He went AWOL after being sexually assaulted. After 30 years, the Navy finally believed him.

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post



By Meagan Flynn
June 5 at 7:08 AM

The first time Heath Phillips told his superiors that he had been sexually assaulted, he was called a liar and a homesick mama’s boy.

It was 1988 and Phillips, then 17, had just joined the Navy. There were six attackers, he said, and yet in a Navy ship as large as his, where privacy could be found neither in the showers nor in the rows of bunk beds, nobody bothered to help. Not even his superiors, who didn’t believe him.

He filed complaint after complaint for 49 days straight as the sexual assaults and harassment continued. “It was like they were pretending it wasn’t happening,” he told The Washington Post.

He tried to commit suicide once and he went AWOL multiple times. Then, in 1989, he was discharged as “other than honorable” because of his unauthorized absences.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/06/05/he-went-awol-after-being-sexually-assaulted-after-30-years-the-navy-finally-believed-him/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c499438becfd

[japple]

1. This is a story with a happy ending. This young man's life was ruined

by what happened to him while he was in the Navy. Thank dog he persisted with his appeals. He is doing great things now.

Thanks for posting this story.

[IronLionZion]

2. #MalesToo

[Stuart G]

3. Thank You for posting this article. Shows a man of great strength.

And just as important, he never gave up. And he helped to change attitudes and the way others were treated after the same experience...k and r..great story, great post..

[magicarpet]

4. An extension of sexual improprieties that commonly happen...

... on high School sports teams. The new guy, the smaller guy, under the guise of the rites of initiation to become a member in good standing with the group. Latent homosexual acts blown out of proportion due to peer pressure and group mania - someone gets raped and humiliated in the locker room with a broom handle and no one including the coach staff does anything to stop the gang violence of male on male rape. Boys will be boys - just having some innocent fun.

[bluescribbler]

5. Sea pussy

That's what they call it in the Navy. Typically a younger, smaller sailor will be branded with that "nickname". Sometimes it's just joking, sometimes it's not. Both the ships I served on had at least one sailor who was thus branded. I don't know if they were ever assaulted, but just by being called that name, they were harassed.