Member-only story
When a Marine’s “Luck” Should Just be the Norm
Every now and then when I reminisce about my time in the military I have moments that click in my brain. Unfortunately, these are usually stories of situations that highlight how messed up things can be for women in the military, and though leadership is trying to take gender disparities seriously they still have a long way to go.
Last night after dinner at my partner’s parent’s house we got talking about current events. Eventually this led to some talk about the military and my deployment to Afghanistan in 2015. I felt the words fall out of my mouth in slow motion, the way you watch a glass fall right before it shatters all over the floor.
Wait a minute. What did I just say?
I said, “Yeah, I’m really lucky I got to deploy with such great guys. As the only woman on my team I felt safe in my unit and knew I could trust everyone. I never had to worry about being sexually assaulted.”
That’s right, folks. I said that I was lucky I hadn’t been raped on deployment.
So, naturally, after that statement I changed the subject and carried on like nothing was amiss. Because that’s what I’ve been conditioned and trained to do — until I could stop and think it through later.
