Breaking News Story link bellow.
Link: http://www.10news.com/news/navy-admits-sailor-s-privacy-rights-were-violated
WITH BATED BREATH
“Famous for losing it all and becoming a symbol for equality for all. ”
I could feel the trauma in his voice as he spoke the words.
“I was being pulled across… the carpet… naked. They kicked me. The men pulled me away from the door. One told another, ‘he waking up. get the stuff! Then, five men held me down and poured clear liquid in my mouth through a tube…” said Jose A. Rodriguez from Van Horn, Texas. He’d planned his entire career in the service of the United States Navy. His story unfolded in a breathy, nervous, tone. I could hear that just in the retelling of his story the spark of fear in that moment is reignited. His suffering became my suffering and his voice the voice of every victim of abduction and rape by strange men. Beyond the primal urge to scream, Rodriguez is a Hispanic homosexual man that had been violated first by strange men he met at a gay bar and then again by the military when he was outed and “other than honorably discharged” from his exemplary career as an E3 in the U.S. Navy.
The details of the rape were leaked by the hospital he sought help from, after the rape he barely survived, to a fellow Sailor in the United States Navy. It was a blatant violation of the HIPAA law all medical personnel abide by. When that Sailor reported the incident to his superiors, the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy came into play as well.
Rodriguez was given the option by San Diego News 10 reporter wether to report story as Don’t Ask Don’t Tell violation putting him in jeopardy of being kicked out. Rodriguez chose to report story as Privacy Violation to continue his service.
The abduction and rape of Jose A. Rodriguez happened in June 2009 by five or six men. He can’t remember everything that happened after a night out in San Diego, California with his straight friend, Sailor Doster. She and Jose A. Rodriguez had a few days leisure time off from the USS PELELIU (LHA 5) of the U.S. Navy. They went out to a bar and had a drink as they had many times before. Having received a call from a friend of hers, inviting them to a gay bar called Rich’s, they met up with the man from the phone, but he insisted that he “couldn’t handle the drinks there” and left the bar as soon as they arrived. Rodriguez and Doster stayed at the bar as she’d befriended strangers on the dance floor. This is where things got strange for Rodriguez. He’d had two drinks but doesn’t remember anything after the second, except for waving goodbye to Doster while the men she’d befriended on the dance floor escorted him out..
“I’m in a towel, naked… and men are walking by. One of them shuts the door. I’m crawling and I can’t reach the door… Other flashback, Everyone is laughing. I’m being pinned to the ground… A hand on my neck and arms, a gun to my head. I’m yelling help and they grab my mouth and hold it open. I hear them say ‘Get the stuff he’s waking up.’ It was liquid in a tube. I see it and it hurts me that I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I can see their faces but I don’t know who they are. They are pulling and kicking me and I’m crawling on the floor… I’m getting burned on the carpet. I see people taking their clothes off…”
Rodriguez woke up after three days in a filthy hotel room. He was naked and bloodied, his skin burning and private areas bleeding. The hotel manager was above him yelling, asking for payment for the room. ”What? I don’t know where I am. I don’t know what happen…” was all he could manage to say. ”Figures. This happens all the time.” the hotel manager replied, as he left the room in a huff. Rodriguez said his skin burned all over, and burned even more painfully as he showered off his body. He dressed so quickly that he ran into the street half naked, screaming for a passerby to please stop. No one stopped. Finally, a cab stopped and took him directly to a hospital. The hospital personnel knew he’d been raped, but no rape kit was administered. The hospital did not call the police. In fact, the hospital told him that they needed the bed and he could go to the police station himself. Rodriguez did the right thing by calling the police himself and waiting in the hospital bed until the police arrived to retrieve him. It was ten o’clock at night when the police arrived and by then the personal medical file had already been given to a person from his ship.
Rodriguez was administered a rape kit by the police, gave statements and was returned to his ship by 5am. The USS PELELIU LHA 5 CDO insited on a urine sample immediately, but SN Rodriguez had been so dehydrated from his ordeal that he begged for rest. The CDO granted one hour to drink water, give a urine sample and return to work for the day. To add insult to injury, US Navy MCBM Morales called all 3,000 shipmates aboard the USS PELELIU (LHA 5) to hear the announcement that E3 SN Jose A. Rodriguez had been the victim of rape and a were told not to speak to him or bring up the incident or else they would be punished. The sea men were relentless in their abuse on Rodriguez despite the “warning”. Death threats and physical abuse by fellow crewmen were a daily occurrence. SN Rodriguez slept in hotels and his car because he feared sleeping in his barracks. At one point he was run off the freeways of San Diego by an unknown assailant. His anxiety, PTSD due to the rape, and depression caused the military to put him into their hospital rehabilitation program and would not let him out until he agreed to not be interviewed for the local news. The hospital SN Rodriguez was put in contained soldiers from all branches that also brow-beat and attacked him with the assumption that he was a gay man. Rodriguez’s sleep is plagued with PTSD incidents of fighting back. After a minor nose operation he even woke up to ten nurses holding him down from kicking and fighting for his life, yelling all the while, “Help; please don’t hurt me,” as he came out of anesthesia.
“They were like my angels, my guardian angels. I am so grateful to them.” Rodriguez said of Evelyn Thomas and Linda Saunders, the founders of Sanctuary Project Veterans. Evelyn Thomas and Linda Saunders of Sanctuary Project Veterans out of Carlsbad, California came to see Rodriguez in the military hospital when they’d heard his story and possible termination under the DADT policy. They saw what six months of military doctors were doing to Rodriguez. They took him from the military’s hospital by ambulance, as his body was shutting down, to a hospital they found safer. He’d survived two heart attacks. The doctors at the new hospital were aghast with the amount of medication he was on. The mixture of the seven prescriptions is what caused his body to shut down. The doctors removed him from all medications except two for anxiety and depression. SN Rodriguez was told that if he did not return to the military hospital, he could not be helped by the U.S. Navy any longer. Reluctantly, he returned but instead of being readmitted, he was given a final medical evaluation, driven to his barracks to pack his belongings, made to sign discharge papers then dropped at the edge of the military base– “Hereby other than honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy. It was that quick,” he said. “All in one day.4 hours. They didn’t even let me contact my family to say I was out.” I could hear his disbelief over the phone as I pressed on with the interview. He had so much to tell; this last year had been so difficult.
The Sanctuary Project Veterans was a ray of sunlight for Rodriguez, as it strives to be for every victim of he DADT policy. They’d put him in contact with everyone they could from doctors and lawyers to Congress woman Susan Davis (D-CA). Congresswoman Susan Davis received a letter of admission of guilt from the U.S.Navy that stated that the fellow officer that outed SN Rodriguez was given a “letter of reprimand” in punishment for his part in violating the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’s policy and also that Rodriguez denied military assistance by not completing the rehabilitation program they’d put him in; the one he left via ambulance. The Sanctuary Project and Rodriguez’s new lawyer Cassandra Thorse of Thorse Law in San Diego, CA has questioned why the police never bothered to check the surveillance tapes of that terrible night at Rich’s bar. Rodriguez found out that he’d made calls that night. No one reported his calls since they consisted of heavy breathing. The receivers of those calls thought his cellphone had misdialed in his pocket or some other explainable scenario. No one suspected such foul play. He has also spoken with an un-named witness that swears that she knows what happen to him. As she explained it to him, the visuals of Lady Gaga’s music video “Bad Romance” came to mind. He was force fed a clear liquid. The witness says he was drugged to the “cross-over” where his mind is gone, but his body is sexually alert as seen in the Lady Gaga in the video. The witness claims Rodriguez was video taped for a snuff film in which he should have died in, or soon after, by morning. The video was purportedly sold online at $70 a minute. The police have yet to investigate the crimes against Rodriguez; no arrests of the criminals have been made. No surveillance tapes have been asked for, but Rodriguez continues his plight for repealing the DADT policy. If such policy had not been in play, chances are Rodriguez would still be on his chosen career path.
The Sanctuary Project has appointed Rodriguez to be the Officer in Charge of Sanctuary Project. “The Sanctuary Project advocates for “Your Right to Serve Our Country and the Freedom to Serve in Your True Essence.” Our goal is to amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Under military law, “being lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) is grounds for discharge under current regulations, if disclosed. The Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy is a compromise: Orientation is a private matter. Character is not built on orientation.”
While going though evaluation Rodriguez would be put in a secret underground railorroad for the lgbt community. They would not trust the military as seeing what they were doing.
Rodriguez is determined to become the hero he has always meant to be. He survived a grizzly attack by strangers, the U.S. Navy, peers, and even some he once called friends. Jose A. Rodriguez is proud to be a face of repealing the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and show how it can turn against exemplary members of the military. He is a proud and honorable man that will be standing in the Gay Pride parade in dress whites with is friend and co-worker in Sanctuary Project Evelyn Thomas, former Marine Chaplin also dismissed under the DADT policy, as the faces and voices for all victims of DADT.
“Now I want to be the voice for those who cannot speak. I lost my dream, I lost my career. They violated my civil rights. They wouldn’t even consider the one witness that came forward. They declared the case closed. I would not be alive if it had not not been for Linda, Evelyn and Porn Star Jason Crew who stepped in to provided a safe house until I could get back to my family,” Jose A. Rodriguez said with pride. He’s home now. His parents are happy he is home. Being of Mexican ancestry, Hispanic, means he is safe in the strong family bonds around him now. Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez support and love their son very much. They have every reason to be proud of their son as he says, “Hey, I’m proud, I’m Latino and proud to be who I am. You should be proud! ”I want to make a difference in the World.” I ended my call to Jose A. Rodiguez with, “I am proud of you, and I can’t wait to see you in the Gay Pride Parade of San Diego.” I felt inspired by this young man and I had to share his full story with you, the Being Latino familia. Thank you for reading.
Rodriguez was allowed to serve openly for 8 months as a out lgbt Sailor before his discharged because of his condition. Dont Ask Dont Tell was still in play. Rodriguez was outted.
Date – 06/05/2010
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Follow up to story.
Date – 06/02/14
Sailor Veteran Jose Antonio Reyes Rodriguez is yet to receive any assistants from the US Military but is getting assistance from Social Security for being 100 percent disabled for the assult in 2009. (Disability- PTSD- Sexual Trauma, Anxiety, Depression)
Rodriguez has requested a full investigation to his handling in his case in the military.
Rodriguez was involved in one of the biggest actions to repeal dont ask dont tell in the US which involved targeting a republican Senator in Senator Webb in Combat Boot Drop.
Link bellow:
Cross Country Truth Tour to Repeal Dont Ask Dont Tell
Targeting Senator Webb – Combat Boot Drop.
After his visit, Republican Senator Webb voted for the repeal.
Rodriguez since has taken a role of a well known activist around the World.
Rodriguez focusses on Human Rights.
Rodriguez has also been recognized by TWIT Magazine as a Worldwide Role Model.
Rodriguez has been a breath of fresh air and an inspiration to people around the World.
He continues to do what he can in spreading the word of equal treatment and discrimination.
It would be great to one day see a movie of this terrifying story ending with triumph.
Watch “PITCH PERFECT POWER – EQUALITY” Veteran Jose A. Rodriguez on YouTube
Human Rights Activist Sailor Veteran Jose Antonio Reyes Rodriguez
Dont Ask Dont Tell in the USA was also repealed on Rodriguez 30th birthday. September 20th.
The Story of……
Sailor Veteran Jose Antonio Reyes Rodriguez
“JoeAnthony”
“Honor, Courage, Commitment and Integrity”
Hes now our Toy Solider………..
Watch “Eminem – Like Toy Soldiers” on YouTube
“I was the only Servicemember to Serve with Pride OPENLY in the UNITED STATED MILITARY while in The US Navy while Dont Ask Dont Tell in play.
No Captains Mass was scheduled.
Or to be scheduled.
One for the history books
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