She was a soldier who went missing and was later found dead. We spoke to Vanessa Guillen's sisters on why they never stopped fighting for justice and reform …
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00My sister's no joke!
00:02My sister's a human being!
00:05And I want justice!
00:07And I want answers!
00:10Because my sister...
00:13did not do this to herself!
00:14Someone did it!
00:20What's her name?
00:21Vanessa!
00:31It has to stop now and it has to stop with her story.
00:35It's something that I want people to remember about her.
00:38That she fought and fought.
00:53The same night that I traveled to Fort Hood,
00:56even just starting the conversation with the staff
00:59surgeon, it was very bogged.
01:02He had no idea she was missing in the first place.
01:04I just one day decided outside of Fort Hood
01:07to grab a microphone and say what's wrong
01:09and say what's right.
01:10And I believe that it wasn't only my voice that
01:13impacted my sister's case, but everyone's voice
01:16that was used.
01:17If we all just sit behind and watch this happening,
01:20then it's going to keep happening.
01:22And that just there, it's just injustice.
01:25I'm definitely very proud of Lupe.
01:28She, at the beginning, was a force
01:31that you could not mess with.
01:33I mean, I can't imagine being in her shoes
01:36as a 16-year-old.
01:37She took the mic and she yelled for her sister.
01:59Something was wrong with her the few months
02:01after she was stationed at Fort Hood.
02:28I saw somebody post up on Twitter that they were
02:30raped at Fort Sam in their A school.
02:32Wow.
02:33And then I posted up right below her.
02:35And then another girl.
02:36Oh my God.
02:37And another girl.
02:38And the next thing I knew, there were almost
02:40a dozen of us.
02:41Each and every one of us standing here today
02:45has either been a victim or has known someone
02:49who was a victim.
02:50Now is the time for conversation.
02:52Now is the time to stand up and say no more.
02:55No more.
02:56Now is the time to say I am Vanessa Gillian.
02:59It was very disturbing to find out and read
03:01all these stories that were being shared.
03:03I'm happy that victims were brave enough to
03:06start speaking out and sharing their story
03:08because those stories helped us
03:11get through the finish line.
03:20We literally had to put our emotions aside
03:22and we didn't get a chance to grieve
03:24and I feel like that was also a power source
03:26for us to keep going and lifting Vanessa's name
03:30and her voice.
03:31Vanessa and Myra were like my other mothers.
03:36And I mean for her to keep going, you know,
03:40even though her family was there,
03:42like a motherhood role,
03:44but like we needed,
03:46it was a way to stand up and speak up
03:49and still be a part of the community.
03:52It was a way to stand up.
03:55It was a way to be a part of what we do.
03:57It was a way to be a part of our own community.
03:59You know, even though her and Vanessa were like like this tight,
04:04it's I'm proud of her for, you know,
04:08because I know she could have just stepped aside and she could have,
04:10you know, just gone back to what is called normal.
04:14But nothing's going to be normal. And I'm proud of her.
04:23The bill criminalizes sexual harassment, which
04:27surprisingly, it wasn't a crime in the UCMJ before.
04:32It also removes the cases and the reporting from the commander's hand,
04:37which from the chain of command, definitely going forward.
04:41We do want to hopefully next year introduce
04:44half of the provisions that were not passed, unfortunately, just recently.
04:58If people come together, then positive things can get done.
05:03So I hope people look into the film, watch it, share it,
05:08speak about it, get inspired and help us help our military community.