Heath Phillips enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1988. He was only 17 years old. He followed in the footsteps of his family. This is all he ever wanted to do. His father was in the Army. His uncles served in Vietnam. Soon after arriving at his first assignment, Mr. Phillips hung out with some shipmates in NYC and after a few drinks, he blacked out. He woke up groggy and looked up to see one of his shipmates masturbating above his face and another shipmate performing oral sex on him. They told him that it is something they do to all the new guys. He ran away and took a bus back to the ship. He reported the sexual assault to his supervisors. He was treated like the enemy. He was accused of lying. They told him he was just homesick. His command told him that it was because he drank and he was lucky he did not get in trouble for underage drinking. After he complained, things got worse. He was attacked again. Things got so bad he tried to hang himself. Thankfully, he was not successful.
Mr. Phillips called his father and told him what happened. He was ashamed to tell him everything and felt it was his fault. His father told him to come home—to go AWOL basically—because no one believed him and he was afraid. After going AWOL, Mr. Phillips eventually returned to the Navy and he was sent back to the same ship. He was with the same sailors who had sexually assaulted him. It was like being in a prison with the people who sexually assaulted you. He was with them 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. He was afraid his attackers would kill him. He was sodomized with a toilet plunger. His superiors told him to “man up,” to “toughen up.” Heath Phillips was a victim of military sexual trauma (MST). None of the “leadership” in his command protected him or helped him. No one.
Due to multiple AWOLs, he was eventually discharged from the Navy with an under other than honorable conditions discharge in lieu of going to a court-martial. He took the discharge; happy to be away for his tormentors. But, he then spent the next 20 years of his life self-medicating with alcohol, fighting nightmares, anxiety and going from job to job. He could not trust anyone and his life spiraled out of control. In 2009, he considered taking his life by driving into a tree. He woke up in his truck. He went home and for the first time in 20 years he cried and decided he would no longer be a victim, but instead take control of his life. He became a survivor, a survivor with PTSD.
Years after his discharge, Mr. Phillips wanted to set the record straight and correct his DD 214 with the help of attorneys from the Veterans Advocacy Project in New York City. Mr. Phillips submitted three applications to the Naval Discharge Review Board to change his discharge characterization from “under other than honorable conditions” to honorable conditions. His applications were all denied. On his fourth attempt, in May 2018, the Navy Discharge Review Board upgraded his discharge to an honorable discharge. The Navy did its part in righting the wrongs that Mr. Phillips experienced—30 years after he enlisted in the Navy.
While he cannot get back the over 20 years of his life that were taken from him due to the debilitating effects of MST, at least the Naval Discharge Review Board acknowledged what happened to Mr. Phillips and acknowledged that his AWOLs were directly related to the trauma he experienced. And while the Navy erased the black mark on his DD 214 with the words: “under other than honorable conditions,” it will never be able to erase his 20 years of trauma, post military service.
Veterans who experience MST have strong emotions such as feeling angry or irritable, depression, feelings of numbness, difficulties concentrating, problems with alcohol or drugs, feeling jumpy, unsafe, difficulties with trust, with relationships and physical health problems.
It took courage for Mr. Phillips to speak out and publicly explain what happened to him. Victims feel ashamed to talk about what happened and are afraid of how they will be perceived. Mr. Phillips is a hero to other victims who are afraid to tell their story. He is on the advisory board of Protect Our Defenders and speaks publicly about his experience with the press and other survivors. He works to make sure that other survivors know it is okay to come forward and speak about their experiences. If you are a victim of MST or know someone who is, help him or her tell their story so they can get justice. Remember, someone is always watching and hoping to see inspiring acts. They are hoping so they can have the courage to be inspiring too. The world needs heroes who have the courage to do the right thing.