My email address is: dreamofdawn@yahoo.com

I am writing this paper for my friend, Sr. Amn Charity Dawn Smith because she is in the military and as such can not speak for herself right now.
At age 20, Sr. Amn Charity Dawn Smith entered the U.S. Airforce on 20 February 2002 after the attacks on America on September 11 inspired her to serve her country. Sr. Amn Smith proudly became a member of the United States Military, following in the footsteps of her mother, father and grandfather. The Airforce Sr. Amn Smith entered was not one she expected. Though she worked hard and served honorably, she was faced with peers and supervisors who bullied her and harassed her due to her gender. Indeed, since she enlisted, Ms. Smith has been the victim of numerous instances of sexual harassment, both on the job at her home base and in the desert in Iraq.
On 9 September 2004 Sr. Amn Smith entered into what would be her own personal hell when she was sent to Iraq. She could never have known how much she would be required to give of herself in the desert nor how little she would come back with. While in Iraq a member of the US Army tried to rape her at gunpoint, the only thing that saved her was that his gun was not loaded and hers was.
Attempted rape is only one of the many painful memories Charity suffers with on a daily basis. Because she was missed for pregnancy testing prior to her deployment, Charity was unaware she was pregnant and was sent to the desert, carrying a child she would not bring back with her from Iraq. On 22 November, after almost three months of hell in Kirkuk Air Base, Amn. Smith lost her four month old child to a miscarriage. Charity says the event was one of the most traumatic of her life and says she relives this event over and over, both in dreams and in her waking life. She has vivid dreams of babies dieing while bombs explode around her. She wakes in the night not knowing where she is, only that she is in danger and that she can not find her child, who is lost somewhere in the dropping bombs and fires.
While the bombs fell outside the medical tent, Charity Smith, a 22 year old woman who should have been enjoying the joys of her youth was instead on top of a gurney, pushing, giving birth to a dead child, a child she had dreamed about mothering since she was a girl, a child she would leave behind in the desert with part of her heart and what remained of her strength.
Only a month prior, in October, Amn. Smith was thrown from the back of a truck which drove into a ditch leaving her with Patello Femoral Syndrome and possibly contributing to the death of her unborn baby.
Charity speaks of Iraq only in little pieces which must be glued together. The memories of the desert are more to her than just thoughts, they are living, breathing moments of torment that cause her to break down into tears and rock back and forth. She would rather forget everything that has happened but she cannot. She speaks about wanting to die, about wanting it all just to stop hurting.
When Charity Smith returned from the desert, she was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder. Among the numerous medications she has relied upon to keeping her from tipping over the edge of darkness are Prozak, Zyprexa and Klonapin along with Bextra and Tylenol three, Bycyclomine, and Rimeron.
Though she takes medication and sees both her Pscyiatrist and her Psychologist, Charity is unable to function. From the outside many people can not see the pain she carries inside her. Many people do not understand the damage of trauma within if they can not see a broken bone or blood. Recently, there has been a baby boom around the world, and Spangdahlem Air Force base is no exception. Charity Smith sees all the newborn babies around her, and is reminded of a child that should have been born this past may, the child she lost.
Sr. Amn Smith has served her country and has gone beyond her duty, for this the military has decided to betray her, to ignore the damage which they caused and to cast Sr. Amn Charity Smith aside.
Sr. Amn Smith was recommended for medical separation and went to an informal board. The board ruled her 10% disabled, the minimum ruling. Ms. Smith describes herself as a woman who has been broken and tossed aside. The United States military has a responsibility to take care of the Amn they brake, and for the lives they destroy.
Because of the desert, Sr. Amn Smith is now dependent upon medication that does not work all of the time. Though she went to the desert married she received a call from her stateside husband in March asking for a divorce. Emotionally, Sr. Amn Smith had pulled away from everyone around her, isolating herself from the outside world.
Amn Smith did not ask for her life to be destroyed, she only wanted to serve her country. The Air Force owes it to her to do what they can to help her, but instead they are doing the minimal and that is not much. With the current ruling of 10%, Sr. Amn Smith will get a severance package, it will be a lump sum of money and this money will run out quickly. With 10% and a discharge, Sr. Amn Smith, will not be eligible for military medical coverage in order to pay for the medical problems they created. With 10% and a discharge Sr. Amn Smith will likely not be eligible for education assistance.
Charity Smith appealed the decision and a week ago, boarded a plane and went to Texas to see the formal board. The stress from the appeal process and the plane trip itself made her even more weary but she was hopeful that she would not be abandoned a second time by the Air Force.
After a week of waiting and worry, Sr Amn smith was told once again that she was not worthwhile to the Military she had given her all for. The board denied her claims on the grounds that she had traveled in Europe after her return. They choose to claim that because she took vacations, surely she can not be damaged.
This is complete ignorance on the boards part, a board that did not have a single Psychiatrist within its ranks. A panel of judges decided her fate with the blindness and heartless temperament of statues. What follows is a transcription from their ruling made today 8 August 2005 on Lackland Air Force base.

“The member’s contention was for permanent retirement at a compensateable rating of 60%;
50% for PTSD and 10% for Patello Femoral Syndrome (knee pain)
The FPEB finds the member unfit and recommends discharge with severance pay.
The board notes her condition is controlled on medication.
She performs full duty days with adequate job adjustment, minimal job loss, manages the majority of her ADL’s and adequately functions accept when around crowds. Although her psychiatrist indicates her social industrial impairment is moderate with a GAFF of 60 Sr. Amn Smith has taken or planned trips in Europe without incident therefore her condition is best described as mild and rated at 10%...”

The trips Sr. Amn Smith took were trips to the country in Poland and Ireland, outside of the city, away from people. Her trips were attempts to reduce her stress and the board has chosen, like cowards to claim these trips mean nothing is wrong with Sr. Amn Smith. I am appalled by the words and actions of the US Air Force.
Sr. Amn Smith has served her country honorably and deserves to be given the medical and financial support she needs rather than just the minimum the board can get by with. The U.S. Military is guilty of inhumanity.
Charity Smith is in her hotel room right now, in Texas. She wants to appeal to the Secretary of the Air Force, she says, in fact, that she knows she should appeal. However she says she is too tired. I write this paper at 9:30 at night in Germany, far away from my friend, and I wish I were in Texas to tell her in person what a wonderful person she is, and how thankful the world should be that people like her exist, selfless, dedicated, patriotic, betrayed. I am sickened and I can not write another word.
I may be contacted at 00-49-170-8757-007 before 9am germany time and after 4pm germany time. You can wake me up at 4 in the morning if you want to.