Army Admits Rape Victim Served In Military

Diana Moore, whose existence as a sergeant in the US Army continues to be ignored by that arm of the military services and the Veterans Administration, has won recognition by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division through a presidential order. Get some insights about the military justice process explained at the link.

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

CID has investigated Moore’s charges she had been raped. Her efforts to get her story told were ignored. Fortunately for her, Dan Sickman, a well-known veteran’s advocate, discovered her plight when he decided to gas up in Bensalem at a service station owned by her family.
When he heard the story, he went ballistic. He found she had been stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky. She was taken to a nearby civilian jail, incarcerated for filing a false claim, and was held for 10 hours. She demanded a medical rape kit. They denied her one. Her family came to bail her out. She got a kit and it showed she was raped.
She appeared at three hearings in that civilian court. The charge against her of falsifying a rape report was dropped.
A 46-year advocate for veterans, their families and Founding Father of the Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service & Education Center, Inc., Sickman took up her case and spoke to her superior officers. Rather than have her continue to press her claim, they agreed to give her a medically honorable discharge with 40% disability. In the meantime, she developed major medical and mental disorders as a result of the rape.
Yet the VA refuses to admit she served in the Army and is eligible for her benefits. Sickman told the VA to contact the CID in Fort Dix, N.J. on Jul. 19 at 3:15 p.m. to verify she served.
This newspaper published one of her traveling orders. Other pertinent documents have been produced as well, which proves beyond a doubt she served in the military. Yet the VA won’t admit it. Why?
Sickman continued his campaign to get her the VA benefits (including compensation, medical and education) she earned. He learned she had met candidate for President Barack Obama at an airport on her way to basic training.
“You’ll be a good President,” Moore remembers telling him.
“You’ll be a good soldier,” he said.
Learning that, Sickman suggested she email the White House with that information and ask for his assistance.
Subsequently, Sickman learned the state police, local county authorities and CID appeared at her family’s gas station notifying them a presidential order had reopened the eight-year-old rape case.
In January 2015, the Philadelphia Public Record printed an article detailing her assault and a subsequent coverup that Sickman had exposed.
The CID informed the Moore family that the alleged rapist is now under military arrest and is charged with five rapes and two murders, but is out of reach of the civilian court system.
“As a last-ditch effort, I referred to the press and Moore’s family,” said Sickman.
Moore has since continued to spiral down into depression. She and her family are despondent, because they feel they have been abandoned by their country. They are distraught after hearing other victims have suffered in a process that could have been prevented.
“Finding no other way to elicit the assistance we needed for our cause, we turned to our Commander In Chief,” said Sickman.

ARMY now recognizes Diana Moore served in the military due to a presidential order, however the VA claims they cannot locate records of Moore’s service. But Moore retains many of her official papers and Phila. Public Record has seen them.

Email To Commander In Chief

Dear Mr. President, Commander In Chief:

Please accept my heartfelt thanks for your executive action, in coming to our aid in dealing with a veteran’s issue we are pursuing for nearly eight years. Sir, I write to you in deep concern for Diana Moore, a rape victim denied VA benefits and compensation due to the fact that her DD-214 is missing.

Mr. President, Ms. Moore and her family have suffered to a point that no words can describe, eight years of uncertainty and pain! During your renewed investigation, Mrs. Moore clearly demanded the CID to talk to, in her words: “Dan Sickman, who knows the whole story.” Yet I was never contacted or questioned, and I did not receive responses to my inquiries on her behalf.

As her non-attorney advocate, I have researched and accumulated an extensive and extremely sensitive documentation of events. Due to space limits here, I cannot attach the evidence but I stand ready to present it for you review. The evidence we speak of, through our contacts and official documents show collusion between the local police, military police, camp command and civilian police command, the DOD, the VA all the way up to and including the Office of the Inspector General, Fort Campbell, Ky. Treatment facilities, names and positions of those involved are documented.

Sir, to present, the response to Diana Moore’s plea has been disgraceful from the VA, the team members of the OIF/OEF welcome home unit, and in total disregard of title 38. Time after time they found any and every reason why they could not help, to the point of doors slammed in our faces. We even called upon local and national government officials. Except for our Mayor, the Hon. Joseph DiGirolamo and Pennsylvania State Rep Gene DiGirolamo, no one helped.

Amazing, officials who seek the support and votes of veterans and request our help in dealing with veteran issues all of a sudden have no time to help a vet in crisis. Even though there was a front-page article recounting Diana Moore’s suffering, in the Philadelphia Public Record January 2015, some notable officials, two Senators and three Congressmen stood by and did nothing. Even my fellow union officials were complacent. One statement: “What are you selling me, Danny”? So as you can see, Sir, no one else cares.

My apologies for going to the top, Sir; I have nowhere else to turn. With that in mind, please feel free to call me.

Yours In Veteran Services,

Daniel L Sickman, Sr., Non-Attorney Veteran Advocate

USMC ’67-’69. USN ’74-’76

For more information on the original story, please visit http://www.phillyrecord.com/2015/01/army-refuses-vet-benefits-to-rape-victim/

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