Former U.S. Marine shares domestic violence story

Martha McSally said it wasn’t until years later that she reported the abuse she endured while serving in the Air Force.

But she said that when she did, she was horrified at how it was handled.

That wasn’t the case for one local victim of domestic violence who said her superiors did handle her report properly.

But her story is chilling none the less.

In 2009, Heather Griffith left her home in Mississippi and became a U.S. Marine.

“I wanted to change, nobody likes to stay in their hometown. I wanted to see the world and do something,” Griffith, a four-year Marine Corps veteran, said.

Her journey brought her to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma where she worked for the supply specialist department. But little did people know what was happening behind closed doors.

“My husband was abusive and he didn’t like the fact that I was in the Marine’s and that I made that decision,” Griffith said.

Heather said her husband, who followed her from Mississippi, was in the Army National Guard at the time.

She recounts one of the worst experiences of her life.

“I had my child taken away a month after she was born due to the domestic violence and it was because you’re trained to not let anything affect you and I was broken,” Griffith said.

Many other times, she said she paid the price for his anger.

“I would walk in with my with my eyes blood vessels busted and bruised face, black eyes all the time,” Griffith said.

Heather eventually received help from MCAS.

“I got help from a therapist, a women’s rights advocate,” Griffith added.

Heather’s abuse lasted for more than two years and her message to victims is to not become another statistic.

“There’s always that embarrassment that we carry with us because a lot of people will say, you’re in the United States Marines and you’re abused by your husband. You need to report it,” Griffith said.

Griffith is now working at the Healing Journey in Yuma to help provide services to victims of any form of abuse.

Organizations like the Healing Journey are available to help with any problems or trauma you or someone you know may be facing.