http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/04/mckinney.pm/index.html
CNN
McKinney combative under cross-examination
Gene McKinney
McKinney
March 4, 1998
Web posted at: 7:43 p.m. EST (0043 GMT)
FORT BELVOIR, Virginia (CNN) -- The Army's former top enlisted man testified Wednesday at his sexual-misconduct trial that he saw "nothing inappropriate" about visiting a female aide in her hotel room after midnight while wearing gym shorts.
Command Sgt. Maj. Gene McKinney is accused of pressuring six military women for sex. One of his accusers, Sgt. Maj. Brenda Hoster, said she was accosted by McKinney in her hotel room in Hawaii in 1996. McKinney testified that he actually went to her room to fire her for incompetence.
"You went to a female subordinate's room after midnight, in your shorts, after you had been drinking... for a closed-door meeting to tell her it was time to move on?" Army prosecutor Lt. Col. Michael Child asked during a cross-examination in which McKinney became tense and combative.
McKinney tersely replied that hotel rooms double as offices on business trips. "I found nothing inappropriate about that," he said.
No paper trail on Hoster
Child also pressed McKinney on the lack of a standard Army paper trail documenting his purported dissatisfaction with Hoster, who went public with allegations against him in February 1997 after he was appointed to a blue-ribbon panel investigating sexual discrimination in the Army.
McKinney conceded he made no written record of his conversation with Hoster and told nobody else that he wanted to fire her.
Brenda Hoster
Hoster
McKinney, 47, is on trial on 19 counts including indecent assault, adultery, making threats and obstructing justice. Defense attorney Charles Gittins said at a press conference at the close of Wednesday's proceedings that he expects all redirect questioning to conclude on Thursday and that the court-martial panel will take Friday off and return for closing arguments Monday.
As McKinney was cross-examined Wednesday, he showed flashes of anger several times, jutting his chin in defiance as the prosecutor sarcastically described the scene in the hotel room with Hoster.
The prosecutor suggested McKinney was floundering in his job and was seeking a scapegoat in Hoster, who was then his speechwriter.
"Wasn't it a fact that you were in over your head in that assignment, not Sgt. Maj. Hoster?" Child asked.
McKinney bristled and replied, "I don't agree with that, sir."
Telephone records
Prosecutors also challenged McKinney's version of the events of the night of October 30, 1996, when Sgt. Christine Roy claims she was coerced into having sex with him even though she was almost eight months pregnant.
Telephone records indicate that a short call was made from Roy's home in Severn, Maryland, to McKinney's home in Fort Myer, Virginia. She testified that she made the call to tell McKinney she was leaving for the 45-minute drive to his house.
Under cross-examination, McKinney testified that he did not speak to her on October 30, 1996.
Asked how that could be with phone records indicating a call was made, McKinney said he had experienced occasional problems with his answering machine in the past. "My answering machine is sporadic," he said and then repeated, "I never spoke to (the sergeant) on October 30, 1996."
However, he acknowledged he called Roy and she called him several times during the days around October 30.
McKinney has testified that he was at a maintenance garage in Fort Myer at about the time he was alleged to have had sexual intercourse with Roy. But the authenticity of an entry log recording his presence at the garage is in question. Prosecutors believe it may have been altered.
Recorded conversation
McKinney began his second day of testimony Wednesday by denying that he asked another accuser, Staff Sgt. Christine Fetrow, for sex, threatened her, assaulted her or pressed her to lie to investigators about their relationship. Fetrow accounts for 10 of the 19 charges against McKinney.
The first of McKinney's accusers to testify at his court-martial, Fetrow agreed to let Army investigators record her telephone conversations with McKinney shortly after Hoster went public with her charges.
On a tape of one conversation, McKinney said: "You don't have to get involved. All you have to do is tell them we talked a lot. You call the office some times because you want to talk about career development and that kind of stuff."
"That's it," he said. "That's all they need to know."
McKinney testified that the tape, which is one of the Army's chief pieces of evidence for the obstruction charge, did not include his full remarks. He said he had no intention of asking Fetrow to lie, as she has testified she believed he was doing.
Defense attorneys claim McKinney's six accusers are lying for various reasons -- such as revenge for the alleged firing in Hoster's case. McKinney testified that another accuser may have wanted to get back at him after he admonished her for flirting with him.
McKinney describes his marriage
During five hours of questioning by his own lawyer Tuesday and Wednesday, McKinney was calm and relaxed in denying all 19 charges against him and rebutting the women's claims point-by-point.
Prior to his cross-examination, McKinney -- led by one of his defense lawyers -- described his 26-year marriage and the 1996 death of his only child in an auto accident. He testified that he enjoyed a good marriage but acknowledged unspecified past problems with his wife, Wilhemina.
She looked on in the courtroom, dabbing tears from her eyes, as he discussed how the March 1996 death of their son, Zubari, in a car accident, had strengthened their marriage.
McKinney became the first black to rise to the post of sergeant major of the Army, the top enlisted man's job. Until the charges against him led to his reassignment last October, he was responsible for the welfare of the 410,000 enlisted men and women as their Pentagon advocate. He faces 55 1/2 years in prison if convicted.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
rule
Related stories:
* McKinney accuser asked to re-enact assault - February 18, 1998
* McKinney accuser warned him she might go public - February 18, 1998
* McKinney accuser: stayed silent to protect career - February 17, 1998
* McKinney's chief accuser denies faking evidence - February 12, 1998
* McKinney accuser omitted sensational charges out of embarrassment - February 11, 1998
* Defense: McKinney's contact with accuser appropriate - February 11, 1998
* Lie alleged, tape played at McKinney court-martial - February 10, 1998
* Prosecution calls McKinney 'Jekyll and Hyde' - February 9, 1998
Related sites:
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* Department of Defense: Sexual Harassment
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Sunday, August 5, 2007
McKinney sentenced
McKinneys attorney wants Army prosecution investigated - http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/05/mckinney/index.html
[CNN]
Closing arguments in McKinney case set for Tuesday - http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/09/mckinney.courtmartial/index.html
[CNN]
Doubt cast on McKinneys alibi - http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/06/mckinney/index.html
[CNN]
Closing arguments begin in McKinney courtmartial - http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/10/mckinney.closing1/index.html
[CNN]
Collector, Kennedy children reach auction agreement - http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/18/kennedy.auction2/index.html
[CNN]
McKinney sentenced to reduction in rank and reprimand - http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/16/mckinney.sentence./index.html
[CNN]
[CNN]
Closing arguments in McKinney case set for Tuesday - http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/09/mckinney.courtmartial/index.html
[CNN]
Doubt cast on McKinneys alibi - http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/06/mckinney/index.html
[CNN]
Closing arguments begin in McKinney courtmartial - http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/10/mckinney.closing1/index.html
[CNN]
Collector, Kennedy children reach auction agreement - http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/18/kennedy.auction2/index.html
[CNN]
McKinney sentenced to reduction in rank and reprimand - http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/16/mckinney.sentence./index.html
[CNN]
CNN MCKINNEY DENIES CHARGES
CNN - McKinney denies all charges in Army sex case - March 3, 1998
McKinney also denied charges that he propositioned Maj. Michelle Gunzelman at Army headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany. Gunzelman has testified that in 1994 ...
www.cnn.com/US/9803/03/mckinney.update/ - 17k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
CNN - McKinney worried about getting a fair trial - Oct. 15, 1997
McKinney's attorney, Charles Gittins, told CNN last week that the charges should be dropped because McKinney's case has been prejudiced by "unlawful command ...
www.cnn.com/US/9710/15/army.sex/index.html?iref=newssearch - 14k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
[ More results from www.cnn.com ]
Google Directory - News > Online Archives > CNN.com > 1998 > March ...
McKinney denies all charges in Army sex case - http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/03/mckinney.update/index.html [CNN]. McKinney combative under crossexamination ...
www.google.com/Top/News/Online_Archives/CNN.com/1998/March/US/ - 125k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
McKinney also denied charges that he propositioned Maj. Michelle Gunzelman at Army headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany. Gunzelman has testified that in 1994 ...
www.cnn.com/US/9803/03/mckinney.update/ - 17k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
CNN - McKinney worried about getting a fair trial - Oct. 15, 1997
McKinney's attorney, Charles Gittins, told CNN last week that the charges should be dropped because McKinney's case has been prejudiced by "unlawful command ...
www.cnn.com/US/9710/15/army.sex/index.html?iref=newssearch - 14k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
[ More results from www.cnn.com ]
Google Directory - News > Online Archives > CNN.com > 1998 > March ...
McKinney denies all charges in Army sex case - http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/03/mckinney.update/index.html [CNN]. McKinney combative under crossexamination ...
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CNN: "McKinney denies all charges in Army sex case"
Gmail Catherine Todd
"Women's History" [Re: story lin
1 message
Catherine Todd Sun, Aug 5, 2007 at 7:57 PM
To: Brenda Hoster
Dear Brenda,
This story needs to be told! God looks out for all of us on the "righteous path," and that is exactly what happened here. And nobody could stand in your way, no matter how incompetent or hard they tried. You - and the rest of the women - WON ANYWAY. Hah! "Take that, you fools!" I wish I could have been there to see that pack of idiots and evildoers faces. That would have made my day. 17 out of 18 "innocent," but they still got theirs on the last one. 'GUILTY AS CHARGED." And one is all it took! You won! Good going! And this went down in HISTORY, and changed everything for everyone coming behind you. And that is what really counts, isn't it?
You said:
<< When I knew that he was going to take the stand, I spent hours writing up questions to refute anything he could or would say... and the Lieutenant colonel, only spent about 20 minutes on cross with him... so all those questions and all the time I spent writing them, he didn't apply them. I wish to hell I could have cross examined him... >>
1) This makes me VERY GLAD that when I sued Duke University and "won" (via a mistrial, unheard of by a pro-se, after 7 years in court and going to the NC Supreme Court and back, which Duke finally settled and the laws were changed). I did it "pro-se" so I could ask the pertinent questions, since the lawyers I contacted didn't seem to know what was important or wasn't, and couldn't see past previous cases that had been "won" and/or their own fee. So I did it myself and never would have won if it had been up to the dingbats that were supposed to represent me.
Most lawyers, A, B, C or otherwise could never do as good a job as the person who was actually THERE, since you are the one that knows what happened and can keep the story straight. As difficult as it was (7 years, 3 years to file, 4 years in court) ultimately I was glad I did it myself. But for that length of time, I could have gone back to school and become a lawyer and then really represented myself! Duke got off "easy" as far as I was concerned, but NC State Law was changed (by 3 votes on that final jury) and that is what matters. Same goes for YOU. Maybe you would make an excellent lawyer? I have a feeling you would. Every thought about it?
2) No one has any business coming into someone else's room to "fire them," so to me this is the first foremost and big red flag! The guy's lying from the start! I wish I could have been on that jury!
3) << ... I just wanted you to know that the Army provided us women with what we called the C Team lawyers because they had no intention of prosecuting him in any way, shape or form. And if Fetrow hadn't caught him on tape, he would have been exonerated on all counts and would have continued to do what he was doing-which I believe he is doing to this day, albeit in the civilian world--a leopard doesn't change its spots overnight. And his lawyer, Charles Gittens, is an asshole too. >>
There's a special "circle in hell" for these kind of people and their spot is just "waiting for them." Never fear. I've seen this before. God is going to take care of them. You'll see. Plus their dirty tricks didn't help them anyway... Hah! You won anyway! They didn't get away with anything! Have you checked up to see where those evildoers are now and what they are up to? That would be interesting, would it not?
The thing that kills me is that if "a leopard doesn't change its spots overnight" then my own mother and father have proven this to be true. When my mother dies (which I believe will be soon, due to the rapid spread of cancer of her uterus, removed, and cancer has spread everywhere), it will be sadly "interesting" to see WHO COMES FORWARD then to say what my father did. My mother and sister Mari have their own "hot seat" waiting for them, and they've been sitting in it all their lives. I know this from personal experience. They've paid for it (or because of it) with mental illness and all kinds of emotional dissatisfaction and distress. This I know. There is no question about it.
Those two creeps you mention are probably alcoholics and they will get theirs. Supposedly we are supposed to "forgive them" and I guess somehow this is / will be possible. I have decided that my "purpose here on earth in this life" is to learn to "forgive the unforgivable." What else can we do? If this is so, and I am able to do this, then maybe - just maybe - I will have a little chair waiting for me in my own little heaven that we have heard about all our lives, waiting for us in the big blue sky. Wouldn't that be beautiful?
I think this email from you is as interesting as our initial conversation. I would like to see it on a blog somewhere, so other women who have been through the same thing can see what to expect, how things go, and HOW YOU CAN WIN IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING!
For that is EXACTLY what you did! You WON anyway! Just think if he had been found "innocent" on 18 out of 18? I beat Duke on 1 point out of about 30 that I had written up! Didn't matter, I still won! Boy were Duke's lawyers mad... and they were the top five star lawyers in the state... $500 per hour in a land of $75 to $100 per hour attorneys who wouldn't even take my case. And I won, and changed the law, and everyone who came after me won because of this. I know that God won for me, to protect all women and it was the SAME for you! You beat them and it has gone down in history, and 1 out of 18 (and for the reasons you gave) make them look even more foolish. YOU WON ON EVERY LEVEL.
Those two, McKinney and Gittens, they will "get theirs." No one really gets away with anything, as "God sees all." God, meaning our "higher self," or "spiritual self," or "emotional body," or nightmares and dreams... they know what they did and so does the rest of the world. My mother and sister, too. You changed the world and made it safer for ALL WOMEN and for that you have "earned your place in heaven," that is for sure.
Meryl Streep has started some kind of "women's history" group and this story needs to be posted there. Do you feel like looking into it? I want to show the timeline of how rapidly things changed for women in our own lifetime... I always say, and people can hardly believe it, that:
"Women got the right to vote 30 years before I was born (in 1950) and we got the right to own property via a bank loan 20 years after I was born. We essentially were born into slavery until my generation came along and women much tougher than me went to court and got the laws changed."
You were one of those women.
I am still trying to digest all this new information. I am just overwhelmed seeing how far the sickness in my own family would extend to trying to cover up the crimes of sexual harassment IN THE ARMY... I never thought my mother and sister would go this far. I am still in shock over this, and "waiting for the dust to settle inside."
But why not? Why wouldn't they act this way? Sacrifice your own children, sacrifice your own sister, sacrifice your own gender... it never ends, with some people. "Leopards don't change their spots." Let fear and withdrawal rule your life and let the rest of the world be d***.
What kind of way is that to live? It's the way they chose and the price they paid. You, and others like you, have stood up to any kind of name-calling and it's all been proven to be lies. You won and the world knows it and no one believes those evil people who were against you in court. No one. Not even Newsweek or Time magazine. You have something to really be proud of. I wish I could have taken my story that far, but I was too ashamed and wanted to keep it "quiet" and it got printed in the local paper, but I didn't take it any further than that. You did the right thing!
Let me know where you post this story and your personal story and additions that you have told to me. It's really a triumph and needs to be told!
I think I might be in San Antonio in Oct or Nov when I get back from Guatemala (if all goes as planned), so I hope we can get together then.
Thanks for writing. I leave this Tues. and am back next Monday and hope I will have a bit more time to read and write on this subject between then. Swamped right now, but keep writing... I read everything that comes in and really appreciate it. Keep writing!
Let's find a way to post this and get other people's stories as well. It's an interesting era we have lived through, and one that needs to be documented. Google has a free blog and it could start right there. It's very easy to do. I am just starting one for me (but it's "too raw and personal" right now for public consumption and I have to remove certain names until I'm sure I've got all my facts straight). But you could start right away.
https://www.blogger.com/start?hl=en
If this link doesn't work, do a google search for "create google blog." It's easy and free.
Try it and let me know. I bet you could get hundreds of women's stories about what they went through and how they won ANYWAY, and how cathartic - and necessary - telling these stories would be. We all have them and they need to be told and they need to be heard. You could make a "second wave" of healing right then and there. I keep thinking of Laura Davis' book on incest survivors which saved my life, and thousands of women like me, and this could be the same. You are so well-written and well-spoken, you could collect these stories and publish them. What a difference this would make. One by one, each act of courage, going to court, telling our tales, this is how we came out of the dark ages "into the light." I can't tell you how proud I am of you, and your fellow officers who brought charges against this man in the army for the very first time! This story needs to be told.
Your friend in "women's rights," "human rights," and PROFILES IN COURAGE,
Catherine Todd
--
*** Traveling:
"A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveler on a plane sees the farmhouse and dreams of home." ~ Carl Burns
Words to live by: "Best of all is to preserve everything in a pure, still heart, and let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving, and for every breath a song." ~ Konrad von Gesner
"The world is made anew each day, for God makes it so. It contains within it all the good and all the evil as before; no more, no less, but the same." ~ Paraphrased from "The Crossing," by Cormac McCarthy
Catherine Todd
6754 Leaning Oak Rd. Oxford NC 27565
H 919.693.0853 U.S. cell 919.605.0727
On 8/5/07, Brenda Hoster wrote:
AS you can determine from reading these stories...the Army wasn't REALLY serious about this, because our lawyers, who were Army, could not and did not cross examine him the way they should have when he testified. When I knew that he was going to take the stand, I spent hours writing up questions to refute anything he could or would say...and the Lieutenant colonel, only spent about 20 minutes on cross with him..so all those questions and all the time I spent writing them, he didn't apply them.
I wish to hell I could have cross examined him...
He said my work was sub par and I was always late getting him his speeches-which of course was bullshit--and that he came to my room that night in Hawaii to fire me -- so my questions for that were: why did I not have an NCOER (evaluation) from him? You selected and asked SGM Hoster to be your Public Affairs sergeant major. What did you base that selection on? Surely it wasn't incompetence.
Anyway, I just wanted you to know that the Army provided us women with what we called the C Team lawyers because they had no intention of prosecuting him in any way, shape or form. And if Fetrow hadn't caught him on tape, he would have been exonerated on all counts and would have continued to do what he was doing-which I believe he is doing to this day, allbeit in the civilian world--a lepoard doesn't change its spots overnight. And his lawyer, Charles Gittens, is an asshole too.
B
Brenda Hoster
retarmygal@yahoo.com
----- Original Message ----
From: Catherine Todd < ctodd1000@gmail.com>
To: Brenda Hoster
Sent: Saturday, August 4, 2007 12:07:55 AM
Subject: Re: story link
Dear Brenda,
Just read "CNN: McKinney denies all charges in Army sex case"
http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/03/mckinney.update/index.html
I can't believe it, but I can. It makes me sick that you and all the other women had to sit through this pack of lies... "she was flirting with me," but he didn't report it?!!!!" Then, "belatedly slipped a draft for a speech he was to give the next day under a hotel door?" What nonsense! Grasping at straws.
The Devil is a Liar. Thank God people like him can be exposed and are being and have been removed, one by one by one.
Some people will burn in h*** and good riddance to them. Thanks so much for sending this, I'll keep reading. I have to do a little at a time. It's having a powerful effect on me, even though it's been ten years and I never even knew about any of this. Thanks for for achieving all that you have. Tell the other women my story if you keep in contact with them... and keep up the good work!
You all have made such a difference in so many people's lives. You have no idea. The world and the women in the army owe you a great debt of gratitude, and let me extend that blessed Thank You once again.
Yours, Catherine Todd
On 8/1/07, Brenda Hoster wrote:
http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/03/mckinney.update/index.html
Brenda Hoster
retarmygal@yahoo.com
"Women's History" [Re: story lin
1 message
Catherine Todd
To: Brenda Hoster
Dear Brenda,
This story needs to be told! God looks out for all of us on the "righteous path," and that is exactly what happened here. And nobody could stand in your way, no matter how incompetent or hard they tried. You - and the rest of the women - WON ANYWAY. Hah! "Take that, you fools!" I wish I could have been there to see that pack of idiots and evildoers faces. That would have made my day. 17 out of 18 "innocent," but they still got theirs on the last one. 'GUILTY AS CHARGED." And one is all it took! You won! Good going! And this went down in HISTORY, and changed everything for everyone coming behind you. And that is what really counts, isn't it?
You said:
<< When I knew that he was going to take the stand, I spent hours writing up questions to refute anything he could or would say... and the Lieutenant colonel, only spent about 20 minutes on cross with him... so all those questions and all the time I spent writing them, he didn't apply them. I wish to hell I could have cross examined him... >>
1) This makes me VERY GLAD that when I sued Duke University and "won" (via a mistrial, unheard of by a pro-se, after 7 years in court and going to the NC Supreme Court and back, which Duke finally settled and the laws were changed). I did it "pro-se" so I could ask the pertinent questions, since the lawyers I contacted didn't seem to know what was important or wasn't, and couldn't see past previous cases that had been "won" and/or their own fee. So I did it myself and never would have won if it had been up to the dingbats that were supposed to represent me.
Most lawyers, A, B, C or otherwise could never do as good a job as the person who was actually THERE, since you are the one that knows what happened and can keep the story straight. As difficult as it was (7 years, 3 years to file, 4 years in court) ultimately I was glad I did it myself. But for that length of time, I could have gone back to school and become a lawyer and then really represented myself! Duke got off "easy" as far as I was concerned, but NC State Law was changed (by 3 votes on that final jury) and that is what matters. Same goes for YOU. Maybe you would make an excellent lawyer? I have a feeling you would. Every thought about it?
2) No one has any business coming into someone else's room to "fire them," so to me this is the first foremost and big red flag! The guy's lying from the start! I wish I could have been on that jury!
3) << ... I just wanted you to know that the Army provided us women with what we called the C Team lawyers because they had no intention of prosecuting him in any way, shape or form. And if Fetrow hadn't caught him on tape, he would have been exonerated on all counts and would have continued to do what he was doing-which I believe he is doing to this day, albeit in the civilian world--a leopard doesn't change its spots overnight. And his lawyer, Charles Gittens, is an asshole too. >>
There's a special "circle in hell" for these kind of people and their spot is just "waiting for them." Never fear. I've seen this before. God is going to take care of them. You'll see. Plus their dirty tricks didn't help them anyway... Hah! You won anyway! They didn't get away with anything! Have you checked up to see where those evildoers are now and what they are up to? That would be interesting, would it not?
The thing that kills me is that if "a leopard doesn't change its spots overnight" then my own mother and father have proven this to be true. When my mother dies (which I believe will be soon, due to the rapid spread of cancer of her uterus, removed, and cancer has spread everywhere), it will be sadly "interesting" to see WHO COMES FORWARD then to say what my father did. My mother and sister Mari have their own "hot seat" waiting for them, and they've been sitting in it all their lives. I know this from personal experience. They've paid for it (or because of it) with mental illness and all kinds of emotional dissatisfaction and distress. This I know. There is no question about it.
Those two creeps you mention are probably alcoholics and they will get theirs. Supposedly we are supposed to "forgive them" and I guess somehow this is / will be possible. I have decided that my "purpose here on earth in this life" is to learn to "forgive the unforgivable." What else can we do? If this is so, and I am able to do this, then maybe - just maybe - I will have a little chair waiting for me in my own little heaven that we have heard about all our lives, waiting for us in the big blue sky. Wouldn't that be beautiful?
I think this email from you is as interesting as our initial conversation. I would like to see it on a blog somewhere, so other women who have been through the same thing can see what to expect, how things go, and HOW YOU CAN WIN IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING!
For that is EXACTLY what you did! You WON anyway! Just think if he had been found "innocent" on 18 out of 18? I beat Duke on 1 point out of about 30 that I had written up! Didn't matter, I still won! Boy were Duke's lawyers mad... and they were the top five star lawyers in the state... $500 per hour in a land of $75 to $100 per hour attorneys who wouldn't even take my case. And I won, and changed the law, and everyone who came after me won because of this. I know that God won for me, to protect all women and it was the SAME for you! You beat them and it has gone down in history, and 1 out of 18 (and for the reasons you gave) make them look even more foolish. YOU WON ON EVERY LEVEL.
Those two, McKinney and Gittens, they will "get theirs." No one really gets away with anything, as "God sees all." God, meaning our "higher self," or "spiritual self," or "emotional body," or nightmares and dreams... they know what they did and so does the rest of the world. My mother and sister, too. You changed the world and made it safer for ALL WOMEN and for that you have "earned your place in heaven," that is for sure.
Meryl Streep has started some kind of "women's history" group and this story needs to be posted there. Do you feel like looking into it? I want to show the timeline of how rapidly things changed for women in our own lifetime... I always say, and people can hardly believe it, that:
"Women got the right to vote 30 years before I was born (in 1950) and we got the right to own property via a bank loan 20 years after I was born. We essentially were born into slavery until my generation came along and women much tougher than me went to court and got the laws changed."
You were one of those women.
I am still trying to digest all this new information. I am just overwhelmed seeing how far the sickness in my own family would extend to trying to cover up the crimes of sexual harassment IN THE ARMY... I never thought my mother and sister would go this far. I am still in shock over this, and "waiting for the dust to settle inside."
But why not? Why wouldn't they act this way? Sacrifice your own children, sacrifice your own sister, sacrifice your own gender... it never ends, with some people. "Leopards don't change their spots." Let fear and withdrawal rule your life and let the rest of the world be d***.
What kind of way is that to live? It's the way they chose and the price they paid. You, and others like you, have stood up to any kind of name-calling and it's all been proven to be lies. You won and the world knows it and no one believes those evil people who were against you in court. No one. Not even Newsweek or Time magazine. You have something to really be proud of. I wish I could have taken my story that far, but I was too ashamed and wanted to keep it "quiet" and it got printed in the local paper, but I didn't take it any further than that. You did the right thing!
Let me know where you post this story and your personal story and additions that you have told to me. It's really a triumph and needs to be told!
I think I might be in San Antonio in Oct or Nov when I get back from Guatemala (if all goes as planned), so I hope we can get together then.
Thanks for writing. I leave this Tues. and am back next Monday and hope I will have a bit more time to read and write on this subject between then. Swamped right now, but keep writing... I read everything that comes in and really appreciate it. Keep writing!
Let's find a way to post this and get other people's stories as well. It's an interesting era we have lived through, and one that needs to be documented. Google has a free blog and it could start right there. It's very easy to do. I am just starting one for me (but it's "too raw and personal" right now for public consumption and I have to remove certain names until I'm sure I've got all my facts straight). But you could start right away.
https://www.blogger.com/start?hl=en
If this link doesn't work, do a google search for "create google blog." It's easy and free.
Try it and let me know. I bet you could get hundreds of women's stories about what they went through and how they won ANYWAY, and how cathartic - and necessary - telling these stories would be. We all have them and they need to be told and they need to be heard. You could make a "second wave" of healing right then and there. I keep thinking of Laura Davis' book on incest survivors which saved my life, and thousands of women like me, and this could be the same. You are so well-written and well-spoken, you could collect these stories and publish them. What a difference this would make. One by one, each act of courage, going to court, telling our tales, this is how we came out of the dark ages "into the light." I can't tell you how proud I am of you, and your fellow officers who brought charges against this man in the army for the very first time! This story needs to be told.
Your friend in "women's rights," "human rights," and PROFILES IN COURAGE,
Catherine Todd
--
*** Traveling:
"A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveler on a plane sees the farmhouse and dreams of home." ~ Carl Burns
Words to live by: "Best of all is to preserve everything in a pure, still heart, and let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving, and for every breath a song." ~ Konrad von Gesner
"The world is made anew each day, for God makes it so. It contains within it all the good and all the evil as before; no more, no less, but the same." ~ Paraphrased from "The Crossing," by Cormac McCarthy
Catherine Todd
6754 Leaning Oak Rd. Oxford NC 27565
H 919.693.0853 U.S. cell 919.605.0727
On 8/5/07, Brenda Hoster
AS you can determine from reading these stories...the Army wasn't REALLY serious about this, because our lawyers, who were Army, could not and did not cross examine him the way they should have when he testified. When I knew that he was going to take the stand, I spent hours writing up questions to refute anything he could or would say...and the Lieutenant colonel, only spent about 20 minutes on cross with him..so all those questions and all the time I spent writing them, he didn't apply them.
I wish to hell I could have cross examined him...
He said my work was sub par and I was always late getting him his speeches-which of course was bullshit--and that he came to my room that night in Hawaii to fire me -- so my questions for that were: why did I not have an NCOER (evaluation) from him? You selected and asked SGM Hoster to be your Public Affairs sergeant major. What did you base that selection on? Surely it wasn't incompetence.
Anyway, I just wanted you to know that the Army provided us women with what we called the C Team lawyers because they had no intention of prosecuting him in any way, shape or form. And if Fetrow hadn't caught him on tape, he would have been exonerated on all counts and would have continued to do what he was doing-which I believe he is doing to this day, allbeit in the civilian world--a lepoard doesn't change its spots overnight. And his lawyer, Charles Gittens, is an asshole too.
B
Brenda Hoster
retarmygal@yahoo.com
----- Original Message ----
From: Catherine Todd < ctodd1000@gmail.com>
To: Brenda Hoster
Sent: Saturday, August 4, 2007 12:07:55 AM
Subject: Re: story link
Dear Brenda,
Just read "CNN: McKinney denies all charges in Army sex case"
http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/03/mckinney.update/index.html
I can't believe it, but I can. It makes me sick that you and all the other women had to sit through this pack of lies... "she was flirting with me," but he didn't report it?!!!!" Then, "belatedly slipped a draft for a speech he was to give the next day under a hotel door?" What nonsense! Grasping at straws.
The Devil is a Liar. Thank God people like him can be exposed and are being and have been removed, one by one by one.
Some people will burn in h*** and good riddance to them. Thanks so much for sending this, I'll keep reading. I have to do a little at a time. It's having a powerful effect on me, even though it's been ten years and I never even knew about any of this. Thanks for for achieving all that you have. Tell the other women my story if you keep in contact with them... and keep up the good work!
You all have made such a difference in so many people's lives. You have no idea. The world and the women in the army owe you a great debt of gratitude, and let me extend that blessed Thank You once again.
Yours, Catherine Todd
On 8/1/07, Brenda Hoster
http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/03/mckinney.update/index.html
Brenda Hoster
retarmygal@yahoo.com
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