had no idea what they were signing up for. well, nearly half a century later, some of these human guinea pigs are emerge ing from the shadows with disturbing stories about what the military did to them then and how they're being treated now. dr. sanjay gupta investigates. >> i enlisted. joined at 18 years of age. it was the height of the vietnam war era and really felt a sense of duty to my country to go and serve. >> i went straight to ft. bragg. it was just the thing to do. that was my obligation, my duty as an american. >> i was drafted and sent to ft. sill and placed in the 85th missile detachment. we were supposed to be security guards for the nuclear warheads that were to go on the missiles. >> reporter: three american soldiers. tim josephs, frank rochelle,

bill blazinzki. call to arms nearly a half century ago from different backgrounds, about to share an experience that would change each of their lives at edson arsenal military base in maryland. >> a couple of doctors came and gave a presentation. >> they presented it as, not everyone would be chosen. >> there would be a guaranteed three-day pass every weekend. >> three-day passes are the rule. >> no duties, no guard duties, no kitchen police. >> this is what we filled out. they asked you about your criminal background, if you drank, asked you about your parents. they ask you about your brothers and your sisters. killy questions, like, did you like your mother better than you did your father? >> i took the test and got chosen and you got a couple days off at home and reported to edgewood for two months. >> reporter: when you got chosen, were you excited? >> yes. i was glad to go. it was like a plum assignment. you would get all the weekends off. and the idea was that they would test new army field jackets,

clothing, weapons. things of that nature, but no mention of any drugs or chemicals. >> in the beginning, that's what we were told we would be doing testing equipment not testing drugs. >> reporter: but edgewood arsenal was testing drugs beginning in 1955. >> this is edgewood arsenal. the united states chemical commodities center. >> reporter: this was the cold war. and the united states wanted defenses against a possible soviet chemical attack. >> psychochemical attack may come in the form of an explosion, an invisible vapor, a cloud of smoke. we do not know -- >> reporter: the u.s. was also developing psychochemical weapons of its own. >> here's a group of normal soldiers responding correctly to a group of routine drill commands. after receiving a small dose of lsd, they're confused and undisciplined. >> reporter: edgewood arsenal was where much of the research took place.

using men like tim josephs. >> when i got there, it did not look like a military base, more like a hospital. >> reporter: describe it. what was it that you saw? >> everyone's in lab coats. some military doctors, i guess, and some were civilian doctors. but they were well aware that you were a private and they were captain and up. and i expressed my concern right from the beginning. they took me aside and said, you volunteered for this. if you don't do it, there's most likely prison and a dishonorable discharge. >> reporter: you were intimidated? >> yes. >> reporter: 0ersed? >> yes. >> reporter: forced? >> forced. >> reporter: you didn't sign up for this? >> no, not at all. >> i reported up there september the 3rd. that started my ordeal. i trusted my gove. i trusted the army. we were assured that we would

not be harmed in any way. >> reporter: they said, don't worry. was that the right message for them to be giving you? >> not at all. >> reporter: you trusted them? >> sure. >> reporter: how about now? >> i don't trust them very much at this point. >> reporter: and there's good reason for that. the army was testing substances ranging from lsd to nerve gas on human subjects. coming up -- >> private sadrogny received a high dose of the incapacitating agent. in 15 minutes, he won't be able to focus his eyes properly. >> reporter: what went on behind closed doors in the army's top secret testing program, edgewood arsenal. and the health problems these veterans say followed them from edgewood and haunt them to this day. so... [ gasps ]

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during the cold war, the u.s. military launched a top secret program to see what sometimes dangerous chemicals could do to the body and the mind. veterans of these tests say they faced health problems long after the drugs wore off.

and, they say, the government has not lived up to its promise to take care of them. here again, dr. sanjay gupta. >> these are the men of baker company. a special volunteer troop detachment at edgewood arsenal, maryland. >> reporter: for 18-year-old army private tim josephs, the tests started almost as soon as he arrived at edgewood. home to a top secret military testing program using human subjects. >> sometimes it was an injection. other times it was a pill. >> reporter: did they tell you what it is? >> the drugs or chemicals were referred to as agent 1 or agent 2. one test i was involved with, i was pretty much out of it all day and that afternoon, i woke up with parkinson's symptoms immediately. >> reporter: so, you had tremor -- >> and aching in this limbs and arms, a numbness.

>> in this flask is a compound called cs. >> reporter: bill was exposed to cs, tear gas, three times at edgewood. >> the gas chamber looks familiar from the first test i was in. >> reporter: this army film shows volunteers in the gas chamber at edgewood, exposed to cs. >> the effects were apparent almost as once. >> your eyes water, your nose runs, your skin burns. you start throwing up. it's a real mess. >> reporter: in another test, he received an injection before being taken to a room with padded walls, like this one. >> i'm sitting in the bed looking at the wall, looking at it and it starts fluttering like the flag does. >> careful control of these chamber tests resulted in a dose of only two parts per million. >> reporter: frank tested a similar drug in aerosol form. >> i leaned over into a face mask and inhaled and exhaled. >> a low dose of agent was fed into the mixing bowl.

>> reporter: this army film shows a soldier at edgewood named carpenter undergoing the same kind of test. >> within an hour, carpenter's hands will feel cold, his face hot. borderline hallucinations will come late in the experiment. >> reporter: like the soldier in the film, frank experienced hallucinations. >> people were calling my name and there was nobody around. there were animals coming out of the walls. it appeared all my freckles were bugs on my skin. i took a razor and i tried to cut some of them out. >> what was this business over here? lying down and looking at the wall? >> reporter: in all, some 7,000 military volunteers or more were part of chemical tests at edgewood from 1955 to 1975. the military tested at least 250 chemical and biological agents during the cold war, including potentially lethal nerve agents like vx and serin,

incapacitating drugs like bz, bb a r, tranquilizers, narcotics and hallucinogens. this army film shows soldiers performing drills under the influence of lsd. >> notice the volunteer who saluting seven times, five minutes later, it ends his participation in the tests. >> reporter: army volunteers were ordered not to tell anyone what had happened at edgewood. >> the thing about this program, you were told up front, you don't talk about this, you don't tell nobody about it. we couldn't even talk to our doctors. we couldn't even talk to our physicians. >> it was hammered into us we were never supposed the talk about this. it was top secret. >> reporter: these days blazinsky says he's suffering from inflammatory bowel disease and a candidate of the blood.

>> i have breathing problems and nightmares. i still remember and think about the tests. >> reporter: tim josephs has parkinson's disease, a condition that forced him to retire early. >> the whole thing stinks. americans, if they knew about it, would not tolerate it. this kind of behavior toward our veterans, they would not allow it to happen. >> reporter: this attorney is suing the department of defense and veteran affairs on behalf of the edgewood veterans. what do you hope to get for them, in an ideal situation? >> they're going to get nothing for themselves out of this case, other than perhaps medical care. they not going to get any money. they wanted proper notice of the substances they received, doses and health effects. many were never notified of anything. they were mistreated and don't want to let this be swept under the rug and have everyone die and never see the light of day. that's why they're doing it. >> reporter: we wanted to talk about the lawsuit with the v.a.

and defense department. we declined to talk on camera citing pending litigation. they gave us a statement instead. "the department of defense has made it a priority to identify all service members exposed to chemical and biological substances. and the v.a. has offered free medical evaluation to thousands of veterans." >> on the fighting front, ground action has been quiet today. but the v.a. has denied almost all edgewood related health claims. >> our government has not fulfilled their duty. they have a duty to find and recognize every person and they got a duty to give them medical treatment. >> they're hoping that we die off. you apply, you get turned on an it just goes on for years and

years. and they want to wear us down. they want to use young men as guinea pigs and throw them away. >> it's worth reemphasizing the edgewood veterans are not asking for money specifically. and although there are many delays in a case like, in part because of the difficulty tracking down old documents from so many years ago, it is likely to go to trial next year. up next, another form of injustice. veterans from iraq and afghanistan back home and living on the streets. a party? [ music plays, record skips ] hi, i'm new ensure clear. clear, huh? my nutritional standards are high. i'm not juice or fancy water, i'm different. i've got nine grams of protein. twist my lid. that's three times more than me! twenty-one vitamins and minerals and zero fat! hmmm. you'll bring a lot to the party. [ all ] yay! [ female announcer ] new ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. twenty-one vitamins and minerals.

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i'm poppy harlow. here are tonight's headlines. bad news for the president of syria. one of his most senior officials has defected and now he is talking. he was, until a few days ago, the syrian ambassador to iraq. not anymore. he left his post, fled to another country and now supporting the rebels trying to throw out president bashir al assad. >> translator: the regime in syria is a totalitarian regime and a dictatorship. there is only one person who gives the orders, one person who is the president. >> he talked exclusively with cnn from his secure location in qatar. syria's opposition is calling on president barack obama to intervene in their fight, whether it hurts his re-election prospects or not. activists say he cannot wait for election day to prevent the violence. this plea comes on a day when

the capital, damascus, saw its heaviest fighting yet. 50 people were killed in syria today according to activists. hillary clinton's trip to egypt did not end well. the secretary of state's motorcade was pelted with tomatoes and shoes. the mob also chanted "monica" at the secretary of state. some protesters accuse the u.s. of taking sides in the egyptian presidential election. clinton met with the newly elected president and encouraged him to keep pursuing reforms in the country. those are the headlines this hour. cnn, the most trusted name in news. for far too many americans, the street is their home. a life bad enough for anyone but unforgivable when the struggling men and women have already risked their lives for their country. there are more than 8,000 homeless veterans living in los angeles alone. surprising when you consider there's a plot of land there,

nearly 400 acres that was donated, free, just to build a home for vets. as dr. sanjay gupta discovers, that land could have helped a vet he met in l.a. >> reporter: you're young. how old are you in. >> 22. almost 23. >> reporter: almost 23. and you are from this area originally? >> san fernando valley. just over the hill. >> reporter: fresh out of high school, robert rissman signed up to fight for his country. what makes an 1-year-old join the army? >> i wanted to go to college and make something of myself and the army said they'd pay for it. >> reporter: contract. serve my country but then my country is going to serve me. >> right. that's kind of what i was hoping for, yeah. >> reporter: where did it fall apart? it began to fall apart in iraq. you you a things you don't want to talk about. you probably never want to talk about. >> no.

>> reporter: the war was winding down. robert's uniwas busy with patrols. a close friend died in a bridge collapse. >> i got back from iraq and i was having a lot of psychological issues. i guess you could say. >> reporter: pros traumatic stress? >> posttraumatic stress. >> reporter: back home at ft. carson in colorado, he started feeling like people were out to get him. a few months later, someone discovered robert's illegal sawed off shotgun hidden in his barracks. according to army papers, robert told investigators he was suicidal. at one point, he spent a full day drink, than sat on the side of the bed with the end of the gun in his mouth. >> i wish sometimes that i had died in iraq. so that my life would have meant something, you know? >> reporter: forced to quit the army, robert ended up homeless. >> i went through some pretty

bad times when i first got out. i was doing a lot of methamphetamines, my drug of choice. i was smoking a lot of dope and i was getting in with some rough crowds. >> reporter: and many of those rough crowds were made up of people just like robert. returning veterans. as many as 1 in 3 soldiers returning from iraq of afghanistan suffered from traumatic brain injury, severe depression, substance abuse or ptsd. >> i was dealing with other people that weren't so nice. i -- >> reporter: was that weird for you to hear? >> yeah, that's really uncomfortable. >> reporter: what happens when you hear a noise like that? >> it startles me a little bit, but -- i know it's a truck. >> reporter: you see it everywhere you look. ex-soldiers like robert are desperate for steady care and

for stable housing. so i was stunned to hear about a piece of property in west los angeles, stet aside for this very purpose. for veterans, for long-term housing. and it's real rattly across the street from the v.a. hospital. the story here actually dates back all the way to the 1880s. back then, the government wanted to create facilities for aging veterans of the civil war. so, former senator john p. jones and his friend, a glamorous heiress, decided to donate all of this land. now, back then, it was mostly ranchland. but today, just a few miles from the pacific ocean, it is some of the most valuable real estate in all of north america. >> it was solely an act of good will, an act of trying to take care of the veterans they had from the spanish american war and the civil war.

karolina barry is descended from the heiress who made this gift. and is part of a lawsuit against the v.a., filed by the american civil libber tips union. the original deed includes a condition the land be used to establish and maintain a branch of a national home for disabled vets and a permanent home for thousands is exactly what it was. >> they had their post office. they had a trolley system that went all the way downtown to the beach. everything was provided for them. they had a special uniform. it was a marvelous place to live. the grounds were gorgeous. i mean, they were just gorgeous. >> reporter: mark rosenbaum is the lead attorney for the aclu. >> at one point, this campus housed as many as 4,000 veterans. beginning with the vietnam war era, the vets were kicked out, literally kicked out. >> reporter: around 200 veterans live on the property today. but none of them in perm innocent housing.

alongside them, empty buildings. a public golf course. a variety of private businesses, like a theater and a bus depot. >> this land has been utilized for enterprise rent-a-car, marriott hotels. for ucla baseball, for exclusive private schools. they know what this land's about. >> reporter: with veterans sleeping on l.a. streets, i decided to head to the v.a. to see why this land isn't used for their housing. people have said, look, that property is not being used for that purpose. is that a legitimate beef? used , there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%,

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we've been investigating a story in los angeles where there are more than 8,000 veterans without a home. really surprising when you consider there's land there specifically set aside to house homeless vets. why isn't that happening? dr. sanjay gupta went to l.a. to find out. >> reporter: i wanted answers, for men like robert rissman. he's a 22-year-old former soldier. and now a recovering drug adduct. he was diagnosed with ptsd. he's in transitional housing with no idea what comes next. he's just trying to get back on his feet. >> i had to steal food at one point because i had too much pride to ask anyone. i still have that kind of pride. >> reporter: for vets like robert, the aclu filed suit to try to force the v.a. to build housing on 400 acres of land that it was given back in 1888.

at first we called the head of the v.a. they said, look, we can't comment on pending litigation. we called the department of justice, whose lawyers are handling the case, and they said they can't talk about it, either. finally the v.a. called us back and said their chief of staff wants to sit down and talk with me to tell us what they're doing to help homeless vets. >> we added 700 emergency housing and transitional housing beds. they hav mental health programs, substance abuse programs. >> reporter: they also have something else. they're known as rent vouchers. >> which enable us to put veterans in permanent housing. >> reporter: in los angeles, each voucher, just for vet traps, is worth more than $1,100 a month. this year, dr. norman says the los angeles v.a. has given out 2,000. of course, that's 2,000 vouchers for more than 8,000 homeless veterans.

doing the math, there's not enough of these vouchers, obviously. if they all called you the day after this airs. >> well, it would be shocking. it would be wonderful. and we will figure out a way to give them emergency and transitional housing. >> reporter: if they're hearing you right now, what would be their next step? >> the easiest thing is to show up. >> reporter: just show up? >> show up at the front door. we have a variety of numbers. i'm afraid to give you my secretary's number but i will. questions in los angeles, 3 10e 310-268-3284. >> reporter: i did wonder how many of the homeless vets were, in fact, seeing this. how many could even find a phone? there's been a lot made of this property about a block away from here around 400 acres designed for veterans, it was to provide housing for veterans and people have said, look, that property is not being used for that purpose. what of that?

i mean, is that a legitimate beef? >> well, speaking for the agency and you know that's under litigation right now so i can't even comment on that. the v.a. will say that we are going to end homelessness by 2015. >> well, they've been saying that for decades. but the most interesting thing is that the lawyer for the v.a. walked into a federal courtroom and said, we think this case should be thrown out of court. we don't think there's a basis for the v.a. to have to provide housing. >> reporter: this is the lawyers on the v.a. side. and they're the ones that are raising the flag, says, look, we're not sure this is possible, as a starting point. >> again, i can't comment on the litigation. i wish i could, but i can't. >> reporter: you think it's possible? >> i think we have the resources with the community to end homelessness of veterans in los angeles. that, we do. >> reporter: robert rissman, who is not part of the lawsuit, says he hopes it gets resolved before

his housing placement runs out. and he's back out on the street. you want a new life? >> i want to get a degree. i want to graduate from college. i want to get a good paying job. buy a house, you know? the right things. >> in march, the federal judge said he would let the lawsuit go forward and said the government does have a responsibility to provide housing for vets. the government is appealing the decision. as for robert, we understand he's still doing well. he's still in the same transitional housing. he continues to take college classes. and it looks like he's putting his life back together. coming up, kyra phillips exclusive investigation into allegations of rape at the nation's most prestigious military academies.

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in a high-risk area, there's a 1-in-4 chance homes like us will flood. i'm glad i got flood insurance. fred, you should look into it. i'm a risk-taker. [ female announcer ] only flood insurance covers floods. visit floodsmart.gov/risk to learn your risk. i'm poppy harlow and here are tonight's headlines. an american pastor kidnapped in egypt apparently had no idea he was traveling was a very dangerous area. michel louis was abducted with a parishioner and his tour guide. his son talked with randi kaye today about his ordeal and how it is taking a toll on all of them, especially the pastor's wife. >> it was all of a sudden. and i just -- she even right now seems like a dream to her. a nightmare.

also, a video on facebook that showed the brutal beating of a 62-year-old has now led to murder charges. chicago police charged a 16-year-old gang member with first degree murder in the death of delfino mora. the disabled man was collecting cans in an alley when he was attacked. a fellow gang member filmed that attack and put it on the facebook wall of the suspect. a huge portion of the united states is being strangled by drought right now. it's threatening everything from crops to cattle. 1,000 counties spanning 26 states are now considered drought disaster areas. eventually you'll likely see the effects in higher food prices. tom vilsack says the expiration of some existing programs has deeply hurt the farmers. and police arrested nba star jason kidd early today in southampton, new york.

they say the newly signed new york knick was drunk and crashed his cadillac escalade into a telephone pole. doctors treated him for minor injuries at a hospital. kidd signed a reported three-year, $9.5 million deal just on thursday. those are the headlines this hour. keeping you informed. cnn, the most trusted name in news. the secretary of defense, leon panetta, recently announced new aggressive policies to combat sexual assault in the military. zero tolerance is the message from the pentagon's top commander. but ground zero for battling the growing problem may start at the nation's most prestigious military academies. reports of sexual assaults at the academies rose by nearly 60% in the past year. and out of the 65 cases reported, only one resulted in court-martial. that's why two young women say they're coming forward in a

lawsuit they allege they were raped in their very first year at the academy. tonight, they speak exclusively to kyra phillips. >> reporter: west point. the naval academy. the air force academy. prestigious military institutions, tasked with training future officers ethically, spiritually and morallies. but for these high school honor students, their experience would be far different. >> i remember him turning off the lights and me asking, what are you doing? >> in the middle of the night, i did come to, and he was on top of me. >> reporter: carly marquette and annie kensiore say they were raped. raped by fellow classmates they trusted and ignored, they say, by a chain of command that

promised their parents they'd be protected. >> and nobody. not a ing isle person, not one, was looking out for her best interest. >> come on, carly! >> reporter: carly mar kelt was not your typical teenage girl. that's her, cage fighting at 18. >> that's it, carly. >> reporter: an all-star rug by player. a championship swimmer. an honor student. carly could have gone to college anywhere. what was it about west point that drew you to that academy? >> just knowing you have your future set, having that structure and discipline, at the same time, having people look at you like, wow, you're doing something great for our country. >> reporter: her sister was a mid-shipman at the naval academy. her father, a marine. to carly, they were heroes. everything she wanted to be. do you think west point let you

down? >> yeah. i wanted to be there. it was my dream. >> reporter: a dream that was shattered her first year, when an upper classman showed up at her door to talk girl troubles. >> i kind of felt a little cool an upper classman wanted to be friends with me and was seeking my advice. >> reporter: after sharing a drink, carly says he convinced her to come to his room. since he was an upper classman, she trusted him. >> i remember getting more and more intoxicated. my judgment really started to become impaired. i remember him turning off the lights and me asking, what are you doing? and then he proceeded to rape me. >> reporter: carly says she woke up disoriented, in physical pain and afraid to come forward. >> i was scared it was going to

ruin my career. i was scared if i said anything, that there would constantly be a target on my back. i reached out to people and they weren't there. i just didn't want to leave my room. i mean, he was right across the hall. >> reporter: and you still had to work under him, take out his trash. >> yes. >> reporter: why? >> it was part of our duties. >> reporter: chain of command? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: chain of happened. military ranks where senior students have authority over the one immediately below. so everyday, carly had to face the man she says raped her. but weeks later, carly finally found the courage to come forward. she filed a report and requested an investigation. >> the reason i ended up telling someone is because i didn't want that to happen to anyone else.

>> reporter: annie describes herself as a girly girl who never imagined joining the military. an honor student and one of the best high school soccer players in the country, she was heavily recruited by top ivy league schools. but the naval academy was the most convincing. >> all their graduates that graduated from the soccer team went on, became pilots and marine officers and it just sounded like -- women that are so powerful and so well well-respected. i wanted to be that woman. >> reporter: annie's goal was to fly f-18s. it wasn't long after arriving she realized that wasn't going to happen. >> i could tell there was definitely a bias towards the women. i mean, you're a female entering into a fraternity, a giant frat. >> reporter: annie says there were no derogatory names for the men. but for the women? they were called dubs.

what does dub mean? >> a dumb ugly bitch. >> reporter: were you called a dub? >> every girl was called a dub. >> reporter: it was definitely a different culture and annie felt out of place. when she got invited to go to an off-campus party, she was in. >> i was, okay, cool, college, i can finally live the college life one night. >> reporter: but annie says she had way too much to drink. so, when a fellow mid-shipman offered her a place to crash, she accepted. >> i was like, okay, it will be fine, i trust you. you're upper class. that's what they teach you, trust the upper class. reporter: so, tell me what happened once he took you back to the room. >> i laid down and went to sleep. at one part in the middle of the night, i did come to and he was on top of me. and i remember saying no, but then i just passed back out again. >> reporter: annie was afraid to come forward. why were you scared?

>> i didn't want to be the girl that got the athlete kicked out because we had been told stories about how that had happened in the past. i didn't want to be that next story. >> reporter: for two years, annie battled depression and thoughts of suicide. she had a secret she couldn't keep anymore. and finally called her father. >> and he said, i was raped. and i couldn't breathe. >> reporter: still ahead. the battle to change the system. how do you get it through these men's heads, if they rape, they will pay the price? a party?

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in a recently filed lawsuit, allegations of rape at west point and the naval academy. two young women say they risked their careers to come forward and request an investigation. they wanted the men they say raped them to be prosecuted. one year later, they're still waiting. kyra phillips continues their our investigation. >> reporter: when carly marquette came forward to say she was raped at west point, she

believed her case would be investigated. >> i remember the investigators meeting with my parents and they promised my parents that if he wasn't going to jail, they could at least get him kicked out of west point with the evidence they had. >> reporter: but he's still there? >> but he's still there. >> reporter: annie says she, too, believed her allegations of rape would be investigated. >> i was like, great, they're going to get him. good. >> reporter: but carly and annie say they're alleged perpetrators were never punished. so, now they've filed a lawsuit. naming former secretary of defense, robert gates, the former superintendents of west point and the naval academy. secretary of the navy, ray maybis and secretary of the army, john mccue. they claim there was limited support from commanders and

failure to ensure sexual predators were prosecuted and incarcerated for their crimes. carly and annie are not alone. reports of sexual assault at the academies are up nearly 60%. and of the 65 reports investigated last year, only one resulted in a court-martial. >> i ache for those former cadet mid-shipmen who have had their lives torn up. it shouldn't be that way. >> reporter: congresswoman jackie spear has gone to the house floor 19 times. >> we need to overhaul this system. >> reporter: commanding that congress and the military change the way sexual assaults are prosecuted. >> you report everything through your chain of command. so, i'm raped. i go to my commander and say, i've been raped.

my commander can say to me, i'm not going to pursue this. or take an aspirin and go to bed. as long as it's going to be in the chain of command, there's always going to be a conflict. >> reporter: her bill, "the stop act," would take investigations away from the campaign of command and turn them over to an impartial council of civilian and military experts. >> if you're not going to have your assailant prosecuted, why would you want to come forward? because you are basically setting yourself up to lose your career in the military. >> reporter: spear says for years her calls to action have gone unanswered. until leon panetta took office. >> they have to do their damndest to make sure these people are brought to justice and that's the only way we're going to try to prevent this in the future is to show that people can't get away with it. >> reporter: how do you get it through these men's heads, if they rape, they will pay the price? >> this place operates by

command authority and it has to begin at the top and the message has to go down to the bottom. >> reporter: still, panetta will not take investigations away from the chain of command. but he is changing the rules. announcing new initiatives, just one week after our interview. >> what i will do is change the way these cases are handled in the military. >> reporter: here's what panetta is doing differently. he created a special victims unit to investigate sexual assaults. now, instead of slowly making their way up the chain of command, all cases will begin at the level of colonel. >> everybody has to do due diligence. commanders, like i said, have bosses. if that commander is not doing their job, you relieve their butts of command. >> reporter: major general mary kay herring to heads the sexual assault prevention office. >> you have to look at it seriously. i want our victims to come forward.

>> reporter: but the changes in policy come too late for carly marquette and annie kensiore. their military careers are over. >> that hurts me to hear that. because we betrayed their trust and we didn't take care of them and we need to do a much better job. >> reporter: according to the lawsuit, as a result of the rape, carly became depressed an suicidal. unable to handle the stress of seeing her alleged perpetrator every day. carly resigned from west point. >> it was like i felt like a blemish. >> reporter: because they knew you reported the rape? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: annie says she, too, became suicidal. she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and according to her lawsuit, was then forced to leave the academy. >> it hurts the message that we're trying to get out there. >> reporter: because of privacy issues, panetta couldn't command

specifically on carly and an knee's cases, but he does make clear that blaming the victim needs to stop. >> personality disorder? academic separation? >> i think that's part of the syndrome that we're dealing with, which is once a decision is made, that somehow this prosecution is not going to move forward. then you basically turn on the victim, who brought that complaint and try to do everything possible to make sure that victim doesn't hang around. or really diminish them by somehow accusing them of having psychological problems. that syndrome is what we have to break out of. >> reporter: and for carly and annie, if coming forward helps with that mission, they want to be apart of the battle. >> i know with at least one person coming forward, there will be others that one day will come forward and say something. >> because then they might get their perpetrators put behind bars, which is where they should be. >> west point and the naval

academy say they couldn't comment on the allegations, because of privacy issues. both women have requested copies of their case files. to learn more about why the men they say raped them, are still in the military. well, that's it for this edition of "cnn prevents." we leave you now with a preview of the next "cnn presents." >> this is my life and this is what i do. i feel like i'm so close, like, i can feel it in my bones. i just want it so bad. >> it's 100% serious for us. >> get to test ourself now against the whole world. >> this is the last great domain of men. >> so, the olympics is a goal? >> big goal. it's huge. i want to win.

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