We know how to do better and we should.” “She Was Locked on” “The Corps is doing just that in cases involving mental health and sexual assault. “Marines don’t leave anyone behind,” said Montalvo, a former judge advocate and 21-year Marine veteran. But like many of the tens of thousands of servicemen and women each year who struggle with mental illness after military sexual assault, Ohu’s plans spiraled off course as she battled post-traumatic stress, which only worsened when, over and over, she learned nobody cared. Ohu’s defense attorney, Eric Montalvo, says it's the same old story: A woman arrives ready to change her life by earning the title of Marine-to build a career steadied by tradition and braced by accountability and discipline. In addition to police reports and medical records, a service member close to the case provided multiple pages of Ohu’s handwritten accounts detailing her assault and its fallout. Her active-duty ex-boyfriend provided a five-page statement detailing her years of erratic behavior and mental illness in uniform. Throughout the course of this investigation, The War Horse interviewed family members and Marines who served alongside Ohu. 7-where a gag order will be considered-her lawyer says her story represents that of many survivors of military sexual assault. Now, as Ohu sits in a military jail cell battling mental illness as she awaits her next court martial hearing on Dec. The whole military is failing.”įor decades, advocates, lawmakers, and veterans alike have brought attention to systemic issues in how the military not only addresses mental health in uniform, but how defense officials investigate and prosecute sex crimes. They flat-out saw she was suicidal and needed help. “There is no respect for mental health or emotional health,” said her older sister, Pan Phyu. Ohu was criminally charged, but those around her say she was simply a vulnerable young woman in desperate need of mental health care. And finally, the same man who oversaw the investigation of her rape case placed her in jail for assault-a charge even the alleged victim calls retaliatory.Įach time she asked for help, she was left on her own to spin further out of control until a breakup led to violence-and, ultimately, charges including attempted murder. The commanders who released her on her own recognizance-three times-after she was hospitalized for trying to take her own life. The lawyer who oversaw the investigation into her allegation of rape that was later called “anemic.” The co-workers who taunted her. The sergeant who said he’d help her if she performed sexual favors. During Ohu’s seven-year career, she graduated from multiple military courses and was promoted to the prized rank of sergeant.īut Ohu’s achievements belied that a tap dance toward mental illness that had begun in her childhood continued, choreographed by the people ostensibly there to help: The recruiter who overlooked her medical and psychological history, and told her to stay off her medications for a year to qualify her for duty. After the assault, she moved up the ranks, earned several awards and was regarded as a “squared-away Marine” by her most senior enlisted leader.
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