You do not like

what I've become

You much prefer the gentleman

I was before

The War

CHRIS ARENDT

I was 17 years old when I joined the United States Army National Guard in Michigan. My family had been displaced and I was living with friends and I decided to join the military because I had no other options. My family was poor, I was poor, and I wanted to go to school. I was promised a significant amount of money for this purpose - which I have yet to receive. I joined the Field Artillery. Charley 1st in the 119th Field Artillery. We got the orders in October of 2003 that we artillery men would be deploying to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to be prison guards in a prison camp.

I served on the blocks for two months. One of the ways I dealt with boredom was talking with the detainees about their stories, which led to my being taken off the blocks to work in the detention operations center as the escort control for the next eight months of my tour. In March 2008 I testified at Winter Soldier hearings in Washington, DC.  In January of 2009 I joined former Guantanamo prisoner Moazzam Begg on a UK speaking tour to "mark seven years of unlawful detention, abuse and torture". In March 2009 I collaborated with Aaron Hughes on an installation called Please Sit and Have Tea With Me. And, I play the banjo...

CHRIS ARENDT