1st. Lt. Stephanie Melton - October 30, 2009
1LT Stephanie Melton
551 MP CO
FOB Prosperity
APO AE 09348
Hello Family,
First of all it hasn't been a great week so I'm sorry if my email isn't chipper and upbeat. I'm fine and I'll get over being aggravated but I need to spew a bit. Lately we had a few events that I wasn't prepared for, didn't even expect to encounter.
There are companies here that hire abroad and bring people over here to work. I don't really understand why because there are tons of people that need work but I'm guessing it has something to do with security. It's too hard to vette the people that live here, whether they're insurgents or not. One of the companies I'm not allowed to name brought 20 Ugandian females over here to work at stores. Once they got here they were told the contract fell through but that they could stay and work as housekeepers. One of them reportedly arrived at the house of a high ranking Iraqi Army officer and was turned into a captive. She had been trafficked by the people who brought her. She was forced to have sex, clean his house, and do anything he asked. She finally escaped and came to my ECP for help, that's how I learned all this. She was terrified because the Iraqi Army had already tried to catch her. We watched it happen and rushed in to grab her. To say it bluntly, I'm pretty sure by the way they were acting that they had every intention of making her disappear. Bodies come out of the Tigris almost weekly... I was shocked. I didn't think that something as organized as human trafficking could happen in a country so disorganized but as the same time I'm not surprised. The government here is riddled with corruption and there's no way to tell who's clean. I tried the best I could to help the woman get help, she just wanted to get home. Some of the contractors that work here are Ugandian and finally they managed to get her in touch with someone who was supposed to help her. He was a Ugandian national who lived here and worked in the IZ. He came and let her go stay with him and try to get in touch with her family to get home. I was anxious about letting her go with him tlinebecause we didn't know him from Adam but there really wasn't any other option. I got no help from my higher because she wasn't American. I was so angry they wouldn't help! It doesn't matter what country she's from, she's a human being and she deserves basic human decency. All they would think about was the "bigger picture". That if we helped everyone who came to us asking for help then we'd end up being "international police". But I'm working on the little picture; one woman who needed help escaping from a rapist and a abuser. This is the first time I've ever really bumped heads against bureaucracy and it let me feeling helpless and angry. I just hope she got the help she needed. She was so thankful for just a safe place to sleep and some food.
I couldn't help but think part of their indifference was that they were all men. As horrible as it may sound, they have no conception of the fears women face everyday. It's a reality to us that at any time, that could happen to us. We’re raised to recognize the reality that many see women as a commodity to be bought, sold, and abused. The men who outrank me have never had to face that fear. All I could think when I spoke with this woman was "what if this happened me? what if no one would help me?"
One of the things I've come to acknowledge being here is how spoiled I've been living in a free country. The everyday things we take for granted. Simple things like the fact that our families will live through the day. Mortars have been a constant threat lately. One of our interpreters and his family lived in the IZ, called the green zone because it's supposed to be safe. A mortar came in and hit his apartment building while he was at work with us. His wife was killed and his daughter is still in the ICU at the city hospital. He came home to find his family destroyed. I've never had to live with the thought that my family could just disappear one day. The sad thing is, although he was grieving, it wasn't a shock to him. The fact that his family could be killed at any moment was just a part of his reality.
I'm sorry if this letter is so depressing. Please don't interpret it as me being down, I'm fine. I just find myself very thoughtful lately. I've noticed more of my surroundings than ever before. Please ask the church to pray for the families here. Pray that through our efforts they can know the safety and happiness that we take for granted. I love you guys. I doubt I'll ever take having family for granted again. I'm blessed to have you in my life. SO many of my Soldiers as just amazed at how close a relationship we have. I talk about you all the time and I have the picture from Mom's birthday two years ago on my desk. I have tons more to say but I'll write a second letter since I've already written a book. Take care of yourselves and each other
Love,
Stephanie Melton
1LT, MP
Platoon Leader
3/551st Military Police Co
"Hooligans"
