Veteran destroyed from rape by drill sergeant in 1966

MsFacetious

What a Kerfuffle...
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He can't stand to have people come up behind him.
That's what his rapist, an assistant drill sergeant in the Air Force, did almost 50 years ago.

It happened three times, always at about 3 in the morning.

After the third time, Williams walked into the shower at his barracks at Lackland Air Force Base, tied a few towels together and tried to hang himself. Security guards found him unconscious.

A part of Williams died that day in 1966. He was 18. He has not been whole since.

Now 66, he looks back and ponders what his life might have been had he accomplished what he set out to do: to serve his country with pride. Instead, he has lived with rape for 47 years, with permanent injuries that make him depend on a walker, with words like "pansy" and "coward" ingrained in his head.

Sexual assault is one of two high-profile problems plaguing the military; suicide is the other: Twenty-two veterans take their lives every day.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/21/us/military-suicide-rape/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
 
What a sad story. I wonder whatever happened to the drill sargeant and if there are other victims of his out there.
 
What a sad story. I wonder whatever happened to the drill sargeant and if there are other victims of his out there.

I would not be surprised if there are other victims as rapists have more than one victim. I suspect same sex rape is more common. :stormingmad:
 
This is one of the most important stories I've read this year.

This. Is courage.
 
I agree with all of you.
This is such an important story.

There are so many ways that our military members lives can be destroyed.
This way needs to be acknowledged too. :twocents:
 
May I suggest something small that WE might do?

It seems to me there are two problems here: absolute power corrupts absolutely and there's nothing like rape to demonstrate your power; but more rapes would be reported if we as a society didn't stigmatize male rape victims (or female ones either, but some improvement has been made in the latter).

So maybe here at WS, we could stop posting our glee that a convict will be "owned by Bubba when the convict gets to the Big House". We NEVER make jokes about female convicts being raped (and rightfully not). Maybe it's time we agree that the rape of ANYBODY simply isn't funny.

(I hope it's clear I'm not equating our servicemen with felons. I just think that each of us in our own small way can do something to change the climate in which our soldiers are afraid to report attacks.)
 
May I suggest something small that WE might do?

It seems to me there are two problems here: absolute power corrupts absolutely and there's nothing like rape to demonstrate your power; but more rapes would be reported if we as a society didn't stigmatize male rape victims (or female ones either, but some improvement has been made in the latter).

So maybe here at WS, we could stop posting our glee that a convict will be "owned by Bubba when the convict gets to the Big House". We NEVER make jokes about female convicts being raped (and rightfully not). Maybe it's time we agree that the rape of ANYBODY simply isn't funny.

(I hope it's clear I'm not equating our servicemen with felons. I just think that each of us in our own small way can do something to change the climate in which our soldiers are afraid to report attacks.)

Thanks for saying this. Also, my own little soapbox, but I was utterly dismayed that there is a thread on WS bizarre section regarding a man who claimed four women had raped him. I expressed my disgust that the story was categorized as bizarre, and was basically shooed out of the room.

Men have been victims of rape since the dawn of time. Perpetrators can be men and they can be women. Anything that supports a conspiracy of silence or encourages rape of another human being is just as violent, IMO.
 
Thank you for posting this, I hope the world reads this. I'm sending it out a link to my family members via email as well.

Absolutely heartbreaking. This man has been traumatized his entire life by what happened to him while in service to his country. Completely unacceptable.

IMO every solider is a hero to each and every person who lives free in this country because of their service, but the drill Sargent who ruined this man's life certainly was not. The military should not be allowed to protect criminals within it's ranks.

I was in tears reading this. I hope A LOT of people read what this brave man had to say. I pray he finds some peace, healing and justice for what he has endured.

ALWAYS MOO
 
Thank you for posting this, I hope the world reads this. I'm sending it out a link to my family members via email as well.

Absolutely heartbreaking. This man has been traumatized his entire life by what happened to him while in service to his country. Completely unacceptable.

IMO every solider is a hero to each and every person who lives free in this country because of their service, but the drill Sargent who ruined this man's life certainly was not. The military should not be allowed to protect criminals within it's ranks.

I was in tears reading this. I hope A LOT of people read what this brave man had to say. I pray he finds some peace, healing and justice for what he has endured.

ALWAYS MOO

Well said. I hope the sergeant we are discussing sees a lot of threads like this one and realizes that NOT A SINGLE ONE OF US considers him less of a man or in any way to blame for his victimization.
 
Thanks for saying this. Also, my own little soapbox, but I was utterly dismayed that there is a thread on WS bizarre section regarding a man who claimed four women had raped him. I expressed my disgust that the story was categorized as bizarre, and was basically shooed out of the room.

Men have been victims of rape since the dawn of time. Perpetrators can be men and they can be women. Anything that supports a conspiracy of silence or encourages rape of another human being is just as violent, IMO.

And while we're on the subject, it isn't uncommon for a male rape victim to get an erection during the attack and then blame himself for "wanting it".

Nothing could be further from the truth: an erection is an involuntary response that is no indicator of whether the male in question is a willing participant.
 
And while we're on the subject, it isn't uncommon for a male rape victim to get an erection during the attack and then blame himself for "wanting it".

Nothing could be further from the truth: an erection is an involuntary response that is no indicator of whether the male in question is a willing participant.

Absolutely agreed. I'd love to see what some of the WS members who are medical professionals have to say about that. There is a rather embarrassing story about my ex hubs that happened while in a doctor's office when he absolutely wasn't "wanting" anything and was acutely uncomfortable. I won't go into details about the specifics, but suffice it to say that he was very embarrassed and the kind nurses taking care of him reassured him that it was absolutely normal.

ALWAYS MOO
 
Absolutely agreed. I'd love to see what some of the WS members who are medical professionals have to say about that. There is a rather embarrassing story about my ex hubs that happened while in a doctor's office when he absolutely wasn't "wanting" anything and was acutely uncomfortable. I won't go into details about the specifics, but suffice it to say that he was very embarrassed and the kind nurses taking care of him reassured him that it was absolutely normal.

ALWAYS MOO
I would ask Plain Jane Doe this, but aren't the body's responses involuntary? The 'lizard brain'? 'Asking for it' isn't that the old saw used to cover a variety of sins?
JMO absolutamente
 
this man just demonstrated how BRAVE he is by publicizing his story

I hope he can heal a bit and live some happier days from now on
 
Mr. Williams if you should ever read here, thank you so much for your courage to speak.

The after effects and life long struggle are all to familiar. It just breaks my heart to know that there are so many men and women that are suffering in silence and have been for years.
 

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