Gray Girl (14 page)

13

Friday,
May 7, 1982

0930 Hours

Conrad dismissed Jackson, telling him he might be called back to
testify again.
 
Jackson said
something like, “Sure thing,” before leaving the room.
 
Jan felt most of her energy go out with
him.
 
She suddenly felt so tired, so
damn tired.

After a latrine and water break, the board reconvened at 0945
hours.
 
Everyone settled into
their
seats and Conrad asked the plebe runner to get the
next witness.
  
At least this
one would be a friendly face.

Kristi McCarron walked into the room and stood in the same seat to
Jan’s right where Jackson had been.
 
Conrad commanded her to raise her right hand and repeat the oath of
honor and then motioned for her to take a seat.
  
She winked at Jan as she sat
down.
 
“Cadet McCarron, you are here
to testify about the events of May second and third.
 
Are you prepared to explain what you
witnessed without any bias toward Cadet
Wishart
or
against Cadets
Dogety
and Jackson?”

“I am, Sir,” Kristi said without blinking.
 
Born an Army brat, and later having an
ambassador as a stepfather, gave her an edge with these kinds of things.
 
She never seemed intimidated or undone
by the military hierarchy.
 
Kristi
shrugged off a lot of things that got under Jan’s skin.
 
They balanced each other well.
 
Jan provided the seriousness and Kristi
provided the screw-it attitude, both necessary for survival at West Point.
 

“Okay, Miss McCarron, please tell us in your own words what you
witnessed on the night of May second,
”
 
Conrad
said.

Kristi took a deep breath, gave Jan another slight smile and said,
“Well, Cadet
Dogety
came to our room about 1900 hours
and demanded Jan deliver the routing envelope to Cadet Jackson’s room in
B-1.
 
It really pissed me off
because
Dogety
knows that Jackson has a reputation of
harassing, and even molesting, plebe women.”
  

Wow!
 
She got that in before anyone saw it
coming!
 

“What do you mean, Miss McCarron?”
 
Tourney asked.

“Wait a minute, Cadet McCarron, before you say one more word, do you
have any evidence to support that claim?”
 
Conrad asked.

“Well,
Sir,”
she said with the tiniest bit of sass, “Cadet
Wishart
told me about two incidents during Beast, when
Jackass, I mean Jackson…”
 

“Stop right there, Miss McCarron,” Conrad interrupted.
 
“First, this isn’t some joke.
 
You will address your superiors with
respect.
 
Second, anything Miss
Wishart
told you about Cadet Jackson is not valid evidence
of anything.
 
If you do not have any
PROOF
that Cadet Jackson has molested females, or that Cadet
Dogety
would have known about his supposed reputation, then
you need to reconsider your words before you say something you cannot
substantiate.”

“Yes, Sir.
 
I will re-word
it then.
 
If you ask any
female
plebe who has been under Jackson’s authority, you will learn that they all
steer clear of him.
 
There’s a
reason for that.
 
Secondly, Cadet
Dogety
was present when Jackson practically attacked Cadet
Wishart
during Lake Frederick week.
 
Dogety
told
her then that she could have been in big trouble if he hadn’t been there to
stop Jackson.
 
That tells me
Dogety
knows exactly what Jackson is capable of doing.”

Conrad shook his head.
 
“A
complaint was never made.
 
Therefore, it’s only hearsay as far as this Honor Board is
concerned.
 
I insist you stop making
claims you cannot support.”

Kristi rolled her eyes and sighed, “Sir, with all due respect, hearsay
is all we have as plebes, especially as new cadets in Beast.
 
But there were also a few witnesses to
that event at Lake Frederick.
 
It
seems to me that a few witnesses to something makes it more than just
hearsay.”
 

Oh, Kissy, please be careful.

Conrad began fuming, his neck and cheeks turned bright pink. “Cadet
Jackson is not on trial here and nothing has ever been brought to our attention
about these alleged misdeeds.
 
Furthermore, none of this has any bearing on the events of May second!”
Conrad shouted.

Kristi stared back at Conrad without
flinching.
 
Jan loved her for that.
 
“Sir,
you did tell me to explain what happened,
in my own words,
and in my
opinion, these things DO have a very important bearing on what happened on May
second.
 
Sir.”

Tourney interrupted again, “Casey, I agree with Miss McCarron.
 
The history of the relationship between
Cadets
Dogety
, Jackson and
Wishart
IS
relevant to the events of May second.
 
If there were prior incidents of
inappropriate behavior on Cadet Jackson’s part, then it casts doubt on his
behavior and statement concerning this honor allegation.”

Cadet Leavitt agreed with Tourney and Jan noticed a few other cadets
nodding their heads.
 
Maybe we’re
on to something here.

“Miss McCarron,” he had regained his composure, “do you have any first-hand
experience with Cadet Jackson crossing a line with you?”
 

Kristi hesitated.
 
“No,
Sir.”

“Well, then, you may provide a list of names of those who would testify
against Cadet Jackson’s character.
 
Otherwise we will not allow rumors and hearsay to color our opinion of
him.”
 
He paused to shuffle some
papers.
 
“I will allow you to share
your personal experiences of Cadet Jackson if you have witnessed something
concerning his character.
 
However,
you must remain professional and respectful when speaking about ANYONE.
 
Am I clear?”
Conrad asked.

“Yes, Sir.”
 
Kristi didn’t
seem the least bit unnerved.
 
“As I
was saying, Cadet
Dogety
tasked Jan to deliver a
routing envelope to Cadet Jackson.
 
Dogety
had been harassing her all year, ever since he was
her Beast Squad Leader.
 
So it
didn’t surprise me that he would send her on another wild goose chase for his
own enjoyment.
 
Cadet
Dogety
seemed to enjoy messing with Jan, too.
 
She was his little pet project.”

“Miss McCarron!
 
What did I
just tell you?”
 
Conrad shouted
again.

“Oh, sorry, Sir.
 
I forgot
to mention that I was in the same platoon in Beast with Jackson,
Dogety
and Cadet
Wishart
.
 
So I personally observed and witnessed
several incidents which can substantiate my previous claim.”

She is so damn cool.

Just as Kristi began getting into the specifics of Sunday night’s
events, Cadet Conrad announced it was time for lunch.
 
“Miss McCarron’s testimony will resume
when we come back.
 
I want to remind
everyone of the confidential nature of these proceedings.
 
At no time is anyone, ever, allowed to
discuss the contents of this Honor Board with ANYONE outside this room.
 
I cannot be any clearer than that.
 
I will see every one back here at 1300
hours.
 
Dismissed.”

Everyone stood to leave.
 
“McCarron,
stay here a minute with us,” Cadet Trane said motioning to Jan and Major
Hastings.
 
“I want to have a defense
strategy session.”

Jan had not even considered a “defense strategy.”
 
She first heard about the accusations
against her only two days ago.
 
The Honor
Board began the next
day which
was yesterday. They
didn’t waste any time with this stuff.
 
The accused wasn’t allowed to gather information or any other evidence
nor obtain legal counsel.
 
If
accused of an honor violation at West Point, you were left to fend for yourself
for the most part.
 
In other words,
you had to find a way to prove your innocence and do it fast.
 
Otherwise, BAM!
 
You were history, gone, done, kicked out
for honor—the worst way to leave West Point.
   

“Sir, what do you mean?
 
Are
you saying we should plan out how to argue my case?”
 

“Yes, Miss
Wishart
, there should always be a
plan—even a bad plan is better than no plan.
 
Well, in this case anyway,” Trane
said.
 
“Major, I’d like to hear your
thoughts as well.
 
What can Miss
Wishart
do to prove her innocence?”
 

Please say that again, Sir!
 
The “prove her innocence” part!
 

“Well,” Major Hastings began, “I’ve already told Miss
Wishart
, there’s not a whole lot she can do except state
the truth, ask appropriate questions from each witness, and then try to appear
as innocent as possible.”
 

He’s useless.

“Okay, Sir, thank you.
 
We
don’t want to keep you from your lunch.”
 
Cadet Trane said, giving Major Hastings his out.
 

“See you at 1300 hours, then.”
 
Hastings stood up and walked out of the room.

“He’s about as helpful as a pile of dung,” Kristi stated the obvious
again.

“Well, let’s concentrate on what we can do,
”
 
Trane
said.
 
“Look, this is a classic case of he
said/she said, right?
 
Wishart
, you have to convince the board that you are AS
likely to be telling the truth as Jackson.
 
In other words, you don’t have to show he’s lying; you only need to show
you are NOT lying.
 
Does that make sense?”

“Not really, Sir.
 
How can I
show that I am not lying if he is not lying?”
 
Jan asked.

“You just need for them to see things from your perspective.
 
In other words, don’t try to make
Jackson a badass, though he probably is.
 
Instead, just show them what you experienced that night and the next
morning,
”
 
Trane
said.

“Sir, everything I experienced is in my written statement,” Jan
replied.

“I understand that.
 
But the
statements are so far apart that these guys on the Honor Board probably think
they have to find one person to be lying and one to be telling the truth.
 
Without any evidence or other witness to
the events, by default, they will pick Jackson’s version as the truth.
 
After all, he is the
firstie
about to graduate.
 
If they pick
your version, then they have to ruin this guy…they have to kick him out for an
honor violation, kill his career and basically end his life.
 
You, on the other hand, are just a
plebe.
 
And a
female.
 
So you don’t count.”

“What?
 
Sir, you don’t mean
that,” Kristi insisted.

“Yes, I do mean that.
 
These
guys are NOT
gonna
kick out
one of their own just because
Wishart
says he assaulted
her.
 
They have to have proof.
 
They DON’T, however, need proof to find
you guilty.”

“Then I’m screwed no matter what I do,
”
 
Jan
said.

“Pretty much.
 
UNLESS….”
Trane said.

Jan looked at her
firstie
Knight in Shining
Amour, “Unless what, Sir?”

“Unless you can somehow convince them that you are ALSO telling the
truth.
 
In other words, you both are
right in your perception of the events.”