MILITARY PSYCHIATRIC ABUSE



  SSgt Davis needs your help in letting the American public become aware of
  the cruel and inhumane treatment that plagues the military system.  You
  can make a difference, soldiers are depending on you, and your concerns.
  Just as you depend on soldiers to fight for this great country.  SSgt Davis
  pleads that you do your part to put a halt to the abuse of soldiers who
  would sacrifice their lives to make it a better place for you.  This file
  contains information of abuse that SSgt Davis has endured.  He ask that
  you take the time and view the entire contents and make your own decisions.
  He has provided names and addresses of those you can call or write to voice
  your opinions.  Many of you currently have someone in your family serving
  this country.  I ask that you voice your concerns before it happens to
  someone very close to you.  SSgt Davis ask that you please contact the
  Department of Defense Inspector Generals Office and make them aware that
  you are watching their outcome of a 5th investigation.  SSgt Davis would
  like to thank you in advance.


 March 94

 Why Doesnt the Armys System of Justice Work?

 No Justice in the military

 Psychiatric
 Abuse

 Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Frederick Maurice Davis, of the Fort Benjamin
 Harrison, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Indianapolis, Indiana,
 the Army for 14-and-a-half years had indeed been, to quote poet Langston
 Hughes, "a Crystal Stair".  He was chief of finance services for the
 largest Army finance customer service in the world (with over 25000
 accounts).  His primary responsibility was taking care of spouses left
 behind while the soldiers went off to serve overseas, advising them on
 what to expect, addressing their financial concerns, etc.  He was rated
 among the best.  Never a bad mark or reprimand.  His tour of duty exemplary.
 In short, his record was clean as the board of health.

 In addition he was on a fast track to receive the coveted meritorious service
 medal for having written a computer program that is now being used in every
 Army finance office worldwide, and currently being reviewed by the Airforce,
 Navy, and Marines as well.  Then bam!  two years ago, like "Joseph K" in
 Franz Kafkas famous tale, "The Trial",  "Someone must have traduced (him) for
 without having done anything wrong, he was arrested one fine morning".
 Well, SSgt Davis, a strapping 6-1, 200-pound native of Ypsilanti, Michigan,
 originally of Chicago , wasn't exactly arrested one morning, but that was
 when, out of the blue, his superior, Major supported by two sergeants began
 a vicious campaign of harassment, finding fault with everything he did,
 questioning his claim to having written the award-winning computer program,
 writing him up daily in less than satisfactory terms in reports that
 guaranteed he would not receive an immediate promotion; indeed, it was a
 move that could lead to the end of his brilliant Army career.

 And finally, one morning, they did come for him--he was actually forced
 into the command's "loony bin" (psychiatric hospital) for six days of
 psychiatric evaluation, for no apparent reasons.  "They lied to my doctor
 that I was hallucinating.  I was humiliated.  My wife, Charmaine, who is
 also a staff sergeant., works in that hospital and there I was walking down
 the stairs, and she and other soldiers saw me.  Our two children were in
 day care and they (officials) knew we had to pick them up, but they didn't
 even inform my wife.  This was an embarrassment for my wife, children, and
 my parents,"  Davis declared.

 He was promptly given a clean bill of health.  "My doctor said there is
 nothing wrong with me".  Then bam!  two months later he was again ordered
 to return to the loony bin.  His doctor refused to admit him this time
 after being informed by a Captain that the command was using the "well
 known psychiatric abuse tactic" to discredit SSgt Davis.  Suddenly, however,
 the recommended meritorious service medal was withdrawn, then after he
 persisted, downgraded and re-offered.  He refused to accept it in the
 diminished form.  Slated for promotion last year, he was passed over.
 The same thing this year.  Now he doesn't know when or if he will ever be
 promoted.

 Why was this nightmare, like a loathsome creature from a Jurassic
 Park film, suddenly introduced into the pristine and orderly life of this
 hard working, upright soldier?  To read the record of his travail,
 one would indeed "have to have corkscrew eyes".  It is a tale, however, that
 is so painfully familiar to soldiers throughout the different branches of
 the service.  However, the Army with all of its  faults, is not the worst of
 the military services.  Soldiers, by and large, are treated more fairly
 there than in the three other branches: the Air Force; the Navy and the
 Marines, especially the latter two.

 With many officers also psychologically abused  what do you suppose can
 happen to the non-commissioned ranks of the military?  SSgt Davis' chief
 tormentor, who was aided and abetted by  two sergeants, Master sergeant
 (MSG) Buckley, and Sergeant First Class (SFC) Davila.  Maj. Gerenscer,
 who commanded the finance office, is from South Carolina, a millionaire
 and a "known racist", according to Capt. Shuff and others questioned.
 "He constantly made racial remarks about Blacks, women, and children
 during daily lunch breaks to another white officer, who finally protested
 in disgust and filed a discrimination suit against the commander.

 Soon a campaign of lies and vilification were directed at SSgt Davis,
 orchestrated by this trio, the Non-Com insisted.  SSgt Davis believes they
 resented him, being in a rather elevated position of recognition.  There was
 an obvious "discomfort level" stemming from that factor, alone, and the
 attacks escalated.  The Major is said to have stated that with the Army now
 in a period of downsizing, it would be easy to get rid of SSgt Davis through
 poor evaluation reports.

 Maj. Gerenscer tried to enlist SSgt Davis' immediate superior, Capt.
 Nathan J. Shuff, in his campaign against SSgt Davis.  Capt. Shuff not only
 refused, but informed SSgt Davis' psychiatric doctor of the commands abusive
 tactics.  Capt. Shuff, who is white, fought shoulder-to shoulder with SSgt
 Davis.  And when he refused to write a poor evaluation of SSgt Davis, Maj.
 Gerenscer angrily took on the task himself, "which was obviously illegal,"
 SSgt Davis said.  The Major soon recanted the chore, after overwhelming
 evidence supported SSgt Davis' claim of coercion.  Today, Capt. Shuff is a
 civilian, but still working with the Army finance department, now in
 Indianapolis.  He continues to support the beleaguered sergeant.

 What did you do to merit this treatment?  SSgt Davis is asked.  Nothing, he
 declares firmly.  Aw come on.  There must have been a triggering cause.
 You gave him "that stare", or something.  "No," he insisted,  "the only thing
 I can think of is the time I was carrying some boxes, and I fell and injured
 my back against a corner of a stairwell.  I was put on bed rest and
 placed on two-and-a-half months of limited service.  I was unable to do full
 duty.  This may have riled him since I was scheduled to participate in a
 field exercise and was unable to go.  I have been very careful not to do
 anything that might hurt my case."

 When the harassment began, SSgt Davis was in Germany.  He and a small cadre
 were left behind when his main unit was shipped off to Saudi Arabia during
 the Gulf War.  "I wanted to go, too, but was ordered to stay in Wiesbaden,"
 he said (Stay in Wiesbaden?  This is a city I would have been happy to
 complete any tour in!).


 Will there ever be Justice

 Today, he is stationed at Fort Harrison, Indiana.  He continues to fight for
 that elusive justice, but so far to no avail.  SSgt Davis lugs around a
 satchel full of records, chockfull of statements and exhibits, documenting
 his case.  He and Capt. Shuff appeared before an NAACP committee probing bias
 in European military commands last year and made their plea.
 John J. Johnson, director of the NAACP's Armed Services and veterans Affairs
 Dept., who headed the investigative group, is sympathetic to Davis' case and
 promises to do what he can to support his claims.  SSgt Davis has spent more
 than $15,000 of his own money in the past two years fighting to clear his
 name, he revealed.  But it's been like trying to make jello stick on a wall.
 Appeals to and through the Army's System of Justice, has got him nowhere.
 Officers are reluctant to challenge or reverse decisions made at the
 initiating level.  It's something like trying to get city police officers to
 go against a fellow officer in blue.  A code of silence reigns.  Stonewalling
 is the order of the day.

 Complaints like SSgt Davis' of military bias and harassment are becoming a
 deluge, prompting the Chairman the House of Armed Services Committee
 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) to schedule a hearing this spring on this urgent and
 persistent subject.  SSgt Davis is pressing to bring his case before this
 committee.  Davis has also contacted his congressman, Sen. Richard G. Lugar
 (R-IND), and many other officials for support.

 Mr. Mike Tufariello, President of the Wounded Eagles -- an organization well
 known on Capitol Hill and to the Department of Defense Inspector General
 Office -- has vowed to address SSgt Davis' concerns to the American Public
 during his upcoming television interviews.  The Wounded Eagles currently has
 over 500 members who have had similar experiences.  SSgt Davis is desperately
 casting about for help from any quarter that will enable him to clear his
 record and secure justice.  One of two children born in Chicago to hard
 working parents, who later moved to Michigan -- his mother is retired;
 his father still labors in construction work.  SSgt Davis was raised with
 great expectations.  His brother, older by seven years, succumbed in Chicago
 at age 27 to drugs years ago.  His parents were heartbroken.  Now they are
 inordinately proud that the youngest and surviving son is making his
 mark--or was--in the army.

 Meanwhile, SSgt Davis's nail biting further lacerates to the quick nimble
 fingers that pounded out the unique computer program.  He scurries around
 with grim and unrelenting determination within the Armed Service and outside
 of it, seeking a sympathetic ear that can trigger redemptive action.  He like
 many others can't understand why, or how these Army leaders can:

 Lie to his doctor - attempting a false diagnosis of his mental capacity
 Lie to the unit soldiers - that SSgt Davis had been diagnosed with disorders
 Write false statements under oath to investigating officials
 Use Psychiatric Abuse tactics on two occassions
 Coerce subordinates
 Discriminate
 Attempt Bribery
 Use reprisal tactics
 Favoritism

 and be allowed to walk away with no punishment -- not even a letter of
 reprimand.  SSgt Davis' abundance of evidence to support his claims has
 repeatedly been overlooked.  SSgt Davis vows to fight this battle until
 justice Is served.

 Classical literature bristles with Davis - like figures and their
 heartbreaking experiences.  He is like the character in Ralph Ellison's
 classic tale 'Invisible Man' -- he desperately wants -- indeed,
 needs -- some light shone on his subject.

 SSgt Davis can be reached at:

100040,302@compuserve.com

 Or you can write.  All letters will be forwarded to DOD Inspector General.

 SSgt Frederick M. Davis
 5817 Bywood Drive
 Indianapolis, Indiana 46220








 The President of Wounded Eagles


 Mr. Mike Tufariello can be reached at:

 214-492-0464 (Home)

 Wounded Eagles
 President: Mr. Mike Tufariello
 1822 Clear Creek Ln.
 Carrolton, Texas 75007










 The U.S. Department of Defense
 Office of the Inspector General
 Attn: Mr. Ralph E. McNamara
 400 Army Navy Drive
 Arlington, Virginia  22202-2884

 Mr. McNamara can be telephoned Monday - Friday at:

 1-800-424-9098 or Commercial (703) 614-9069 or (703) 693-5080