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Details emerge in alleged rape of soldier in Stryker unit (/what's missing here?)

ADAM LYNN; The News Tribune

A Stryker brigade soldier allegedly raped in Kuwait told her mother Tuesday she's been isolated from her unit and denied counseling and other emotional support, including a visit from an Army chaplain.

Barbara Wharton said her daughter, who reported being attacked outside a shower facility at Camp Udairi late Friday or early Saturday, "is having a difficult time right now. She's traumatized."

Camp Udairi is where the Fort Lewis-based brigade has been staging the last few weeks before advancing into Iraq.

Wharton, who lives in Lancaster County, Penn., said she spoke to her daughter by phone for about 15 minutes Tuesday before being cut off.

"She's not good, but at least I got to hear her voice," Wharton told The News Tribune in a telephone interview. "She's not eating. She's not sleeping. She has no contact, really, with anybody."

A Pennsylvania native, Wharton's daughter is a sergeant in the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. The woman, who married another Fort Lewis soldier Nov. 1, shipped out with the Stryker brigade last month.

The News Tribune generally does not publish the names of people who have reported being raped.

Wharton said her daughter, a four-year veteran who joined the Army at 19, described the attack during their call.

She told her mother she was near the showers when a man with "an American voice" hit her in the back of the head, knocking her unconscious. When she came to, she was gagged and bound with cord, Wharton said.

She then was hit in the head and face again and blacked out a second time, her mother said. When she awakened, she'd realized she'd been raped, Wharton said. The woman told her mother her attacker was wearing a mask.

Wharton said her daughter described suffering serious injuries and still was hemorrhaging Tuesday.

"This wasn't just a rape," she said. "This was a brutal assault."

The woman's husband, who asked that his name not be used, said he spoke to his wife briefly over the weekend, and she told him the same story. He declined further comment.

There are about 310 women in the Stryker brigade, out of about 5,000 total soldiers. Another 2,000 troops who are not part of the brigade are stationed at Camp Udairi permanently to maintain it. Several hundred civilian contract employees also live there.

The brigade's public affairs officer, Lt. Col. Joseph Piek, said the alleged victim has been transported to Camp Doha, the main camp for U.S. troops in Kuwait.

Piek said he expected it would be several days before the Army's Criminal Investigation Command made its report to the brigade's commander. Piek said there won't be any further information from the brigade until then.

Attempts by The News Tribune to reach a spokesman for the Criminal Investigation Command were unsuccessful.

Wharton said she has contacted U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter's office for help, and that an aide for the Pennsylvania Republican is looking into her daughter's case. Attempts to contact someone in Specter's office for comment Tuesday also were unsuccessful.

Wharton said she also has been working with her state senator, who told Wharton her daughter probably would be flown soon either to Germany or Fort Lewis.

Wharton said her daughter wants to return home where she can get treatment and support.

Wharton said her daughter joined the Army so she could qualify for college tuition assistance under the GI Bill.

Staff writer Mike Gilbert in Kuwait contributed to this report.

Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644
adam.lynn@mail.tribnet.com

(Published 12:01AM, December 3rd, 2003)

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