Military sexual assault victims face tough recovery

EDITORS NOTE — With troops fighting on foreign soil since late 2001, the United States is learning about the long-term toll of modern war on the home front. This story looks at victims of sexual assault in the military. YORK, Pennsylvania (AP) — It took Diane Pickel Plappert six months to tell a counselor that she had been raped while on duty in Iraq. While time passed, the former Navy nurse disconnected from her children and her life slowly unraveled. Carolyn Schapper says she was harassed in Iraq by a fellow Army National Guard soldier to the extent that she began changing clothes in the shower for fear he'd barge into her room unannounced — as he already had on several occasions. Even as women distinguish themselves in battle alongside men, they're fighting off sexual assault and harassment. It's not a new consequence of... [read full story]