Couragetoresist.org reported that Army Specialist Alexis Hutchinson, a single mother from Oakland, California, was told to prepare to be deployed to Afghanistan. In accordance with her Army Family Care Plan, Hutchinson flew home from her posting at Hunter Army Airfield near Savannah, Georgia, to leave her infant son Kamani with her mother. After a week, her mother found that her time was taken up caring for a special needs daughter and a sick mother and sister. She was unable to take on the care of an infant. The Army gave Hutchinson an extension of time to find a place for her son; then just a few days before her original scheduled deployment, they withdrew the extra time, forcing her to choose between going AWOL, and leaving her baby homeless.
Hutchinson went AWOL. The military arrested her, and placed her baby in the county foster care system.
Kamani's grandmother, although she still felt she couldn't adequately care for Kamani, picked him up. Hutchinson was scheduled to fly to Afghanistan today, November 15, where she faces a special court martial and up to 1 year incarceration.
Supporters are urged to contact Hutchinson's Congresswoman Barbara Lee at (202)225-2661, or fax (202)225-9817, and ask that she ask the Army to allow Hutchinson to care for her child.They can also donate to her defense/child care fund at couragetoresist.org/alexis.
What the military does for its own part II, will be posted tomorrow.
Comments
This isn't about courage. This is about being a chicken. She had plenty of time to either work this out or get out of the Army. She had 9 months before he was born. If she found she couldn't find a place for him to stay when/if she got deployed, she needed to GET OUT OF THE ARMY. She had that option. She chose to put herself in this situation. Now, she's let her fellow soldiers down due to her selfishness. Unless you know you have someone to take care of your child, don't stay in. Frankly, I don't think mothers belong in the military. A mother should put her kids first and a soldier should put his/her duties first. It can't work both ways.
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