Carolyn, Ehren, Bob,
Gillette, Michelle, Lisa, Larissa, Carole....and the list goes on and
on.... Not to mention my sweetie, John, and all of our kids, Suzanne's
siblings, whose needs have been put on serious hold while I focus on
helping their sister, Sonja, Brandy, John Jr and Jake. And of course my
mom and dad, Nan Rich and Jim Rich and step mom, Kayla Starr. Love you
all.
That's it for now. Remind all the people around you to DO something
every day to help create peace in the world.
Peace~
Sara Rich, M.S.W
Posted by: Budde | Sep 20, 2006 4:27:26 PM
It's too bad she didn't allow the congressional inquiry while she was in Iraq. It's also too bad she didn't file formal charges up her chain of command. Now it looks like she didn't want to deploy again even though her story has some merit.
Her unit (the vast majority didn't have anything to do with any wrong doing) now has to do more work with less people because she failed to show the bravery and do the right thing. In the end, everyone loses.
Posted by: Amanda | Jul 10, 2008 6:40:41 AM
Sorry budde if you dont think shes brave but I do! I wanted to say thank you mary for printing this story and believing in suzanne because if I didnt see this story I would still be living in fear. I am a army vet and also faced deployment I was being sexually abused. When I addressed the issue they told the men to apologize are you kidding me I thought no way this could be happening! The men walked up to me saying you f___ b____ no one will believe you! The abuse got worse and I was afraid to go over seas with the men so i walk out on the srgnt major when he wouldnt listen I screamed so everyone could hear me you are all crazy if you think Im going over seas with these men. Running to me was my strength taking my self out of the situation was the best thing I could do for myself. Anyway I came back and they discharge me but at first they told me if I kept my mouth shut they wouldnt put me in jail and they kept me in the rear just like suzanne they put me in the same barracks as the men who abused me and the abuse got worse. they kept me a year and 5 mounths after I came forward I was in it for the long hall! Its been four years now and my father talked me into upgrading my discharge Ive been living in shame with flash backs and trust issues. I am not the same women since this happened. To get to the point shoretly after I sent in my papers to the review board I was heavy in thought about my tramatic experiance so I decided to look up sexual abuse in the military your story was the first to come up and I broke down and cried telling myself I need help but in the past few years I took it all out on myself and that day I called my va clinic. I start treatment tuesday and Im trying to be very strong and stay busy maybe thats why the long letter? Thanks again you should know that your helping suzanne but you have also help me.Thank you so much I wish I had you around me four years ago!
Posted by: sıcak video | Oct 16, 2009 5:26:07 AM
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Posted by: jr | Jul 10, 2006 1:50:08 AM
good points