Hey everyone,
There wil be a Warrior Writers workshop this Friday January 21st at 7pm at the Chicago IVAW office at 3411 W. Diversey.
This will be the first of two workshops before we take up residency at the Mess Hall in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood) in February for a few weeks. We'll be kicking that off with an art opening/reading event on February 19th. If you would like to get involved with Warrior Writers Chicago, come to the workshop or contact Pete, Iris, or Jim.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
To Cpt. Jason Ambrosino, Jeff Hanks is not alone.
Leadership: the act or instance of leading; providing direction, purpose, and motivation; selfless sacrifice.
The people do not serve the leader; the leader is a servant to the people.
Late last night I received an email stating Jeff Hanks will be deployed today, against his will at the command of Captain Jason Ambrosino, at 2100 hours.
Jeff Hanks is a 30 year-old, multi-deployment, infantryman struggling with PTSD/TBI and has not only had to fight the enemy over there, but battle his own chain of command for the medical treatment our veterans deserve at home. Captain Jason Ambrosino has not only played a crucial roll in denying him much needed medical care, but is now sending Jeff back to combat with complete disregard to his wellbeing and his family.
To catch up on Jeff Hanks situation go to:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8300-31727_162-10391695.html?keyword=jeff+hanks
This news lit a fire inside of me that brought with it memories of deployments and piss-poor leadership during my enlistment.
I was hesitant to volunteer for my third deployment in OEF (operation enduring freedom) because I was still shook up from the second one - PTSD wasn't talked about much in 2003 and I didn't yet realize I was traumatized from my second deployment.
My command gave it to me like this, "your going to Iraq or Afghanistan, your choice". I already knew the war in Afghanistan and had old battle buddies there. On top of that, I whole heartedly disagreed with the invasion of Iraq, so this was an easy decision for me at the time.
There were also new factors involved in this tour: I had recently been promoted to Sergeant and this time I had a squad to watch out for. I took this duty very seriously because serving was no longer about my personal convictions, it was about providing leadership and protecting those who followed me.
I had been assigned a few men and among them was a young latino private named Garcia, who had recently married. It was days before we were set to deploy and his family came to see him off.
Garcia told me his family would like to meet me, so I went over to his apartment one night for dinner. We ate and talked and as I was leaving his mother grabbed my arms with the ferocity of a mother bear protecting her cub and forced me to look into her tear-filled eyes saying, "you bring my mijo home alive Sergaent George". That was the only order I consciously followed during my third tour. I was 21.
I had marched myself into this personal and emotional hell twice already and felt a great deal of anxiety doing this to others. Every decision I made on the third tour revolved around creating the least amount of impact on those under me as possible. This involved volunteering us for every shit detail I could possibly find in-order to keep us inside the wire. I'd been out there and knew it was full of promises I couldn't keep.
That anxiety is what has me calling into question the competency of Captain Jason Ambrosino and the reason behind the small portion of the letter I have written, which can be read below:
To the attention of Captain Jason Ambrosino,
As an NCO, I gotta tell ya sir, this is not stellar leadership - it's borderline cruel and inhumane. Because of this, I, as a US citizen and veteran, feel you are unfit for duty and should be relieved of your command...
From one soldier to another,
Sgt. Jacob D. George (Airborne)
I will be sending this to Captain Jason Ambrosino and a handful of politicians. The reason for this action is as a citizen I feel we need to call for the removal of Jason Ambrosinos' commission. Our tax dollars pay for his appointed level of responsibility and this act is clearly irresponsible. We have a right to demand his removal and it's our duty as citizens to exercise this right.
If any of you out there feel compelled to join in on this action, below is the contact info for the unit and commander of Jeff Hanks.
Please take the time on this fateful Sunday to use your power as a citizen to support those brave enough to stand up and say Enough.
Contact for the Captain and unit:
CPT Jason Ambrosino
jason.ambrosino@us.army.mil
(270) 798-6517 or 7545 staff duty @ 1-32 CAV
(270) 798-6019 1st BDE, 101st ABN
The people do not serve the leader; the leader is a servant to the people.
Late last night I received an email stating Jeff Hanks will be deployed today, against his will at the command of Captain Jason Ambrosino, at 2100 hours.
Jeff Hanks is a 30 year-old, multi-deployment, infantryman struggling with PTSD/TBI and has not only had to fight the enemy over there, but battle his own chain of command for the medical treatment our veterans deserve at home. Captain Jason Ambrosino has not only played a crucial roll in denying him much needed medical care, but is now sending Jeff back to combat with complete disregard to his wellbeing and his family.
To catch up on Jeff Hanks situation go to:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8300-31727_162-10391695.html?keyword=jeff+hanks
This news lit a fire inside of me that brought with it memories of deployments and piss-poor leadership during my enlistment.
I was hesitant to volunteer for my third deployment in OEF (operation enduring freedom) because I was still shook up from the second one - PTSD wasn't talked about much in 2003 and I didn't yet realize I was traumatized from my second deployment.
My command gave it to me like this, "your going to Iraq or Afghanistan, your choice". I already knew the war in Afghanistan and had old battle buddies there. On top of that, I whole heartedly disagreed with the invasion of Iraq, so this was an easy decision for me at the time.
There were also new factors involved in this tour: I had recently been promoted to Sergeant and this time I had a squad to watch out for. I took this duty very seriously because serving was no longer about my personal convictions, it was about providing leadership and protecting those who followed me.
I had been assigned a few men and among them was a young latino private named Garcia, who had recently married. It was days before we were set to deploy and his family came to see him off.
Garcia told me his family would like to meet me, so I went over to his apartment one night for dinner. We ate and talked and as I was leaving his mother grabbed my arms with the ferocity of a mother bear protecting her cub and forced me to look into her tear-filled eyes saying, "you bring my mijo home alive Sergaent George". That was the only order I consciously followed during my third tour. I was 21.
I had marched myself into this personal and emotional hell twice already and felt a great deal of anxiety doing this to others. Every decision I made on the third tour revolved around creating the least amount of impact on those under me as possible. This involved volunteering us for every shit detail I could possibly find in-order to keep us inside the wire. I'd been out there and knew it was full of promises I couldn't keep.
That anxiety is what has me calling into question the competency of Captain Jason Ambrosino and the reason behind the small portion of the letter I have written, which can be read below:
To the attention of Captain Jason Ambrosino,
As an NCO, I gotta tell ya sir, this is not stellar leadership - it's borderline cruel and inhumane. Because of this, I, as a US citizen and veteran, feel you are unfit for duty and should be relieved of your command...
From one soldier to another,
Sgt. Jacob D. George (Airborne)
I will be sending this to Captain Jason Ambrosino and a handful of politicians. The reason for this action is as a citizen I feel we need to call for the removal of Jason Ambrosinos' commission. Our tax dollars pay for his appointed level of responsibility and this act is clearly irresponsible. We have a right to demand his removal and it's our duty as citizens to exercise this right.
If any of you out there feel compelled to join in on this action, below is the contact info for the unit and commander of Jeff Hanks.
Please take the time on this fateful Sunday to use your power as a citizen to support those brave enough to stand up and say Enough.
Contact for the Captain and unit:
CPT Jason Ambrosino
jason.ambrosino@us.army.mil
(270) 798-6517 or 7545 staff duty @ 1-32 CAV
(270) 798-6019 1st BDE, 101st ABN
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