First, this is my first diary. I am not sure where to send this letter, because it is honest-to-God serious, I tear up every time I think about it serious, so I figured I would start at the most powerful progressive community online. Any suggestions on where to send it are greatly appreciated.
Second, I know how ridiculous emailing a landslide elected President (not to mention my Commander in Chief) asking him to keep an eye on my dog is, but hell, if there is nothing else I have learned since you announced your candidacy, it is that anything is possible.
So read on, below the fold.
UPDATED: Local media coverage.
November 6, 2008
Dear President-elect Obama, Mrs. Obama, Malia and Sasha,
I am sure you have heard it from all corners of the globe at this point, but I am incredibly proud to call America my home again. Thank you for inspiring our country and accepting undoubtedly one of the most difficult jobs in American history. Thank you for devoting your life to the service of this country. Many of us wept when you accepted this victory for all of us, even those who didn’t vote for you. What I am looking forward to most is a renewed inspiration for young people to serve their communities and their country. I do both, with great pride, and I am excited to see people around me be energized with the belief that if we get involved and believe in something, anything can happen.
I am an American who joined the Armed Forces two months following the 9/11 tragedy because I love what America stood for. Not pre-emptive strike, economic disaster, forget your civil liberties, oil hungry America, but rather, with malice towards none, with charity for all, bring me your huddled masses, no taxation without representation America. As I have watched our country deteriorate under a new brand of conservatism in the past eight years, along with our spirit, self-reliance and determination, I couldn’t help but think that at some point, people would wake up and realize how mislead they have been.
But it didn’t happen.
I served in Balad, Iraq in 2005. It was my first lesson in how people act when they have no hope, and I am not talking about the Iraqis. I served side-by-side with soldiers and airmen who were seeing the same things I saw – things that were being denied or not reported by our own government – and yet still stood by the lines of propaganda we were trained to tell our families. They vehemently denied the independent reports of what was, at the time, over half a million dead Iraqi civilians, while watching the bodies pile up before their own eyes. Many nights I fell asleep in the desert worried not only for my country and for the societies we disrupted and destroyed in the name of profit, but for my own safety as well.
When I came home, and talked about my experience, I was rejected by many, including my neo-conservative parents, for being a “bad American.” Perhaps people were too afraid, but for me, the cost of continuing to drink the Kool-Aid was too great. The images of orphaned Iraqi children, injured civilians who were only trying to hope for a better day are forever burned in my mind.
I returned to my civilian life, most recently working in marketing and communications in the commercial lending industry until September of this year. I’ll save the details of how greed poisoned bad management; it is a story that has been told dozens of times in the past few months. At the end of the day, I lost my job. While I am relieved to be out of the rat race and have started the process of rediscovering myself (much like America is doing right now), I have a mortgage to pay.
There aren’t many jobs out there. There are fewer jobs in marketing. There are even less jobs paying what the requirements are worth. With a heavy heart, my beau and I weighed our options, and I decided to volunteer for an eight month tour in Baghdad, Iraq. In January, I will be assigned to Sather AB as an armed TCN escort. Our hope is that when I return in September, the economy will have improved, and I will be able to find employment again.
However, I am not writing to plead with you to remember the little people when your new administration looks at the economy. We elected you because we are confident that you really are working for us, and because you know that even Malia and Sasha will need a strong economy to pursue their dreams in the future.
I am also not writing to plead with you to end the war in Iraq. A few weeks ago, I heard you tell a crowd that when you deploy American troops, you will remember that you are sending brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, parents into danger. I will be honored to serve under a Commander in Chief who has respect for his troops as individuals. I respect you as much as you respect me, which is something I have not felt since I offered my service to this country seven years ago.
The reason for my letter is my dog, Izzy.
In April, I rescued a terrier mix from a shelter. Someone was very mean to her before she came to live with me. She is incredibly smart, and a happy pup now, although she suffers from separation anxiety when she is not with my boyfriend, Paul, or me. As we have disciplined her and given her somewhere stable to live, she has gotten much better. I am not sure if you have ever had a dog, but when you do get one, you will recognize this little furry animal is a part of your family. Izzy is my family.
Paul has offered to keep Izzy for me while I am away, however, like me, Paul is a public servant. He is a fire fighter, and in the summers, he travels around western states protecting communities threatened by wild fires. He is also a homeowner, and much of his livelihood depends on the pay he receives for four months of dangerous work during the summer. This year, he fell extremely ill with meningitis while fighting fires in California, and the scare was enough for us to consider him not returning in 2009. However, with the loss in income from his season cut short this year, and because I will be deployed, he has decided to return for another season.
Which leaves us in a predicament.
The thought of my family – Paul, my sweet puppy, and me – being dismantled for almost a year so Paul and I can figure out how to live the American dream tears me to pieces. Unfortunately, it is the way it has to be right now.
I have friends who work in animal rescue groups who have told me your family will be looking for a dog, and I heard Mr. Obama tell Malia and Sasha that they earned their puppy on election night. Izzy will be looking for a family. Any interest?
I will look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Staff Sergeant Julianne Hancock
Utah Air National Guard
julianne.hancock@gmail.com
UPDATE
Thanks for the reminders to post photos :)