Bai Ling reveals dark memories of Chinese army (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Actress Bai Ling said she is confronting a dark chapter from her past: sexual abuse she suffered as a teenager at the hands of Chinese army officers.

Bai, 44, who was a soldier in a People's Liberation Army performance troupe from age 14 to 17, told The Associated Press in a recent interview that she was "opening a wound that was very secret to myself, that even my parents don't know."

Therapy she received during a U.S. reality TV series helped her understand what she endured in the 1980s and the psychological marks it left on her, Bai said.

She was pressed to have sex with her superiors, with one encounter leading to pregnancy and an abortion under an assumed name, Bai said, adding that other women serving with her in Tibet were also forced into sex and regularly plied with alcohol.

Bai stressed that she blames individual officers and not the Chinese government for events that have haunted her life and work.

The actress ("The Crow," "Red Corner," TV's "Entourage") said she worries about how her revelations on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew" will be received. The show, which airs Sunday, is in its fifth season.

"The only comfort is that I'm using this platform to help others. I know that my story is so powerful and honest and so simple," Bai said. "Even if I can help one child and make them feel they haven't been forgotten, that's the only comfort I have."

Bai "did go through something terrible and was able to access it and deal with it," said Dr. John Sharp, part of the "Celebrity Rehab" treatment team this season. He is a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and a practicing psychiatrist.

She had deflected memories of "these men who were sexually abusing her" so she wouldn't fall apart psychologically, Sharp said. "But when she got in to a safe place ... she was able to admit to herself what she'd been dealing with."

Until now, Bai said, she didn't even perceive her treatment by her army superiors as abuse: "Because of the Chinese culture of obedience, you don't ask questions. ... You follow and obey."

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman in Beijing said the government had "not heard of this report. This is not within our scope to comment." A call to the Ministry of National Defense was not immediately answered.

Her career and life have suffered because of the unaddressed torment of her army experience, she said. The actress has become known for eyebrow-raising remarks (she claims she is from the moon), a 2008 shoplifting allegation and wild, alcohol-fueled behavior — including flashes of nudity — that has made her a paparazzi target.

Anyone who has a drug or alcohol problem "was abused in some way and trying to hide," said Bai, who is writing a book about her youth, "Naked in Tibet."

She doesn't consider herself an alcoholic, instead she contends she is allergic to even small amounts of drink. As she talked, Bai referred to herself with unguarded, sweepingly dramatic descriptions. At times, she was tearful.

"I accidentally or innocently destroyed the beautiful Bai Ling that everybody loved, that beautiful, talented actress. Instead, the media bring me out as this crazy slut showing her nipples everywhere," she said. "I become this character the pop culture Hollywood machine created. Somehow, I become a victim to that image."

Bai said she decided to appear on "Celebrity Rehab" because of repeated entreaties by the show's producers. Others featured in the latest edition include former baseball player Dwight Gooden and actress Sean Young.

Within a three-month period this year, onetime participants "Grease" star Jeff Conaway and ex-Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr died, putting the show under a cloud. Host Drew Pinsky blamed Conaway's death on doctors' over-prescription of pain pills.

Bai said she appreciates the help she received through the show yet is "terrified" of public reaction to her candor. She's not drinking, Bai said, but is still struggling emotionally.

Her solace, she said, is that her story might "touch people's hearts" and help others.

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Associated Press writer Chi-Chi Zhang contributed to this report from Beijing.

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Father's Day Memories - Patch.com

With everybody's hectic schedules today, it's not always easy to remember to take the time to tell the people we love that we appreciate them. Though Father's Day may be a Hallmark holiday, it gives us the opportunity to stop what we are doing and devote time to Dad.

Today, Bristol-Warren Patch staff have taken the time to share fond memories with Dad, and we hope you will do the same. Leave your Father's Day shout-outs and memories in the comments section. 

Sara Bagwell, Editor -- To my dad, Randell Bagwell, Father's Day, and every other holiday is "just another day". He'll add, "It aint no big deal," in his Texas twang (he still has it though he's lived in Bristol for 22 years now) and go on with his day by mowing the lawn or napping on the couch. 

My dad is a former military man. As a man of few words with a daughter of many words, it can sometimes be difficult to see we're on the same playing field. But one memory of my father always stands out to me from when I was a kid. I must have been young because I only remember little blips from a day in October that we spent the whole day together. I remember going to buy hay and making a scarecrow in our front yard, playing games and mini golf at Fantasy Land and riding go-karts at Seekonk Grand Prix. I remember that after all that, I still wanted to go to the movies (clearly I had no understanding that these things cost money). Needless to say, it was getting late and we didn't make it to the movies, but the point is that I never wanted that day to end. 

Now the days fly by in an instant, ending before I feel like I've even gotten started. That day we spent together may have only been a few hours long, but it has stayed with me my whole life. I hope we can have more days like that, Dad.  I love you, and Happy Father's Day.

Mary Alexandre, Calendar Editor -- My dad Robert Beaudoin has been gone 16 years now. One of the best things about him was that he absolutely adored and respected my mother, and he of course, was the great love of her life - They were a classic World War II romance. 

My parents had eight children, and because I was the youngest I can't possibly remember this, but my mother says my father adored babies, from #1 through #8. Mind you, this was in an era when many men were "hands off" about babies, diapers and raising children.  My dad spent many a Saturday morning driving me to my riding lessons in Rehoboth, MA, from our house in Barrington, where I talked endlessly about horses, horses and more horses. Eventually, I probably became more interested in the boys that hung around the horses...and the riding lessons stopped. 

But some things I inherited from my father continue today:  I love flowers and the smell of mulch and dirt, probably from our trips to the old Primrose Hill Nursery in Barrington - just wish my snapdragons would bloom as nicely as his did!  Oddly, as I've gotten older I must be channeling those childhood trips to Benny's or Grossman's Lumber in Riverside because I enjoy a stroll around a hardware store.  Just wish I knew how to use all that stuff! 

My father died too young, at 73, but "Pepere" did live to see many of his grandchildren born.  I am also fortunate to have a father-in-law living in town, who has been a wonderful grandfather to my four girls. Happy Father's day to all, including my husband, who endures endless jokes because he is a man stuck in a house full of women - a wife, four daughters, and even two female dogs.

Leigh Medeiros, Reporter -- My father grew up in Bristol. He, his parents and six siblings lived in a tiny two bedroom house on State Street. I think the close quarters gave them all a real sense of family, generosity, and darn good senses of humor. My father can make an adventure out of the smallest thing like buying a dill pickle from an old-fashioned pickle barrel or making an instrument from an empty paper towel roll. He's an entertainer, a great dancer (from swing to zydeco), a skilled tradesman, a novice inventor, a movie goer, a cook and many other things. He's experienced all the ups and downs of life, but always manages to find something to get excited about. Happy Father's Day, Dad! I love you!

Ava Mascena, Contributor to the column, "Surviving High School" -- Thank you dad for always being there for me and waking me up for school every morning. I would be two hours late everyday if it wasn't for you ;D I love you Dad, Happy fathers day.

Cody Burnett, Reporter -- Thank you dad for all of the years that you have given me with the comfort of knowing that no matter how rough things may get I will always have an ally. You are the most trustworthy person that I know and with all of the countless people who put the reliance on you, I have never seen you falter. I have always and will always look up to you above anyone else. Watching how you live life has given me something to shoot for and if I am ever half of the person that you are then I have made it. I love you dad.

Alex Martel, Reporter -- Dad, Thanks for everything over the years. I appreciate more than you know; I recognize that I've been a piece of work at times and you've done a pretty good job of, well, doing whatever it is fathers do exactly. Being a guy who parents probably encapsulates it. Yeah, that's what we'll go with. Happy Father's Day.

Rebecca Nolan, Columnist -- I wrote this poem in 1995.  I was fresh out of high school and battling those coming of age issues and a whole lot more.  These are my father’s words as I heard them and so through my tough times they inspired me to write them in this poem.  These words, this poem, is embedded in my brain, gives me a solid foundation to stand on my own two feet and keep me moving forward, and so I would love to thank my Dad, Rick Folkes.

‘Til the End

Keep your head up girl
Don’t let them take you down
Even though you fall,
The world will still go ‘round

Hold your chin up now
And always through your pain
Because it’s bound to come,
You don’t have to let it stain

Keep that motion forward
Never take a look back
You could lose your balance
And end up way off track

Hold those stormy eyes wide
Take in all you see
Then continue on,
Know what you want to be

Walk with a smile darling
Don’t show them any fear
Though you may fall again,
Your angel’s always near

Happy Father's Day from Bristol-Warren Patch

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