CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Lt. Col. Teresa James, a 35-year veteran of the West Virginia National Guard, stood in front of about 200 people Thursday morning to talk about her experience as a whistleblower who was retaliated against by a general after she reported that she was sexually assaulted by a fellow officer.
Speaking in slow, measured sentences, James told the crowd about the assault, about her reluctance to say anything for fear that it would hurt her career and then, after female soldiers in her command complained about the same officer, her decision to report her experiences.
Then she told the audience that exactly what she’d feared had, in fact, come to pass…