[Yellin:] A group of U.S. military veterans is now taking the Pentagon to task for allegedly ignoring what the veterans say were incidents of sexual assaults that occurred during their service. CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is here with the details. Barbara, a remarkable story.
[Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Jessica, the accounts are very disturbing. And, equally disturbing, the allegations that the Pentagon knew and did nothing about it.
[Starr:] For these veterans, it's now a search for justice. In a 42-page lawsuit filled with graphic sexual detail, 15 women and two men spell out alleged assaults and rapes by those they served with. Myla Haider says she was raped while serving in Korea with the army's Criminal Investigation Division, the very unit charged with investigating rapes and assaults.
[Myla Haider, Plaintiff:] The people who commit these offenses are sexual predators who are very good at selecting their victims and tend to offend again and again, and that is a fact that is not recognized within the DOD system.
[Starr:] The lawsuit against Defense Secretary Robert Gates and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld alleges the Pentagon failed to prevent the attacks, prosecute offenders and provide an adequate justice system. Sarah Albertson says that while in the Marine Corps she was raped and then made to work alongside her attacker. She acknowledges drinking the night of the assault, but says the military failed her.
[Sarah Albertson, Plaintiff:] Nobody wants to say that there's been a rape in their command. It just looks bad on paper. I know from my case, even I'm not trying to get into specifics, but people who did believe me and who had my back and were supportive of me were still telling me don't tell anybody about this. Don't go to the public.
[Starr:] Some of the women reported their attackers broke into their rooms. One says she was assaulted in a bathroom. Anu Bhagwati is consulting on the lawsuit.
[Anu Bhagwati, Executive Director, Service Women's Action Network:] The DOD has had decades to prove you know, to fix the system, and they've proven that they can't. They haven't done anything to change it so far. That culture of intimidation prevails.
[Starr:] Last year, more than 2,400 military women openly reported sexual assault. Commanders were notified, investigations began. That's a four percent decline from the previous year, but there were nearly 900 additional assault reports filed confidentially by women so traumatized they want their identities kept secret, an increase of five percent. The Pentagon wouldn't comment on the lawsuit. Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told CNN the department is doing all it can, adding, quote, "This is now a command priority, but we clearly still have more work to do." And there are two men who are also party to this lawsuit. They say they were sexually, viciously assaulted while they were on duty. They detailed those incidents, and commanders who they say failed to respond to them Jessica.
[Yellin:] And Barbara, bottom line, they're doing this outside the military chain of command because they're veterans now?
[Starr:] Well, right. Except for one person involved in all of this, they are all outside of the U.S. Military. But even inside the U.S. Military, I can tell you that there are people who say this still goes on, still a problem
[Yellin:] And the claim isn't
[Starr:] Jessica.
[Yellin:] And the claim is not just that they're assaulted but that the military does nothing about it?
[Starr:] That the military fails on on a unit level, on a commander level and at the Pentagon to really address these issues.
[Yellin:] Thanks so much, Barbara. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. President Obama says it is time to have an adult conversation in Washington, but are both sides is either side ready to be a grownup? Plus, Wal-Mart employees fired for disarming an alleged gunman? Ahead, the surprising outcome of a heroic act.