An inner city youth's journey to college takes him to war
By Toni Fuss Kirkwood-Tucker
This article is dedicated to my student, friend, and "son," Bikransky Athouriste, whose innocence, courage, and destiny inspire me in my search to make sense of the world.
When I taught ninth grade world history at a high school in Miami's poorest section, the armed forces recruitment station was by the school's main door. That chance to build a better future was hard for those students to ignore. Many held full-time jobs and came from dysfunctional or single-parent families. Some students would fall asleep during my first-period class, having come home after midnight after working as resort busboys.
Among the students who stood out in my class was Bikransky Athouriste. A Haitian-American, he was intelligent, gentle, and kind, becoming so much like a son to me that we kept in touch after I became a Florida Atlantic University professor. I returned for his high school graduation, and when he told me he had enlisted in the National Guard, I understood why.
His was a classic case of an ambitious, hard working inner-city high school student who joined the National Guard after graduating from high school. Despite working full time, Bikransky had achieved a 3.1 high school grade point average. Participating in military training "one weekend a month and two weeks a year" - the National Guard's longtime slogan - would, he thought, give him money to study engineering in college. As he said, "My father kept on reminding me that one of his reasons for fleeing Haiti was for his children to have a future."
But, during Bikransky's sophomore year at Florida Atlantic, the United States invaded Iraq, and in the absence of a draft, the government turned to National Guard members and reservists to supply a large portion of the troops. Soon after, over 100,000 National Guards were mobilized, and mid semester, my former student was given two weeks to report to active duty. My heart sank when he stopped to say good-bye as he left. I feared that my "adopted" son might not return from war.
According to Bikransky, the original mission of the 300 member Florida Guard was to guard the Patriot missiles and special forces in Jordan. But he told me later that after their battalion commander volunteered the company for combat duty, the guardsmen were sent to Iraq. They were quartered in Baghdad International Airport, which was unprepared to house soldiers.
Bikransky recalled that the soldiers were told that there were not enough rations for them, but they could have one meal a day and 1.5 liters of water a week. "We made a bed from any kind of furniture we could find. I was very hungry the first week and didn't get used to it 'til the fourth week," he said.
Two weeks later, the company relocated to Ali-Sad where the American Air Force was stationed. According to Bikransky, the presiding chief said that the company was not needed, the barracks were overcrowded, and that there were insufficient rations.
"We were quartered in bathrooms where I could smell and see the graphic part. I slept in a bathroom where the stall was missing. Rodents and insects crawled over our bodies at night," he told me.
When their commander was asked to relieve the 101st Airborne Unit guarding hydraulic power plants, he again requested a combat mission, and when the guardsmen complained, their commander called them babies, Bikransky told me. The next week, they relocated to Al-Remadi, a town two hours outside Baghdad.
Deafening explosions and rocket propelled grenades became their constant companions. "It seemed strange that when you did not hear the rocket propeller grenade launches during the night, it scared you into thinking that the enemy had something larger in mind," said my former student. Some guardsmen were removed from regular duty to patrol streets up to 16 hours a day.
Bikransky was among the troops present when President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier in Iraq and told soldiers that their mission was accomplished, the war was over, and operations would be turned over to the Iraqi government. "The president clearly told us that the National Guard units will come home soon. This did not happen. We felt betrayed," Bikransky later recalled.
To survive his despair, Bikransky turned inward, immersing himself into reading and writing letters. But, this did not work for all soldiers, he said, "The morale was very low among us because of the lies our commanders told us. We could not trust them anymore." Many young warriors also worried about their families at home who were struggling financially.
Bikransky had served eight months in Iraq when his mother had a stroke and he was allowed to go home for a visit. Bikransky was to report back to active duty afterward, but a friend whom he had befriended in Iraq volunteered to take his place. The military allows the "exchange" of equally qualified soldiers. Perhaps James, the friend, volunteered for the exchange because when he had returned home after eight months in Iraq, he found that his wife had left him, taking along their only child.
So, Bikransky was able to return to Florida Atlantic, catch up on his incompletes, and attempt to heal from the horrors of the war and the loss of his fiancée, who ended their engagement after he returned from Iraq. Then, several months ago, Bikransky was recalled for active duty to Iraq. Although not wanting to extend his commitment to the National Guard for another three years, he has joined Officers' Candidate School to avoid being sent to war again. He will graduate in December with a degree in engineering - unless the war calls again.
Toni Fuss Kirkwood-Tucker, Ed.D., is associate professor emerita of social studies and global education at Florida Atlantic University, and is an adjunct faculty member at Florida A&M and Florida State universities. She is the former president of the International Assembly of the National Council for the Social Studies.
How to opt out of military recruiting efforts
As a result of the No Child Left Behind Act, military recruiters can obtain phone numbers and addresses for all secondary school students. Parents can prevent this information from being released by contacting their students' schools. By law, if the parents request this, schools are obligated to remove students' names from lists provided to recruiters. For more information, contact the American Friends Service Committee, which also has information about: nonmilitary job alternatives, misleading recruitment practices, and legal precedents for allowing counter recruiting efforts in schools. http://www.afsc.org/youthmil/default.htm
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