Army Refuses Vet Benefits To Rape Victim

by Cassie Hepler

Joining the US Army at 19 years of age is an exciting and intimidating move. But with youth and vigor readily available, a promising recruit can climb the ranks of success and dream of a bright future.

DAN SICKMAN, non-attorney veterans’ advocate, is representing rape victim Diana Moore, from Bensalem, Pa., in her fight for justice and veteran’s benefits.

Diana Moore, who is now 29 and lives in Bensalem, Pa., never had that opportunity.

While stationed in Ft. Campbell, Ky. as an automated logistical specialist, she was raped by a superior.

Not only did she find no justice in the Army – she was arrested herself.

Rubbing salt in her wound, to this day she cannot get treatment from the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. The reason? It denies she ever served in the Army. Her records, it seems, have disappeared.

“An NCO (non-commissioned officer) in charge of me asked me to come over to his place, thinking it was something different,” she said. “I was too young and dumb to think twice.”

Sgt. James Storman was the alleged man in question. He knew all too well the lack of rape support that runs rampant in the military.

When she tried to report the rape, she “went to the unit the next morning because no one could help until the next morning,” she recounted.

She could not choose to restrict disclosure because everybody already knew about the rape, she said. Further delaying the crime-scene investigation, they applied a rape kit at 12 midnight the next day. After such a delay, the kit’s ability to detect evidence is compromised.

In the meantime, civilian police in Clarksville, Tenn. said she lied about the assault, which they denied had occurred.

“They put me under arrest in a holding cell on Nov. 5, 2006,” she said. They also tried to charge her with false statement, although with no success.

“Right after that, I was released back to the unit. They did the transfer into the mail room the very next day,” she said. “They kept moving me from different units to keep me quiet.”

A downward spiral of depression and suicidal thoughts began that night as well. While still in service, Moore was basically shooed into custodial duty, moved from one place to another.

Her family tried to take the case to court, three times.

“The police never showed up to the court date,” she said. The family had to pay for extensive travel expenses each time.

“I was told to shut up, drive on and get a hold of my f–ing life,” she said.

ARMY AND VA claim they cannot locate records of Moore’s service. But Moore retains many of her official papers and Public Record has seen them.

While still in the service, Moore sought to bring up the case with the Criminal Investigation Division. Again she was told to shut her mouth or “we’ll lock you up and throw away the key,” she stated.

Moore believes she is not alone. Covered-up rapes are common in the military, she said.

Moore recalls the story of LaVena Johnson, a soldier who went to Iraq, where the military said she committed suicide in 2004. A year prior, the autopsy showed she had been raped and hideously murdered. Moore still shudders at that tale.

According to US Army Reserve Col. Ann Wright (retired), one in three women who join the US military will be raped or sexually assaulted by servicemen.

How did Moore finally escape from this military hell?

“I went to a hospital outside of military and was diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) due to sexual assault. I left in 2007 after getting discharged with PTSD,” she said. “I went to the hospital because I was going to commit suicide. I had no help from anyone.”

In 2008, shortly after she was discharged, she went to the VA to get help.

“They were not very helpful. They said I wasn’t in the system,” she said.

Moore has received no benefits since the time she left the military. She was supposed to be discharged with 40% disability. Curiously enough, she claims, there are also now no records of her ever being in the military. And the VA won’t even read the medical and military records that she kept – all of them, for proof.

Another interesting fact she points out is that “everyone I talked to about it in the military was transferred to other states – one even to Alaska.”

Shortly after the rape, Moore was also diagnosed with the high-risk strain of human papilloma virus that causes cervical cancer, which she also has on record. Fortunately, her body cleared it; however, it should have never been a problem in the first place. Moore maintains she contracted this infection from the rape.

Sgt. Storman was given an Article 15 “non-judicial punishment” and sent on his way, Moore alleges.

“The military action is not doing something,” she said. “He got a slap on the wrist. He was supposed to have been released, but they delayed it long enough to get gone. He was probably a problem child anyway.”

If Moore succeeds in winning military disability benefits, her plan is to go to law school to learn how to protect other women.

Moore’s family owns an auto shop and gas station in Bensalem. Dan Sickman, a non-attorney veterans’ advocate, stopped there for gas after Mayor Joe DiGirolamo made an introduction.

Sickman is now representing her and will not stop until justice is served. He can be emailed at theforgottenthreads@gmail.com.

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