Off to War
Page 14
All of this has made me see the world differently. When I was at Starbucks a while ago, a woman came in wearing an army uniform and using crutches. It made me feel really bad because she was hurt and maybe she got hurt in the war and her family was probably really worried about her. It’s made me think of the world beyond myself.
Glossary
AWOL – Absent without leave. Leaving one’s military post without permission.
Battalion – A large body of troops, with a total of roughly 1,000 individuals.
Boot camp – Slang for Basic Training, the initial weeks-long training undergone by everyone when they first enter the military.
Bunker – A hiding place reinforced to withstand explosions and gunfire.
Burqa – A garment some women wear in Afghanistan. It covers the head and drapes down loosely over the body, leaving just a small screen over the eyes.
Cadets – In Canada, it’s an organization for young people ages twelve to eighteen, sponsored by the military. Cadets do pre-military training, outdoor activities, fitness, leadership and other activities. There is no cost to join, and no obligation to join the military after. The United States equivalent is Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC).
Camouflage – A way of dressing to blend in with the surroundings.
Camp Bucca – A US-run prison camp in southern Iraq, holding roughly 10,000 Iraqi detainees. Both Iraqis and Americans have been killed in riots there.
Canex – General store on a Canadian military base.
Commissary – Food and general goods store on a military base.
Deployment – When a soldier is sent on duty, often overseas.
Desert Storm – The first Gulf War, in 1991, to drive Iraqi troops out of Kuwait.
Detainee – Someone being held in detention, with or without being charged or tried.
Enlist – Voluntarily join the military, rather than being forced or drafted.
Green Zone – A heavily fortified safety zone in the middle of Baghdad, also known as Little America.
Guantanamo – A US army base in Cuba, currently a prison for those the US government suspects of being a threat.
Insurgents – A term covering all forces that are fighting Coalition Forces in
Iraq or Afghanistan, whether they are Iraqi nationalists or Al Qaeda, who have very different reasons for opposing the occupation.
LAV – Light armored vehicle.
M16 – Assault rifles used by the US military.
Mat tech – Material technician.
Muslim – A follower of the Islamic faith.
National Guard – A military person who pledges allegiance to their state as well as to their federal government, who can be called out to provide additional military strength or to assist in a state or federal emergency. 9/11 – September 11, 2001, the day that planes attacked the Pentagon in Washington (the headquarters of the US military) and the World Trade Center in New York City.
Opium – An illegal drug made from poppies, grown in Afghanistan and other places.
OPP – Ontario Provincial Police.
PX – General store on a US military base.
Rangers – US troops trained in special operations (i.e., behind enemy lines) and to move swiftly in small units.
Reserves – Military personnel who also hold civilian jobs but who can be called into active duty when needed.
Reveille – A wake-up call played on a bugle.
Ruck march – A long march with a heavy ruck sack, often used in training.
Shrapnel – A piece of metal or other material that flies about during an explosion, and can become embedded in someone’s body.
Suicide bomber – Someone who straps explosives to herself or himself and enters the territory of their enemy to kill themselves and as many others as they can at the same time.
Taliban – The army that took over Afghanistan in September, l996, filling the void created by the civil war with repression and regression.
Taps – A goodnight signal in the military, played on a bugle.
Terrorist – The name given to someone outside an officially recognized government who uses violence to achieve their aims.
Tour – As in tour of duty, a term describing a length of deployment to a war zone.
Veteran – Someone who has retired from serving in the armed forces.
For Further Information
Esprit de Corps (a magazine in support of Canadian military personnel), 1066 Somerset Street West, Suite 204, Ottawa, ON K1Y 4T3 www.espritdecorps.ca
GI Rights Hotline (provides legal information on the rights and responsibilities of those who join the military) 1-877-447-4487 www.girightshotline.org
Homes for Our Troops (provides specially adapted homes for severely injured troops at no cost to their families), 37 Main Street, Taunton, MA 02780 1-866-7-TROOPS www.homesforourtroops.org
Miles Foundation (provides assistance to victims of violence associated with the military), P.O. Box 423, Newtown, CT 06470-0423 203-270-7861
Military Child Education Coalition/MCEC (provides support and resources for educators, parents and students around issues affecting children of military parents), 108 East FM 2410, Suite D, P.O. Box 2519, Harker Heights, TX 76548-2519 254-953-1923 www.MilitaryChild.org
Military Families Speak Out (organization of military families opposed to the war in Iraq), P.O. Box 300549, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 617-983-0710 www.mfso.org
Military Family Resource Center (provides support and resources for military families in the US; in Canada there are family resource centers on individual military bases), CS4, Suite 302, Room 309, 1745 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202-3424 703-602-4964
Military Spouse (a magazine by and for military spouses and their families) www.milspouse.com
Military Wives Sisterhood (a support organization for military spouses in Canada) www.militarywivessisterhood.com
Mission Rejected: US Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq by Peter Laufer, Chelsea Green Publishers, 2006
My Love, My Life: An Inside Look at the Lives of Those Who Love and Support Our Military Men and Women by Dianne Collier, Creative Bound, Inc. 2004
National Guard Child and Youth Program (provides advice and opportunities for children of National Guard members) www.GuardFamilyYouth.org
National Military Family Association/NMFA (an organization that promotes the interests and rights of American military families) www.nmfa.org
National Youth and Militarism Program, American Friends Service Committee (provides alternative information to young people thinking of joining the military), 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 www.afsc.org/youthmil/
Operation Paperback (an organization that sends books to troops overseas) www.operationpaperback.org
Operational Stress Injury Social Support/OSISS (a peer support network for veterans and their families) www.osiss.ca
Our Military Kids (funds activities for kids of deployed and injured Reserve and National Guard members), 6861 Elm Street, Suite 2-A, McLean, VA 22101 1-866-691-6654 www.OurMilitaryKids.org
Student Deployment by Elizabeth Moar, illustrated by Pat Devine, Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency www.cfpsa.com/en/psp/dmfs/pdfs/StudentDep_e.pdf
Surviving Deployment: A Guide for Military Families by Karen M. Pavlicin, Elva Resa Publishing, 2003
Veterans Against the Iraq War (an organization of military personnel who have served in Iraq and who oppose the war there) www.vaiw.org
Veterans Village (an organization that is working to establish a center for veterans suffering from war trauma) www.veteransvillage.org
Yellow Ribbon Fund (assists injured service members and their families), 7200 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 310, Bethesda, MD 20814 www.yellowribbonfund.com
Acknowledgments
I would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the many people who played a role in bringing this book together. In addition to the many families who allowed me to talk with their kids, I would like to
thank Dianne Collier, Gina Stewart, Nadia McAffrey, Gayle Raynor, Patty Warren, Michelle Belec, Mary Ann Ricard, Susan Harrison, Mandi Hein, Lisa Ferguson, Harrison L. Sarles (Department of the Army, Office of Public Affairs), and my editor, Shelley Tanaka, who pulled it all together.
Coming soon from Groundwood Books
Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees
by Deborah Ellis
A car bomb exploded outside my school. The glass walls of the passageway shattered all around me. All I could think of was “I Disappear,” that song by Metallica.
As a result of the violence in Iraq, 5 million Iraqis have been displaced; of these, 2.5 million have had to flee their homes and are now living in other countries as refugees.
As always, it is the children who are paying the biggest price. These are some of their stories.
ISBN 13: 978-0-88899-907-8
ISBN 10: 0-88899-907-0
$16.95 CDN / $15.95 US hardcover
ISBN 13: 978-0-88899-908-5
ISBN 10: 0-88899-908-9
$12.95 paperback (available only in Canada)