Montana veteran's best option for help was in Florida

Montana veteran's best option for help was in Florida

By CINDY UKEN
Posted: Sunday, March 4, 2012

Two days after his 17th birthday, Paul Schinker joined the U.S. Marine Corps, yearning for deployment as far away from his abusive and dysfunctional small-town Montana childhood home as possible.

He saw joining the Marine Corps in the mid-1970s as an opportunity to develop his identity as a man. While in boot camp he became squad leader and graduated in the top five of his 200-member group. He was stationed to Okinawa, more than 6,300 miles from home.

The once-wayward teen had everything he longed for: discipline, direction and distance. He earned the nickname "Smiley."

He would later wonder if he was "too jolly," and further questions whether his "gay" demeanor made him the target of a gang rape less than two weeks after landing in Okinawa.

As the 6-foot, 2-inch, 180-pound Schinker stepped out of the men's communal shower, about a dozen fellow Marines jumped him. The Marines, all in their 20s, pinned his arms and legs to the wet, cold floor and used the hose of a water-filled fire extinguisher to rape him.

All these years later, Schinker still breaks into quiet sobs as he relates the details. His wife, Jennie, reaches for his hand and there is a long silence.

"I died that day," he said. "I died that day. ... I was so scared. I can still remember how wet the floor was ... Of course they all just walked off laughing. I can give you more detail but that's enough."

His band of brothers had betrayed him.

He took time off work under the Family Medical Leave Act and, leaving his wife behind, traveled 2,300 miles to Bay Pines, Fla., to seek treatment in an acute psychiatric unit that specializes in MST. He was admitted from March through May 2011 and treated for both military sexual trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder. It cost him $1,500 out of pocket for travel expenses.

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