PV2 Terri L. Souder Oral History

title:

PV2 Terri L. Souder Oral History

creator:

Souder, Terri L. (1969 May 21 -

subject:

Army

description:

Terri Souder was born in Biddeford, Maine on May 21, 1969 and was adopted in 1971. She grew up in Brunswick, Maine and Waldorf, Maryland. She has a history of military service on both sies of her family that can be traced back to the Civil War. She enlisted in the Army in 1987 the day after her 18th birthday, since her father had refused to sign off on it while she was still a minor. He came in just in time to see her leave the recruitment office after being sworn in. She had spent two years prior going to recruiters, because she didn't think she'd do well in college right after high school and wanted to find other good opportunities that could prepare her to go to college in the future. The Army offered her the best, most expedient path to that goal. Her grandfather also inspired her to join and pursue a position with the military police, as this was the same path he'd taken. Terri went to basic training in Fort McClellan, Alabama. She didn't find out that Fort McClellan was a toxic waste site and that locals had been complaining about Monsanto dumping chemicals in the water until years later, and the military never informed them of these toxins and radioactive material. She lost her thyroid and several teeth, and has symptoms of neuropathy all because of her exposure at Fort McClellan to different toxins and radioactive material. The Army still has not provided any care or compensation for health impacts of their exposure at Fort McClellan, even though the base has been closed since 1999 and Monsanto has lost a class action lawsuit in nearby Anniston for their toxin dumps (that lawsuit specifically left out veterans who'd moved out of the area after serving at the fort). After training, Terri was supposed to go to Korea during the Olympics in 1988 in Seoul, but she was instead sent to Aschaffenburg, West Germany as part of the 212th Military Police Company - 4th Platoon. In this position, she described her role as being a liaison between military personnel who were acting stupid, and the German people who didn't want military personnel to be acting stupid in their town. On her second day on road duty, she was sent to stop a general from getting arrested by German police for drunk driving. She stood her ground as he was drunkenly trying to pull rank, and she only found out he was a general when her superior stepped in and addressed him using his title. She later got a letter from that general commending her for standing her ground, and they stayed in touch for years after the incident. She left the service in 1989 after 14 months after being sexually assaulted several times by fellow MPs. She reported the first incident and was told that men have to blow off steam somehow. During the second assault, she was told to keep her mouth shut, and since her last report didn't do anything in the first place, she didn't report the assault and those that followed. Following the assaults, she started self-medicating with alcohol and anything else she could get her hands on. Eventually, she was told to take a urine test, and they found drugs in her system. She was told she'd either be court-martialed and lose, or she could take a general discharge and go home after a few extra duty months. While serving these few months, she saw the men who assaulted her get promoted. Veteran status and VA benefits were greatly restricted by Congress while she was serving, and these restrictions were applied back to before her discharge, making her ineligible for veteran status or benefits. Eventually, years later, she was told she could at least get treatment as a survivor of assault, even if the VA wouldn't cover any other treatments. She was then diagnosed with PTSD and told to file a claim with the VA, but the VA claimed that what happened to her couldn't cause PTSD. She appealed and didn't hear back for months, before filing at a different office and being told they couldn't possibly say if it was PTSD or not. The VA denied her claim again, so she got a lawyer and won her claim after 6 years. Since then, she's worked very actively to promote memory and celebration of and proper care for women in the military, as she has experienced being overlooked on a personal level in public and by veterans in veteran organizations who don't understand or acknowledge the unique experiences of women veterans. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Gill, Dennis

date:

2021-08-29

type:

Moving Image

format:

Born Digital

identifier:

1352; 2021.017

source:

Voices of Freedom Project - SWTA

language:

English

relation:

654799

coverage:

Cold War | 1980s | 1987-1989

rights:

Unrestricted