Private Turner by Gary O. Bennett
INT. CAPTAIN GRIMES’S OFFICE
PRIVATE TURNER, stands at attention in front of Captain
Grimes’s desk. CAPTAIN GRIMES sits behind his desk. There
is an awkward moment.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Give me the story again?
PRIVATE TURNER
There’s nothing more to tell, sir.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Did you hear what I said? Did you hear
what I said?
PRIVATE TURNER
Yes, sir.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Give me the story again.
PRIVATE TURNER
Sergeant Roberts raped me, sir.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Details, Private Turner. Details.
PRIVATE TURNER
I wish to refer this to the Judge
Advocate General’s Office, sir.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Details. I want the details of this
alleged rape.
PRIVATE TURNER
Details, sir?
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Where, how, when, the specifics of the
encounter, the things that were said and
not said, and what actually happened.
PRIVATE TURNER
I told him to stop and he didn’t, sir.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Do you knw who I am, Private Turner? Let
me tell you because it appears you have
forgotten.
I am the commanding officer of this
Section 4 of Division 18 of the Fourth
Army and when I give a fucking order to a
Private First Class and expect that order
to be followed without question or
hesitation. Details. Now what are they?
PRIVATE TURNER
Sir, I mean no disrespect, but Paragraph
43.17 of the Army Code of Legal
Procedures states that I am to advise my
commanding officer that I will be filing
a complaint with the JAG office, but that
the nature and specifics of the complaint
need not be disclosed until such
complaint is filed. Sir.
Captain Grimes gets up and walks over to Private Turner. He
gets very close to her, inches from one of her ears.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Why did you join this glorious Army of
the great United States of America,
Private Turner?
PRIVATE TURNER
To serve my country, sir.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Do you know what makes this country
great, Private Turner?
PRIVATE TURNER
Well, sir, I would…
CAPTAIN GRIMES
I’ll tell you. Families. Moms. Dads.
Children. Hard working, tax paying,
American families who raise their
children with traditions and values and
send their children to good schools and
pay for their college educations. Do you
have a husband, Private Turner?
PRIVATE TURNER
No, sir.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Do you have children, Private Turner?
PRIVATE TURNER
No, sir.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Sergeant Roberts has a wife. Sergeant
Roberts has three beautiful daughters.
Sergeant Roberts has been in this
glorious Army of this here great United
States of America for eleven years.
Sergeant Roberts served in Bosnia.
Sergeant Roberts served in Somalia.
Sergeant Roberts has a purple heart
because of a bullet he took in the chest
while serving his country in Somalia.
Are you listening to me Private Turner?
PRIVATE TURNER
Sir, I mean no harm to Sergeant Roberts.
But there are facts, there was an
incident which I believe I am required to
report.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Facts. There are facts. Show me the
bruises?
PRIVATE TURNER
Excuse me, sir?
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Did Sergeant Roberts bruise you during
this alleged encounter.
PRIVATE TURNER
No, sir.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Were you harmed in any way, Private
Turner?
PRIVATE TURNER
Sir, Sergeant Roberts raped me.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Answer my goddamn question. Were you
physically harmed by this alleged
encounter? I’m talking about physical
harm, Private Turner, not some bullshit
psychological or emotional crap. Were
you harmed?
PRIVATE TURNER
He violated me, sir. He penetrated me
with…he…
CAPTAIN GRIMES
You listen to me, Private Turner. I have
known Sergeant Roberts for sixz years. I
know his wife, Helen, and his three
daughters, and if this fact you mention,
this alleged fact of penetration without
any blood being shed or any bruise being
impareted onto your person, then I would
say that the bigger picture demands that
you keep your mouth shut about this
incident.
PRIVATE TURNER
I’m pregnant, sir.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Oh, Jesus H. Christ.
Captain Grimes sits down.
PRIVATE TURNER
And I can guarantee you that this baby
that is growing inside of me is the baby
of Sergeant Roberts. Believe me, sir, I
do not come to you wihtout great
hesitation. I was going to let it go. I
was going to try to forget about this
whole affair. But then, when I
discovered that I became pregnant, well,
then, sir, I made a decision.
CAPTAIN GRIMES
You made a decision. I frankly don’t
understand you. So what is it that you
are going to do? Get an abortion, report
the alleged encounter and ruin, what is
that, six lives. The lives of Sergeant
Roberts, his wife, his three daughters
and your baby. Six lives because you
feel some moral or feminist obligation to
report this?
PRIVATE TURNER
Five lives, sir. I’m keeping the baby.
I believe I have complied with Paragraph
43.17 of the Army Code of Legal
Procedures. May I be excused, sir?
CAPTAIN GRIMES
You disgust me, Private Turner. Do you
know why you disgust me? Wisdom. You
have no wisdom. Do you know what wisdom
is Private Turner?
It is making decisions in an imperfect
world with imperfect information. In the
smoke of battle, you must rely on
instinct and gut. It is being able to see
all the grays that exist between your
perfect black and white world. Wisdom.
Balance out the relative harms between
filing your report versus not filing your
report. Balance out the damage done to
the number of lives if you file versus
not filing. Think of the big picture
rather than just your own sense of
justice. You’re in the Army Private
Turner where loyalty is treasured more
highly than justice.
PRIVATE TURNER
Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, but
what would wisdom have me do with this
baby inside me?
CAPTAIN GRIMES
Get an abortion. You fought for the
fucking right…so exercise it.
PRIVATE TURNER
Thank you sir for your…wisdom. May I
be excused.
Captain Grimes nods. Private Turner turns and leaves.
THE END.
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