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My controversial take is that the Vanessa Guillen story is less about sexual harassment (which absolutely is an important problem to address on its own) and more about the absolute incompetence of the military's investigations when its soldiers disappear.
Vanessa Guillen was last seen alive by another soldier in an arms room that only he and maybe one or two other soldiers would have had unaccompanied access to. Foul play was suspected early.
It seems like an easy call to do a forensic investigation of the last place she was seen
It seems like an easy call to do a forensic investigation of the last place she was seen
Vanessa was murdered in that room. She was bludgeoned to death with a hammer, then stuffed into a pelican case and dragged to the soldier's car. Any basic forensic investigation should have come up with evidence of that.
There also needs to be a deep dive into how the military communicates with family members of missing soldiers. Vanessa's family felt they were not getting answers. The communications between Fort Hood and the family need to be examined.
Then there is the case of PV2 Wedel Morales, whose body was found in the same field as Vanessa's. He had gone missing just days before getting out of the Army and was declared a deserter. What kind of investigation was done for him, as a missing person? Why was desertion assumed?
These are two junior enlisted soldiers who deserved more from their leaders at Fort Hood. And the places where they, specifically, deserved more far exceed the limits of the military's (admittedly terrible) handling of sexual harassment.
I'm worried if we focus too closely on the sexual harassment issue, the actual failures in these two cases will get swept under the rug.
