'In a Way, It’s Surprising That There Aren’t More Bodies Piling up at Military Bases All Over This Nation'

Published on Thursday, October 16, 2008 by CommonDreams.org

Military Town Newspaper Challenges US Military on Murder of Military Women

by Ann Wright

The October 14, 2008 editorial "Our View: Military domestic violence needs more aggressive prevention." (http://fayobserver.com/article?id=307304) focused on the murder of four military women in North Carolina in the Fayetteville, NC Observer and contained a startling comment: "In a way, it's surprising that there aren't more bodies piling up at military bases all over this nation." The Observer is the newspaper that serves Fort Bragg, one of the military's largest bases.

The editorial was in response to the vigil held on October 8 at the gates of Fort Bragg to commemorate the murder of four US military women in North Carolina in the past nine months and to call for action to prevent more murders by members of the US military.

In a nine month period from December 2007 to September, 2008, four U.S. military women were killed by military men near the Army's Fort Bragg and the Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune, two military mega-bases in North Carolina.

Three of the women were in the Army. The latest murder victim was 29-year-old US Army Sergeant Christina Smith who was killed September 30, 2008. Her husband, Fort Bragg Sgt. Richard Smith, 26, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy. Also arrested was 18-year-old Mathew Kvapil, a private first class at Fort Bragg.

Spc. Megan Touma was seven months pregnant when her body was found inside a Fayetteville hotel room June 21, 2008. A married male soldier whom she knew in Germany has been arrested.

The estranged Marine husband of Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc, an Army nurse at Fort Bragg, has been arrested in her death and the burning of her body.

Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach had been raped in May 2007 and protective orders had been issued against the alleged perpetrator, fellow Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean. The burned body of Lauterbach and her unborn baby were found in a shallow grave in the backyard of Laurean's home in January 2008. Laurean fled to Mexico, where he was captured by Mexican authorities.

He is currently awaiting extradition to the United States to stand trial. Lauterbach's mother testified before Congress on July 31, 2008, that the Marine Corps ignored warning signs that Laurean was a danger to her daughter.

In 2002, four military spouses were murdered at Fort Bragg by their Special Forces husbands after they returned from Afghanistan.

The Observer editorial was remarkable in its clarity on the causes and connections of domestic and state-sponsored violence:

"It's an old argument. We train men, and now women, to wage war, then we are baffled when they do that to each other. It is driven in times of war by a national culture that can extol violence, conflating it with patriotism. And don't overlook the general population raised on a steady diet of malevolence disguised as entertainment.

In a way, it's surprising that there aren't more bodies piling up at military bases all over this nation. We are certain, nevertheless, that the demonstrators (at the gates of Fort Bragg) were on to something that we as a community need to address. This may become an epidemic that threatens us all. It is a problem we, as a community, military and civilian, can't ignore. It is also a problem that we have not, so far, effectively solved." On the morning of the commemoration, the father of 2LT Holley (James) Winunc sent a message to the Quaker House, one of the sponsors of the October 8 vigil. Mr. James thanked the individuals and organizations for the tribute to Holly and the other murdered women and wrote "There will be no end to our grief. They say time heals, it hasn't started to heal for us. We visit the cemetery and mourn daily for Holley and anguish over the senseless way in which she was taken from us. Holly's children Tre and Kendell, 7 and 3 years old respectfully, will never really know their Mom. Years from now they will spend time looking through the things we've saved from their Mother's life and wonder "what might have been." We appreciate that you offer hope and help to others. It is our wish and prayer that not another family will have to go through this."

Another survivor of military domestic violence joined the vigil. Christine Horne flew from Coconut Grove, Florida to commemorate the deaths of four military and to mourn her own mother's death. 34 years ago in 1974, when she was 9 years old and her brother was 5, their Special Forces father murdered their mother in their home just off Fort Bragg by stabbing her over 50 times. In a military court martial, her father received a life sentence for the murder, but was released after 12 years in prison.

The Observer editorial acknowledged that "The Army has made a good-faith effort to provide programs and services to prevent domestic violence and save lives. But it's not enough. The effort must be redoubled, the violence studied more carefully, and the intervention waged even more aggressively... The recent spate of murders underscores the fact that domestic violence remains a significant problem here. Whatever preventive action is being taken at Fort Bragg, it isn't enough."Because the preventive action being taken by the military is not enough, 40 women and men from around North Carolina and the nation stood at the Fort Bragg entrance gate to commemorate the deaths and call for action to prevent any others. We were greeted by many honks of agreement from cars going onto the base and several military spouses came out to join us. Sadly, no one from military command authority nor from the prevention of domestic violence offices at Fort Bragg made the effort to come to the gates to talk about the ending the epidemic of violence.

Ann Wright is a retired Army Reserve colonel and a 29-year veteran of the Army and Army Reserves. She was also a diplomat in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia. She resigned from the Department of State on March 19, 2003, in opposition to the Iraq war. She has written several articles on violence against women in the military including "Sexual Assault in the Military: A DoD Cover-Up?" , "U.S. Military Keeping Secrets About Female Soldiers' ‘Suicides'?" and "Is There an Army Cover Up of Rape and Murder of Women Soldiers?".

She is also the co-author of the book "Dissent: Voices of Conscience" (www.voicesofconscience.com).