This is our little goat Rocket, who was allowed out of her pen to graze peacefully in the grass at the ranch one summer day. Instead, she chose to climb the stairs to the porch, climb on one of the outdoor tables at the back of the house and gaze through the kitchen window to poke her nose into the business going on in the kitchen. I guess she felt a compulsion to leave the pleasure of grazing, because of what was going on in the hot kitchen that day.
I too am aware of something going on, and I can't keep my nose out of it either, I am tired of such goings on. I am tired of empty promises to those who serve and their families. It is my belief that every promise made to Soldiers and their families should be honored, and honored in a timely way. On that note I am publishing an email I sent to a Family Advocacy Office somewhere out there, and purposely protecting the names of the innocent, and reluctantly hiding the names of the guilty.
Dear Ms. Somebody:
I'll
get right to the point. Why do the two boys of MAJ XXXX not
have an appointed military attorney to represent their rights? Forgive
me, I know how correspondence should be written to your office, and that
this email and my previous emails have certainly not been diplomatic
nor professional prose. In fact they aren't even polite, but I am old,
tired, and quite disillusioned. The welfare of my friend, YYYYY, and
her two little boys is not my paid, professional employment
responsibility. I resent having to spend hours taking care of business
that is the responsibility of your office. Therefore I reserve the
right to speak frankly, and hope and pray my mother, who raised me
better, never sees this correspondence.
Have
you made contact, significant personal contact, with YYYYY in
order to reimburse her for all the times she had to arrange sitters for
her children, and rent a car to travel to meet with the MPs or CID? Her
financial needs are significant. She lost her job due to her inability
to function as she always had before meeting MAJ XXXX in her
professional position. Her soon to be ex-husband demanded the car she
was using for transportation for herself and the boys. Otherwise, he
was willing to let her have the car in exchange for dropping all claims
for back alimony and child support, plus complete ownership of their two
homes, and all the furniture they have accumulated since their eight
year marriage began.
Have you offered to help her through the paperwork
with the IG to hold this employee of the United State Army responsible
for the needs of his family? Since I am privileged to know as life long
friends enumerable honorable Soldiers and their families, I refuse to
acknowledge him as a Soldier. He is daily dishonoring the reputation of
the United States Army. Have you asked why XXXX is being
afforded base housing, but he refuses to let his wife and children live
in, or even visit the home he and Ms. YYYYY jointly own. Have you
counseled her concerning all the legal ins and outs of her having to pay
for the boys and her a home to live in, in the absence of XXXX
adequately making provision for his wife and children?
Are you aware of
the latest developments concerning those children still being alone
with this obvious maniac. They are seven and four years old, and
defenseless before what I believe to be a monster. (I have a long
background with Child Protective Services, for 12 years I raised on 35
foster children, and I have seen the life long effects that men like XXXX have on their children. I think XXXX himself is a
poster child exemplifying those life long effects of an abusive
childhood.) Have you been made aware of the accusations against XXXX concerning inappropriate touching of AAA and BBB
during their bi-weekly weekend visitations? I have observed the classic
signs of their abuse on many occasions. I was a nurse for many years
as well, and my professional training in that field gives me a certain amount of knowledge. That coupled with my
first hand experience with foster children, and the required 50 contact
hours each year of training in child abuse for the 12 years I served as
a foster parent, gives me some expertise in this area.
Have you
picked up a phone and called to ask if there is anything you can do for YYYYY or her boys? Have you availed yourself of the most current
information concerning this case?
I
have ridden in a rental car with YYYYY driving lost on German highways
until 0200, after CID kept her at an interview until 2100. We had to
drive to two different residences to pick up her two boys, gas the car,
stop to get take out, because neither of us had eaten since breakfast
and leaving for the CID appointment at 1000 that morning. We nearly
died many times before we reached my home, where we all
could rest. I sang, rubbed her neck, and did everything I could to keep
her awake as she repeatedly fell asleep at the wheel. I have yet to
see any relief for YYYYY or the boys since that grueling ordeal. In my
opinion, not one single thing has changed. Not one single bit of
protection has truly been afforded for YYYYY and the boys. XXXX
continues just as he has, telling YYYYY she cannot go into her own
house, threatening her about visitation, visitation where he sexually
molests two little boys, drinks himself into a stupor, and feeds them
junk food and allows a four year old to watch "killer zombie" movies at
2300, telling his seven year old son who is protesting this activity for
his brother, "This is my house, and my rules, and BBB can watch
whatever I say he can watch." When BBB wakes up in terror every
night thereafter, where is XXXX's accountability? It is
non-existent as far as the United States Army is concerned.
Still
when XXXX returned the children to YYYYY on last Sunday night,
he pulled out a video camera and began filming her. He has threatened
her with a tazer and billy club in front of her children and a very
credible German citizen, apparently without any trepidation. There are
so many other acts of instability I could once again go over, but this
delight in torturing YYYYY in this manner, this act of preserving for
later consumption, her fear, sends cold chills down my spine more than
any other of his activities. I have had enough psychology classes to
know that this man is seriously imbalanced, and he has no fear of the
United States Army. The United States Army had better wake up to the
threat that smolders in this man before something tragic happens.
I
am going to forward emails to you, and everyone else I believe needs to
be copied, which convey to me the continued suffering of this gentle
woman and her two children at the hands of XXXX. I would like
to know as a tax paying American citizen, who has born the burdens of a
military family in service for the last 13 years, what you are going to
do about the above mentioned instances of behavior unbecoming an
officer, which constitute clear evidence of a threat toward this
military spouse and her children? Not only is XXXX and those two
boys due an answer. So am I. I don't have much to do right now but
write to you folks, because once again the skills and integrity of my
husband are required in Baghdad, Iraq, so I am home alone. As you know,
he no longer serves in the military, but the debt the country owes to
me and every family member of an American military family who has
sacrificed during the last 13 years, is still outstanding. Therefore I
am requesting, as tactfully as I am at the moment capable of, that you
do your job.
I have a quote to that effect. "The US Army Family Advocacy Program is
dedicated to the prevention, education, prompt reporting, investigation,
intervention and treatment of spouse and child abuse." United States Army
YYYYY has made an outcry on three separate military installations to
the Family Advocacy Office. Her very real suffering still continues...
Please
pass this correspondence on to the hot shot at CID, and ask him the
status of Ms. YYYYY possessions still being held in Kansas. He will
know what I am talking about. One last quote...
Never
before in the history of our Army have we asked so much of our
Families. They are serving side-by-side with our Soldiers, enduring
their hardships and providing the unconditional love and support that
truly make our Army strong. The Army Family Covenant pledges our
commitment to support Soldiers and their Families and resource programs
to provide them a quality of life commensurate with their service.
- Former Army Chief of Staff, Gen. George W. Casey
Sir,
I regret to inform you... your Army Family Covenant is little more than
a bureaucratic band-aide for a huge hemorrhaging wound in this
particular case... and many, many, more cases.
Sincerely,
Debra LeCompte
