美国国家公共电台 NPR For A Black Woman In The Military, Harassment Was Its Own Battle

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Time now for StoryCorps' Military Voices Initiative, recording¹ and sharing the voices of service members and their families.

Denise Baken enlisted² in the National Guard in 1975 - following in her father's military footsteps. At StoryCorps, the retired³ colonel told her children, Richard and Christian⁴, just how closely her father's service mirrored her own.

DENISE BAKEN: As a black man in the military in the '40s and '50s, my dad had suffered such abuse. One time he was called the N-word, and he got so mad at this officer that he slugged him. And he was the one brought up on charges. And he was reduced in rank. But he stayed in because he loved the military. And it's because of him that I loved the military.

RICHARD YINGLING: Did you experience similar sorts of...

BAKEN: I did, but from the standpoint of being a woman. The guys loved watching women walk away from them, and they would make their comments. And so I made sure I wore a foundation garment so nothing moved. It was just the way we women handled it then.

I tried to be, for some of my young people coming up, their person that they could look to to see someone who led with integrity. But I just felt the weight of the difficulties, just over a long period. And I remember I was walking across a hall, and one woman came upon me. And she said you're stooping; don't ever do that. We're very proud of you. And that startled me. And I stood up straight and kept walking.

YINGLING: Can you talk about why you turned down the assignment that would have given you general?

BAKEN: I don't know that any assignment would have done that. All I know is if I was beginning to stoop, somehow, maybe they were winning and I didn't realize. And doggone it, no. I just didn't want to do it anymore. I wanted out.

(SOUNDBITE OF SNAKE OIL'S "JUNG GREEZY")

SIMON: Colonel Denise Baken, who retired from the U.S. Army in 2003 after 28 years of service. After the military, Denise earned her PhD in biodefense from George Mason University. She now runs her own consulting firm advising the Department of Defense⁵. Her interview will be archived along with hundreds of thousands of others at the Library of Congress.

(SOUNDBITE OF SNAKE OIL'S "JUNG GREEZY")