Argumentative Letter
Alexis Williams
4329 White Pine Court
Augusta, GA 30906
June 12, 2013
Secretary Chuck Hagel
US Department of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon, Room 3E880
Washington, DC 20301-1000
Dear Secretary Hagel:
The latest media reports indicate that the Defense Department acknowledges that 26,000 sexual assaults were estimated last year. As a citizen of the United States, I am overly concerned about the sexual assault crisis in our military. I am writing this letter to you because I know you are fully committed to stop the sexual assault in our armed forces. As you already know, there are now two different arguments on how to solve the crisis. I understand that you strongly believe that taking the decision to prosecute out of the chain of command would undermine commanders' authority. But based off of the Pentagon’s statistics, I believe that removing the sexual assault cases from the chain of command is the only way justice will happen. As you constantly argue about the authority of the commanders, you really need to focus more on the victims in these cases. When you actually sit down and read about some of the victims cases, they sadly reveal how commanders treat the cases with true unfairness.
Lisa Wilken’s case is a great example of how commanders handle the sexual assault cases unfairly. Wilken, an Indianapolis veteran of the Air Force, was raped twice by one of her fellow airmen. When she reported the assault, the commander made her feel like she was the attacker and that it was all her fault. Her commander interrogated her about her sexual history and drinking. During the so- called investigation, the prosecutors did not even perform the proper investigation tasks such as taking photographs or gathering evidence of the scene. She had to stop her training while her attacker continued his. The prosecutors’ told her that her rape wasn’t “violent enough” to warrant any serious conviction. As a result, her attacker literally walked away free. He was allowed to
4329 White Pine Court
Augusta, GA 30906
June 12, 2013
Secretary Chuck Hagel
US Department of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon, Room 3E880
Washington, DC 20301-1000
Dear Secretary Hagel:
The latest media reports indicate that the Defense Department acknowledges that 26,000 sexual assaults were estimated last year. As a citizen of the United States, I am overly concerned about the sexual assault crisis in our military. I am writing this letter to you because I know you are fully committed to stop the sexual assault in our armed forces. As you already know, there are now two different arguments on how to solve the crisis. I understand that you strongly believe that taking the decision to prosecute out of the chain of command would undermine commanders' authority. But based off of the Pentagon’s statistics, I believe that removing the sexual assault cases from the chain of command is the only way justice will happen. As you constantly argue about the authority of the commanders, you really need to focus more on the victims in these cases. When you actually sit down and read about some of the victims cases, they sadly reveal how commanders treat the cases with true unfairness.
Lisa Wilken’s case is a great example of how commanders handle the sexual assault cases unfairly. Wilken, an Indianapolis veteran of the Air Force, was raped twice by one of her fellow airmen. When she reported the assault, the commander made her feel like she was the attacker and that it was all her fault. Her commander interrogated her about her sexual history and drinking. During the so- called investigation, the prosecutors did not even perform the proper investigation tasks such as taking photographs or gathering evidence of the scene. She had to stop her training while her attacker continued his. The prosecutors’ told her that her rape wasn’t “violent enough” to warrant any serious conviction. As a result, her attacker literally walked away free. He was allowed to