Thoughts & reflections

Honor plays a big role in Japanese culture and apparently it plays a big role in the military culture as well. After what happened last week to Mom, I couldn’t help but think about the whole concept of honor and how it applies to domestic violence. If you’re thinking, “What honor could there possibly be in DV?” you’ll reach the same conclusion I came to: there is none. Where am I going with this? Here:

Mom’s ex belongs to the Navy; his friend, the high ranking enlisted belongs to the Army; my ex-husband once served in the Marines and my son is presently in his high school’s Air Force JROTC. Out of curiosity, I went to the four branches of the military websites and looked up their core values that all refer to “honor and integrity” as cornerstones of all their actions and as guiding principles in their individual and collective lives. (Click here to see the Army’s http://www.army.mil/values/ the Navy’s http://www.navy.mil/navydata/nav_legacy.asp?id=193 the Air Force’s http://ww.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/cv-mastr.htm and the Marines’ http://community.marines.mil/unit/hqmc/hr/Pages/HQMC_OB_B200.aspx.)

So what I’m trying to figure out is how do these men who currently serve in the Army and Navy (and the one who served in the Marines) live with themselves or reconcile their actions that completely oppose the core values they’re supposed to be living by and have sworn to uphold? Last I checked raping, torturing and killing for sport – even in a war zone – are still considered condemnable criminal offenses http://couchtripper.com/rapedbysoldiers/?cat=4 so if troops can face the death penalty for these actions against Afghani villagers, will the same penalties face those who’ve been stalking, raping and torturing an American stay-at-home military wife who gardens, cooks and crochets?

What’s an even more dishonorable reflection on the guys who’ve had any part in hunting the mom in this case is who they’ve targeted because they’re NOT pursuing an “enemy of the state”, a rouge agent or an evil entity but a 5’8”, 34 year-old, 108 pound Catholic mother of three small children all under the age of 5 who is technically disabled because of her Narcolepsy with Cataplexy diagnosis and a brain injury she sustained in 2005 that severely impairs her memory. (May-be they think its cool, fun or funny to attack someone who won’t be able to identify them because of her disabilities? But the only people I know of who would choose to engage in such activities would be cowards and bullies – no honor in being either.)

The other thought is what about command? The people who have risen through the ranks because of their “commitment to excellence” and are supposed to be “the best of the best”? Aren’t those folks the ones who proclaim “Zero Tolerance”, who are supposed to ensure that their officers and soldiers are living up to their services’ core values as well as model those standards themselves?

Does “Zero Tolerance” only apply depending upon who you are or what rank you hold? Are certain people excluded from Zero Tolerance? Have those in leadership positions gotten so pre-occupied with the fear of exposure (like the Penn State scandal) that they’re frozen to inaction, are more concerned about funding or so focused on “damage control” that they’d rather devote their time and energy into framing a good and decent soldier (like Dad) out of the public eye with a field grade Article 15?

How is there any honor in manufacturing charges against one innocent, law-abiding man when hundreds – if not thousands – have “violated” the same bogus allegation? And you know what the end result will be? An honorable man being wrongfully sent to Levanworth, losing his stellar 12 year EOD military career just so a line with the wording “If there have been any changes to your answers, please notify us immediately per Section 1234 under Code 5678” can be added to the bottom of the EFMP Form. Wouldn’t it be better and more productive all around if the guilty were investigated and held accountable for their actions? Isn’t the pursuit of justice an honorable path to venture on?

Personally – and obviously I’m “slightly” biased here – I’d be more interested in learning what the heck the “medical professionals” who misdiagnosed Mom with seizures to begin with were thinking/doing ESPECIALLY after Mom’s Narcolepsy diagnosis was confirmed through medical tests.

If those doctors messed up THAT badly, isn’t that called malpractice and how exactly is that Dad’s fault? Should doctors who don’t know what they’re doing be supported and protected, not to mention still treating people? Wouldn’t you rather know how doctors still get to sit where they are despite the profoundly negative consequences of their negligence then hear Dad explaining how he’s NOT a medical professional so didn’t know to check the seizures box especially AFTER he consulted with an army nurse about how to answer? Who would you rather see lose a job – an incompetent doctor or a faithful soldier – and who would you rather trust your life with?

Dad’s Article 15 is only retaliation for the larger issue however: ongoing acts of domestic terrorism being ignored by those who can actually do something to stop it. The “policy” of labeling Mom as crazy and calling her a liar gets weaker with every attack against her and actually, I’d like to take a moment to publicly thank the honorable offices of those who’ve supported us on our pursuit of justice:

Hawaii State Representative John Mizuno
US Senator Maize Hirono
US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard
The Navy’s NCIS
The Army’s CID
The Honolulu Police Department, Kailua Substation
Queens & Castle Medical Centers

Again, the day when all this is over can’t come fast enough and I’m hoping we’ll be around to find out exactly who’s been behind Mom’s intercontinental victimization because my burning questions where that’s concerned are: