This show is about Denisha Montgomery Smith from a larger viewpoint. I have been struggling with questions about why these kinds of situations are tolerated in the military. Especially when a recruiter will tell someone and their family that the military will “take care of them”. Only to experience the worst kind of betrayal when a soldier like Denisha Montgomery Smith dies in a manner that is suspect at best.
Colonel Wesley Martin is U.S. Army Ret. and served our country for over 30 years. He acted several times in his career to punish those who hurt other soldiers in the Army. This continued when he retired from the Army in 2010. He has been involved with Denisha’s case and answered questions I think many people have.
Colonel Martin said this boils down to people who see and know something is wrong and then choose to not do anything about it. As long as people willingly turn the other way when situations like Denisha’s arise, this will continue. It was hard to hear because I want to continue believing that those officers leading us to conduct themselves to a higher standard. Sadly, that is not the case which made talking with Colonel Martin a lesson in where we came from and why history is repeating itself.
He talked about Denisha and her family warmly and when I asked him about apparent failures in the system there was an undercurrent of anger in his responses. It seemed he took the failures of senior leadership in Denisha’s case personally and it drove him to seek justice for her and her family.
I asked Colonel Martin about Senator Grassley’s involvement in this case. He told me of instances where Senator Grassley got involved in previous cases and what happened when he was lied to about misconduct. Someone listened to many voices asking for help, and now a louder voice is demanding justice for Denisha.
As Colonel Martin said, we as Americans need to write our Elected Representatives and Senators about this and let them know we do not accept what happened and want change. I believe this is something that many Americans forget. Senators and Representatives are elected. These people work for us and have a duty to listen to our voices. If we can spend time on social media, watching sporting events, and going to concerts, we can take ten minutes and demand change for those with no voice.
Thank you for being one of those who won’t look away, Colonel. You are someone we can all follow.
Veterans Administration – Public Service Announcement View and cancel health care appointments, view claims and appeals status, upload documentation to VA, securely message your doctor, locate VA facilities, retrieve your vaccine records, access the Veterans Crisis Line, and more—right from your phone—with VA’s Health and Benefits mobile app. The app also makes it easy to prove your status as a Veteran so you can take advantage of available retailer discounts. Join nearly 700,000 users in the Veteran community who are accessing their benefits and services, safely and securely, wherever and whenever they need them: https://bit.ly/3O43Yoe
Semper Savage is the official marinade and salad dressing for Oscar Mike Radio! Semper Savage is a Veteran Owned salad dressing and marinade company. Go to www.sempersavage.com and use “oscarmikeradio” at checkout for 10% off your order. Thank you for supporting a Veteran Owned Business.
Bottom Gun Coffee
The official coffee of Oscar Mike Radio is Bottom Gun Coffee. Submariners know their coffee so go to www.bottomguncoffee.com and use “OMR” at checkout for 10% off your order! Thank you for supporting a Veteran Owned Business
Caisson Shaving Company
The only shaving products I used on my face come from Travis Arnold’s company, Caisson Shaving Company. Travis is a Veteran and has created products that can be used anywhere. Use code “OMR10” for a 10% discount when you order
Lakeydra served in the Air Force in Military Police. She is working to bring accountability for Denisha Montgomery Smith’s death.
Military Sexual Trauma is something Lakeydra has experienced personally and understands what servicemebers are experiencing. Working to shed light on the issue, Lakeydra says that leadership’s attitudes must change for permanent change to happen.
You can help by going to https://gofund.me/d2a310a4 and getting involved. Share this story, write a letter, and remember #IAMDENISHAMONTGOMERYSMITH
Veterans Administration – Public Service Announcement
View and cancel health care appointments, view claims and appeals status, upload documentation to VA, securely message your doctor, locate VA facilities, retrieve your vaccine records, access the Veterans Crisis Line, and more—right from your phone—with VA’s Health and Benefits mobile app. The app also makes it easy to prove your status as a Veteran so you can take advantage of available retailer discounts. Join nearly 700,000 users in the Veteran community who are accessing their benefits and services, safely and securely, wherever and whenever they need them: https://bit.ly/3O43Yoe
Semper Savage is the official marinade and salad dressing for Oscar Mike Radio! Semper Savage is a Veteran Owned salad dressing and marinade company. Go to www.sempersavage.com and use “oscarmikeradio” at checkout for 10% off your order. Thank you for supporting a Veteran Owned Business.
Bottom Gun Coffee
The official coffee of Oscar Mike Radio is Bottom Gun Coffee. Submariners know their coffee so go to www.bottomguncoffee.com and use “OMR” at checkout for 10% off your order! Thank you for supporting a Veteran Owned Business
Caisson Shaving Company
The only shaving products I used on my face come from Travis Arnold’s company, Caisson Shaving Company. Travis is a Veteran and has created products that can be used anywhere. Use code “OMR10” for a 10% discount when you order
Lindsey Knapp served in the Army and got out to become a sexual trauma victim advocate. She talks with me about her story from transitioning from military service to becoming an attorney to now working on sexual assault cases.
Currently, Lindsey is the Executive Director of Combat Sexual Assault, a nonprofit organization that empowers survivors of Military Sexual Trauma by overcoming barriers to obtaining justice. Source (LinkedIn).
Lindsey told me how she was fired from the Army for demanding accountability. (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/army-rape-trial-special-forces-fort-bragg-1277246/)
According to Lindsey, Denisha’s case is not unusual. The similarities between Vanessa Guillen’s case and Denisha’s show that there is a playbook that certain units in the Army follow to avoid scrutiny and oversight. The only difference is that Denisha sent her family a 13-minute video detailing an assault before she died.
I learned a lot about this case and about how different military and civilian employers handle sexual assault cases.
You can help by going to https://combatsexualassault.org/ and getting involved. Share this story, write a letter, and remember #IAMDENISHAMONTGOMERYSMITH
Veterans Administration – Public Service Announcement
View and cancel health care appointments, view claims and appeals status, upload documentation to VA, securely message your doctor, locate VA facilities, retrieve your vaccine records, access the Veterans Crisis Line, and more—right from your phone—with VA’s Health and Benefits mobile app. The app also makes it easy to prove your status as a Veteran so you can take advantage of available retailer discounts. Join nearly 700,000 users in the Veteran community who are accessing their benefits and services, safely and securely, wherever and whenever they need them: https://bit.ly/3O43Yoe
Semper Savage is the official marinade and salad dressing for Oscar Mike Radio! Semper Savage is a Veteran Owned salad dressing and marinade company. Go to www.sempersavage.com and use “oscarmikeradio” at checkout for 10% off your order. Thank you for supporting a Veteran Owned Business.
Bottom Gun Coffee
The official coffee of Oscar Mike Radio is Bottom Gun Coffee. Submariners know their coffee so go to www.bottomguncoffee.com and use “OMR” at checkout for 10% off your order! Thank you for supporting a Veteran Owned Business
Caisson Shaving Company
The only shaving products I used on my face come from Travis Arnold’s company, Caisson Shaving Company. Travis is a Veteran and has created products that can be used anywhere. Use code “OMR10” for a 10% discount when you order
Army Private First Class Denisha Smith lost her life on August 8th, 2022. As the story unfolded, questions were raised about the last month of her life. I will Livestream this Thursday and talk about the story so far and the three women who are leading the charge for accountability from the U.S. Army. Air Force Veteran Lakeydra Houston, U.S. Army Veteran Lindsey Knapp, and Amy Lynn Franck. Lakeydra asked for my help and this is just the first salvo. More importantly, I want you to come back and watch Amy, Lindsey, and Lakeydra talk about their experiences advocating for those who have experienced the horror of sexual trauma. Simply put, #HerLifeMatters
You can help the effort by donating to GoFundMe and visiting these organizations that are working to get justice for Denisha and her family.
Public Service Announcement VA: Heath and Benefits App
View and cancel health care appointments, view claims and appeals status, upload documentation to VA, securely message your doctor, locate VA facilities, retrieve your vaccine records, access the Veterans Crisis Line, and more—right from your phone—with VA’s Health and Benefits mobile app. The app also makes it easy to prove your status as a Veteran so you can take advantage of available retailer discounts. Join nearly 700,000 users in the Veteran community who are accessing their benefits and services, safely and securely, wherever and whenever they need them: https://mobile.va.gov/app/va-health-and-benefits
Semper Savage is the official marinade and salad dressing for Oscar Mike Radio! Semper Savage is a Veteran Owned salad dressing and marinade company. Go to www.sempersavage.com and use “oscarmikeradio” at checkout for 10% off your order. Thank you for supporting a Veteran Owned Business.
Bottom Gun Coffee
The official coffee of Oscar Mike Radio is Bottom Gun Coffee. Submariners know their coffee so go to www.bottomguncoffee.com and use “OMR” at checkout for 10% off your order! Thank you for supporting a Veteran Owned Business
Caisson Shaving Company
The only shaving products I used on my face come from Travis Arnold’s company, Caisson Shaving Company. Travis is a Veteran and has created products that can be used anywhere. Use code “OMR10” for a 10% discount when you order
I had another podcast lined up for this week. However, I saw this story on the Washington Post website (He went AWOL after being sexually assaulted….) and felt this was more important in an age of #metoo and increased awareness around sexual assault. I decided to talk about Heath and his story and what I felt was a failure of leadership.
In 1988 Heath was 17 years old and serving on the USS Butte. It was on this ship that he started being sexually assaulted by 6 other male crew members. After filing a complaint 49 days in a row, Heath went AWOL. I couldn’t believe it either, he filed a complaint 49 straight times and nothing was done. Upon review of his case, he received a Other than Honorable Discharge, and was kicked out of the Navy.
Heath faced challenges from PTSD as a result of what happened to him, go into alcoholism and kept fighting to clear his name. Three times the Navy review board looked at his plea to upgrade his discharge to honorable, and three times he was denied.
30 years later, after the fourth time presenting his case to the Navy review board, Heath got the news last week that his discharge was upgraded to Honorable.
I still can’t get over how this happened. I don’t understand what the mind set was of the Captain of the USS Butte and other Petty Officers that allowed this to happen and did nothing to defend this Sailor. They aren’t fit to wear the uniform, much less call themselves Naval Officers.
Heath does talks across military installations advocating for those who have been a victim of sexual harassment and assault in the military. I am glad he kept fighting and did not give up or go into the abyss. There are some links below about Heath’s story and the Military’s SAPR Office.
I had another podcast lined up for this week. However, I saw this story on the Washington Post website (
