Female Vet Survives Sexual Assault, Looks to Future

In the summer of 2003, Fonda Fan was admitted to UC Berkeley. She joined the U.S. Army reserve at almost the same time.

I joined the Army in order to cover college tuition. I did not want to put a financial burden on my parents while I was getting an education, and at the same time, I thought the Army was a good place for me to learn real-life skills and grow as a person, she said.

Fan, now 23, traveled to many places as a child but mainly grew up in California. She has one sister five years younger, and she started thinking about joining the military after sending in college applications and wondering how she would pay the high cost of tuition. She joined because she wanted her parents to have as little financial burden as possible sending her through Cal. Her sister would be entering college a few years later and sending two children to school is really expensive.

Fan received basic training in general soldiering skills in Fort Jackson, S.C. in July 2003. It was there that she learned combat skills such as shooting the M-16 rifle. She took part in bayonet drills, grenade drills, and trainings in hand-to-hand combat. At Fort Eustis, V.A., she learned skills more specific to her primary job in transportation. In her actual unit, she was taught to drive the Humvee.

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