Marine Corps Base Quantico -- A line drawing of a woman with flowing hair covers the back of a yellow t-shirt. In between the strands of hair, a message is written, “So wild, standing there, with her hands in her hair … So cool, she was like jazz on a summer’s day, music high and sweet … then she just blew away …”
The shirt was one of 15 that hung in the offices of the Family Advocacy Program aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico on Oct. 14. They were part of the national Clothesline Project, a program that raises awareness of violence towards women. Survivors and perpetrators of violence, as well as their family members and friends, decorate t-shirts which are hung on a clothesline as a visual testimony to the devastating and wide-ranging effects of domestic abuse. The program started in Cape Cod, Ma., in 1990, and has spread around the world since then.
Nearly one in four women and one in seven men in the United States have suffered physical violence by an intimate partner, according to statistics on the website of the Domestic Violence Awareness Project. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The yellow shirt in the FAP office was dedicated to Valerie, the childhood friend of the t-shirt’s decorator. Valerie married a Marine and moved with him from her home to a base in North Carolina. The marriage was violent and became increasingly dangerous.
One night, fearing for her life, Valerie called the Marine on duty at the base.
“A young captain answered the phone,” Valerie’s friend wrote in the story that was clipped next to the shirt. “He had not had any specialized training in domestic violence and didn’t know exactly how to help her, but he did one of the most important things we can do for a victim — he believed her.”
“I wish I could have been there to help her and am thankful for those that were,” Valerie’s friend concluded.
Rebecca Childress, prevention and education specialist for FAP, said that this is the first year Quantico has been part of the official Clothesline Project. FAP collected shirts for the display throughout the month of September. The Russell Knox building decorated a shirt and Marines from Embassy Security Group wrote messages on a shirt during their annual Amazing Race event, but the rest were submitted by anonymous individuals, Childress said.
The shirts were exhibited in the FAP offices for one day only, but Childress said that the collection can travel to different units on base, if any are interested.
“Anyone who still wants to decorate a t-shirt can contact us,” Childress said. “We will provide one.”
Like Valerie’s, each shirt told a powerful story. One that read, “You can spend a lifetime trying to forget a few minutes of your childhood,” was created by a person whose aunt was nearly killed by her violent husband. Her three daughters witnessed the constant abuse growing up and now struggle to find healthy relationships for themselves.
Another shirt, scattered with handprints, bore the scrawled message “In memory of Laura, who died at the hands of her ex-husband in 1986. Two little girls lost their mom that day.”
One of the shirts was decorated by an offender of domestic violence. “My actions cut you deep and now I’ll always weep,” it said. “Before the anger starts, we should use our hearts.”
Maj. Sean Daley, Marine Corps Systems Command, was passing by the FAP office and wanted to see what was hanging inside. He said he found the shirts very telling.
“It’s nice that they bring awareness to the topic. That’s very important,” he said.
Sgt. Chris Roberts and Lance Cpl. Christopher Munguia, who both work in the finance office, said they came to hear the stories of domestic violence survivors.
“I think it’s really positive for these stories to be out in the open,” Munguia said.
Base commander, Col. Joseph Murray, and Sgt. Maj. Gerald Saunders also visited the Clothesline Project display.
“It’s sad to read the stories and see how serious they are,” Saunders said. “But it’s good to see that, because it creates awareness. It’s powerful stuff.”
— Writer: auphausconner@quanticosentryonline.com