Christine Dobbyn – HOUSTON (KTRK) — A Houston woman is telling her story of survival for the first time on camera. She is a former KBR contractor who began working in Iraq in November of 2008.

Anna Mayo says what happened to her one morning in her sleeping quarters changed her life forever. While we don’t normally identify rape victims, the young woman says she wants her story heard.

In the fall of 2008, Anna Mayo left Austin to work as a KBR contractor in Iraq. Within a month, she was promoted to an operations specialist with project management.

“I loved it,” Mayo said. “I moved up really fast; I got a lot of responsibility.”

And then Mayo was moved to the night shift, so that meant sleeping during the day.

“I had a sign on my room that said daysleeper, please come back after 14:00,” she said.

On a November morning in 2009, there was a knock on her sleeping container door. She opened it to find a man she says was not an American.

“He told me that he needed to come in and check something in my bathroom,” Mayo said.

But he didn’t stay long.

“Ten seconds, it seemed like  it was in and out; and then he just walked out; it was just the weirdest thing,” Mayo said.

Mayo then called to report the strange incident but was referred to someone in maintenance.

“I blew it off; I mean they blew it off; they said that’s as far as it went and I said OK well, I guess he was checking something,” Mayo said.

But three days later as she slept, there was no knock this time, and when she opened her eyes that same man was in her room.

“It was just this fear, where I’m in danger,” Mayo said. ” I immediately knew that I was in danger.”

He attacked grabbing her hair and she fought back.

“He took his hands and dug them into my eyeballs as hard as he could, and it hurt so bad, and then I got weaker and then he put a rope around my neck,” Mayo said.

But Mayo could only fight for so long. She was face down, being raped.

“It was almost a relief because it didn’t hurt as bad as when he was ripping my face off,” Mayo said.

He had tied her arms behind her back and tried to smother her. She passed out again, and when she came to she could only crawl.

“I looked in the mirror and I saw a monster,” Mayo said. “I couldn’t recognize me.”

Her hair was falling out; her eyes hemorrhaging. It took all the strength she had left to get help.

“I screamed help and turned around, and I fainted again,” Mayo said.

Mayo was transferred to a military hospital in Germany.

“The military hospital was fantastic,” she said. “They treated me amazing, like one of their own troops, but the company I worked for, they had nothing to do with me; it was immediately like I was cut off.”

Now the former contractor is suing KBR, claiming there is a culture of sexual misconduct within the company.

“I want them to take responsibility or at least show some kind of accountability,” Mayo said.

KBR disputes parts of Mayo’s story and said in a statement, “Sexual misconduct is not tolerated. Ms Mayo’s allegations to the contrary are not correct.”

They go on to say Mayo did not follow up after her initial report of that strange maintenance check, adding, “Ms. Mayo made no further inquiries or report that she felt threatened by the incident.”

Mayo has recovered from most of the physical injuries.

“Sometimes when I get really hot or I take a shower, you can see a rug burn on my neck,” she said.

It’s the emotional ones that still haunt her.

A district court just ruled that Mayo’s case will not move forward until there is a decision in another pending case against a military contractor, though it involves truck drivers injured on the job.

Mayo’s lawsuit is the latest in a series against U.S. companies working military contracts in Iraq. On Wednesday, find out how Mayo is joining other women with similar claims. (Click HERE for original article)

You can find other articles on this horrific crime at this links below on MsSparky.com.

1. KBR employee brutally raped at Joint Base Balad in Iraq(Updated) (December 4, 2009)
2. KBR Employee (Anna Mayo) Says She Was Raped and Beaten By Fellow KBR Employee in Iraq (June 4, 2010)
3. Did KBR knowingly allow a rapist to go free in Iraq? (July 12, 2010)

Tiffany And Ethan At The Prison

When I tell people my daughter Tiffany is in prison, I normally get an “Oh….I’m so sorry”.  I just respond, “Don’t be sorry. It’s OK….I’m thankful Tiff’s in prison.” That usually earns me an odd look.

But it’s true.

I am very thankful for those weekly 100 mile round trips to the prison to sit in a visiting room crowded with inmates, some who have committed truly unthinkable crimes.

I am very thankful for those phone calls from Tiffany that always seem to come when I am busy doing something else or just don’t feel like talking.

I am very thankful for those insane conversations about how bad things are in prison or how weird her “cellee” is.

I am very thankful she was pregnant when she was arrested.

I am very thankful she is in prison so I can now raise  my other grandson Keelen.

I am very thankful she got 70 months.

I can hear it now. “Girl…you have lost your freakin’ mind! How can you be thankful for that?”

Well….every week I get see my daughter. I get to hug her and give her a kiss and I get to watch Keelen play games and read stories with his mom.

I get talk to Tiffany almost every night on the phone and Keelen gets to tell his mom about his day.

I get to watch Tiffany grow from a “wannabe” street thug into the amazing woman that I always knew she was with no interest in a life of crime.

I got to watch Tiffany give birth to a healthy baby boy, my second grandchild Ethan and in a selfless act of love give him to an amazing deserving adoptive couple that will raise him to know both his moms.

I know that Keelen is safe and well cared for and gets to have a relationship with both his mom and dad.
It is going to take the full 70 months for Tiffany to break this destructive cycle of drugs and unhealthy men.

Plus the brains behind this crime got 136 months. And if the person he assaulted had died, Tiffany could be doing life!! So…WOO HOO only 70 months!!

There are many many parents with children that were traveling down the same path as Tiffany. And they now have to visit their children in the cemetery. So, yes…I am very thankful Tiffany is in prison.

What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving

Debbie

Today it was announced that the first woman has become a four-star general in the Army.

Army general is nation’s first four-star woman

WASHINGTON (CNN) — An Army lieutenant general has become the first woman in U.S. military history to get four stars.

Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody will command 133,000 personnel worldwide in the Army Material Command.

The military on Friday promoted Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody, who has served in several command positions in her 33-year Army career.

She will command Army Materiel Command, responsible for equipping, arming and outfitting soldiers.

“There is no one more surprised than I,” she said of her promotion at a ceremony on Friday.

She had planned on a two-year enlistment upon leaving college at the State University of New York at Cortland, she said, and planned on being a physical education teacher.

Dunwoody hailed those who had helped her throughout her career and pledged to do the same for those she now leads.

“The Army nurtured me and mentored me, and today the Army offers me the chance to return the favor,” she said. She’ll command 133,000 personnel around the globe.

“She is recognized as one of the foremost military logisticians in her generation,” said Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Her promotion highlights the growing role of women in the U.S. military over the years.

Fifty-seven active-duty women and 47 female reservists hold the rank of general or its Navy equivalent, according to the American Forces Press Service.

The Pentagon has said that more than 193,400 women have deployed in support of U.S. operations since September 11, 2001 — the day the United States was attacked by al Qaeda. (End)

Listening to Secretary Gates on CNN he made a statement that she didn’t think she was special…she was just a soldier. I think she is an amazing soldier.

Thanks for serving…Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody

Signed,

Debbie aka…just an electrician