Update on Suzanne September 19th, 2006.
101 days since her arrest.
I do not even know where to start. So much has happened so fast that
our heads are spinning.
First about Suzanne. Her mental health is declining. She has had two
write ups ( counselings/official reprimands) in the past few weeks for
being late in the mornings for formation. She is having a hard time
waking up because her anxiety and depression are getting so bad. She is
having trouble sleeping and bad dreams when she does sleep, so waking
up early is just brutal for her. She is still doing office work filing
police reports in an office. She is being allowed to come to Eugene
every other week to meet with Dr. Schwartz, her psychologist. She has
seen him only 6 times in the past 101 days. It is really hard for her
to go back to Ft. Lewis and it breaks my heart every time she leaves,
because I  know she is beyond miserable up there and being
re-traumatized by them daily. With the increasing media attention,
Suzanne has been getting more and more silent, yet solid, support form
other active women in the military. This gives us great hope that we
are helping effect change for them as well as for validating women
veteran's experiences and working to create new hope for the future
safety for young women who hope to serve their country without fear of
harassment and abuse someday.
Suzanne has given 7 interviews now and they have really taken their
toll on her. She has spoken to : The San Francisco Chronicle, New York
Times Magazine, Washington Post, Democracy Now, The Register Guard, ABC
Nightline, and Fox news. These were very hard on her and her attorney,
Keith Scherer, and I decided along with Suzanne that there would be no
more interviews until she is either charged or freed. If she is charged
her mental state will most likely deteriorate so that is very much up
in the air. We appreciate the thoughtful way that the press has been
working with us and we appreciate your professionalism.
The Iraq Veteran's Against the War and Vets for Peace took matters into
their own hands and staged a sit-in on the 97th day in Congressman
Peter DeFazio's Washington DC office. They would not leave until
Congressman DeFazio agreed to take some serious action on behalf of
Suzanne. he Congressman's office called me and we agreed that a
Congressional Investigation into Suzanne's case would be beneficial and
within 24 hours, on Wednesday the 13th of September,  Suzanne was
signing a release of information for the Congressional investigation to
proceed. On Friday, September 15th Suzanne was on  the cover of the San
Francisco Chronicle and it has been major media ever since. I am flying
to Washington DC this week to meet with Congressman DeFazio  and talk
to him about military sexual violence and the treatment Suzanne has
received from the military to date and the future unknown plans for
her.
Our attorney came out to Eugene to meet with us. Keith Scherer,
http://gslattorneys.com/keith-scherer.aspx,  is a wonderful man and a
very aggressive, intelligent attorney. We are so impressed with him and
feel complete trust in his legal wisdom and ability. We are financially
and emotionally preparing for a court martial, so please, if you have
not done so already either make a financial contribution to Suzanne's
legal defense fund or get some type of fundraising activity planned in
your community. I am going to be doing some traveling around the
country to talk about Suzanne's case, raise awareness and fundraise.
Also, please set Suzanne's website as your home-page,
http://suzanneswift.org/, until she is free. It is a very interactive
and alive site full of new things almost daily. HUGE thanks to Stacy
Hafely, MFSO Missouri, for being the web goddess supreme. Suzanne's
petition has reached 6,000 signatures which is AMAZING!
Please continue to make calls and write letters on Suzanne's behalf.
There are easy forms and all the numbers and addresses on the website.
It is very easy to use. Also, please feel free to post or forward this
email to other sites/lists. I want to spread the word so we can
increase the numbers of supporters for Suzanne. Thank you!!!
Most of all please visualize Suzanne's case being resolved with
integrity and justice being served. Suzanne deserves a timely
resolution to this nightmare that they have created for her and many
other women in the military.
Once again, do something everyday, no matter how big or small......
Peace~

Sara Rich, M.S.W