I am 63 years old. I was assaulted at age 18, right out of boot camp. I wasn't even aware the VA offered any resources or disability until last year. I reached out and now I am getting therapy. My life was utterly ruined by the experience, I know that now as I am learning about myself through therapy. I was drunk and passed out and woke up being assaulted by another male Marine. My PTSD MST C&P exam is next week; I filed many months ago. I believe I understand how to explain my assault, my markers, and my current diagnosis, but this is all new to me. I didn't report it, but my proficiency and conduct marks dropped until i left the base. I changed my MOS and my duty station, I began to drink heavily, and I gained weight, ending up on weight control and being denied promotion due to my weight. After the service, I got in fights, quit jobs, got fired, lost my first marriage, etc, etc. Thank you for your video.
I am 66 years old and just happened to run across this RUclips channel. I want to thank Leah for putting into perspective and putting a name (Military Sexual Trauma) on what I experienced during my military career. I am a male and we don't generally think in terms of sexual assault happening to men. First off, all of what happened to me occurred prior to the Tailhook scandal. I mention the Tailhook scandal because that is when military hazing reached a peak and the services took a harder stance on hazing and initiations. My first instance of MST was when I reported onboard my first ship right out of boot camp. I was assigned to the engineering department and at one point all of the new non-rates were tie wrapped and had their pants pulled down the expose their genitals. Not sure what the purpose of this was but we were all young and male and didn't know that we had options, and it was the 70's. The second instance of MST occurred during an initiation while crossing the equator and the dateline. During this initiation, among other things, all of the shellbacks were forced to strip down to their boxer shorts and simulate gay sex while being sprayed by a firehose. Not sure what the purpose of this was but it was command sanctioned. The third incidence of MST was during my CPO initiation, another command sanctioned event. During that initiation, one of the "skits" called "Lock and Load" was performed. For those who are not familiar with lock and load, it is a process where the person being initiated gets on all fours in their underwear. An egg is placed between the cheeks and another in the mouth. They are then hit with a paddle and the goal is to spit the egg into a cup that is placed in front of you. The broken egg between your cheeks is then wiped off with a dirty mop. If you are successful in getting the egg in a cup, that skit is over. If not, it keeps repeating until the person being initiated gets an egg in the cup. You may ask why I went into such detail about these events. First, I am not the only one who went through these instances of MST. I know this because there are many people who were by my side when these events occurred. Second, the dateline/equator initiation and the CPO initiation were command sponsored and you would receive negative remarks in your service record if you did not participate so the service bears some responsibility. After listening to Leah's video, I now have a greater understanding of what I experienced, thank you Leah.
I am so sorry to hear this. Those incidents were not ok and I am sorry you experienced this. Thank you for providing feedback and sharing your story as it may certainly help others.
I've been through the VA PE therapy. It's tough. Really difficult. It helped me to be able to talk about my assault, but it shook loose a lot of painful memories that I'm still dealing with. I'm doing group therapy through the VA now.
I have been out for 14 years, I was the victim of female on male MST in 2007 by an NCO. I went to my command and was told women cant sexually assault men, so either I was gay or I was lying. They "moved" me to the adjacent unit. She continued the abuse, and ended up getting pregnant. Rather than address the issue, I was told I was responsible and I should "do what was right" and marry her. Which happened, and then shortly ended in divorce. She came clean to me when we were getting divorced and told me she only married me for the BAH and that if I didnt like what she had been doing to me I must be gay. (These were the dont ask dont tell days, so I could have been kicked out for that). I am finally, after years of depression, anxiety, ptsd, and struggles with ED...getting some help.
I had a VSO who didn't tell me how to file my claim the correct way and got denied and she plays me of and gets me confused with other veterans I'm going to report her...I did get help from VA I'm getting therapy
I was assaulted by 4 to 6 guys during my time in the army in 85-88. I need some assistance in filing a claim against the VA. I receive 70% when they finally decided to rule in my favor in 2018. I am sure that I contracted HIV during that time period because i was diagnosed in 1997. The same time it would have come to the forefront. I spoke with my ID doctor and he stated it could be true because of the timeline.
I am 63 years old. I was assaulted at age 18, right out of boot camp. I wasn't even aware the VA offered any resources or disability until last year. I reached out and now I am getting therapy. My life was utterly ruined by the experience, I know that now as I am learning about myself through therapy. I was drunk and passed out and woke up being assaulted by another male Marine. My PTSD MST C&P exam is next week; I filed many months ago. I believe I understand how to explain my assault, my markers, and my current diagnosis, but this is all new to me. I didn't report it, but my proficiency and conduct marks dropped until i left the base. I changed my MOS and my duty station, I began to drink heavily, and I gained weight, ending up on weight control and being denied promotion due to my weight. After the service, I got in fights, quit jobs, got fired, lost my first marriage, etc, etc. Thank you for your video.
I am very sorry to hear this. Thank you for sharing your experience and I wish you the best of luck with therapy and your claim. Hang in there
I am 66 years old and just happened to run across this RUclips channel. I want to thank Leah for putting into perspective and putting a name (Military Sexual Trauma) on what I experienced during my military career. I am a male and we don't generally think in terms of sexual assault happening to men.
First off, all of what happened to me occurred prior to the Tailhook scandal. I mention the Tailhook scandal because that is when military hazing reached a peak and the services took a harder stance on hazing and initiations. My first instance of MST was when I reported onboard my first ship right out of boot camp. I was assigned to the engineering department and at one point all of the new non-rates were tie wrapped and had their pants pulled down the expose their genitals. Not sure what the purpose of this was but we were all young and male and didn't know that we had options, and it was the 70's. The second instance of MST occurred during an initiation while crossing the equator and the dateline. During this initiation, among other things, all of the shellbacks were forced to strip down to their boxer shorts and simulate gay sex while being sprayed by a firehose. Not sure what the purpose of this was but it was command sanctioned. The third incidence of MST was during my CPO initiation, another command sanctioned event. During that initiation, one of the "skits" called "Lock and Load" was performed. For those who are not familiar with lock and load, it is a process where the person being initiated gets on all fours in their underwear. An egg is placed between the cheeks and another in the mouth. They are then hit with a paddle and the goal is to spit the egg into a cup that is placed in front of you. The broken egg between your cheeks is then wiped off with a dirty mop. If you are successful in getting the egg in a cup, that skit is over. If not, it keeps repeating until the person being initiated gets an egg in the cup.
You may ask why I went into such detail about these events. First, I am not the only one who went through these instances of MST. I know this because there are many people who were by my side when these events occurred. Second, the dateline/equator initiation and the CPO initiation were command sponsored and you would receive negative remarks in your service record if you did not participate so the service bears some responsibility.
After listening to Leah's video, I now have a greater understanding of what I experienced, thank you Leah.
I am so sorry to hear this. Those incidents were not ok and I am sorry you experienced this. Thank you for providing feedback and sharing your story as it may certainly help others.
I've been through the VA PE therapy. It's tough. Really difficult. It helped me to be able to talk about my assault, but it shook loose a lot of painful memories that I'm still dealing with. I'm doing group therapy through the VA now.
I’m very sorry to hear this. Hang in there
Thank you.
Thank you for watching!
I have been out for 14 years, I was the victim of female on male MST in 2007 by an NCO. I went to my command and was told women cant sexually assault men, so either I was gay or I was lying. They "moved" me to the adjacent unit. She continued the abuse, and ended up getting pregnant. Rather than address the issue, I was told I was responsible and I should "do what was right" and marry her. Which happened, and then shortly ended in divorce. She came clean to me when we were getting divorced and told me she only married me for the BAH and that if I didnt like what she had been doing to me I must be gay. (These were the dont ask dont tell days, so I could have been kicked out for that).
I am finally, after years of depression, anxiety, ptsd, and struggles with ED...getting some help.
I am so sorry to hear this. I am glad you are getting the help you need. ♥️
Thanks
Thank you for watching!!
Very interesting...now that I think about it, I seen such events. 😔
Thank you for watching my friend!!
I had a VSO who didn't tell me how to file my claim the correct way and got denied and she plays me of and gets me confused with other veterans I'm going to report her...I did get help from VA I'm getting therapy
I’m so sorry to hear this. Please keep us posted
I was assaulted by 4 to 6 guys during my time in the army in 85-88. I need some assistance in filing a claim against the VA. I receive 70% when they finally decided to rule in my favor in 2018. I am sure that I contracted HIV during that time period because i was diagnosed in 1997. The same time it would have come to the forefront. I spoke with my ID doctor and he stated it could be true because of the timeline.
I’m so very sorry to hear this. Please contract us at info@prestigeveteranmctx.com if you are interested in a medical nexus letter
I was assaulted during infantry school. Because I'm a man they ignored it.
I am so sorry to hear this sir. Thank you for sharing and thank you for sharing.