I grew up between Albuquerque, NM and Ft. Defiance on the Navajo Nation. I was recruited out of Window Rock high school in 1996 with tales of Australia and PAC floats. I spent the majority of my 11 years in the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune, NC with 2nd LAR Bn. I deployed to Iraq three times, Jan 03-May 03, Jul 04-Feb 05, Aug 06- Mar 07. I never agreed with the war, I remember watching the news during the run-up to the invasion and being shocked when we were mobilized to deploy in spite of the complete lack of justification. After my EAS in Feb 08 I took a few months off to hike the Appalachian Trail. In June of 08 I started searching for other veterans who felt the same way I did about the war and found IVAW. My first IVAW experience was the National convention in Minnesota. Upon my return to Albuquerque I set about to starting a chapter, and within a few months we had founded the Albuquerque chapter. At the time I was working as a canvasser and eventually a field manager for Working America AFL-CIO. After that I worked as a Public Ally, part of an Americorps program to develop non-profit leadership and community development specifically addressing the dropout rate in NM as well as facilitating community conversations on gang violence, youth suicide/cutting, teen pregnancy, and out of school activities. While in Albuquerque we’ve built extensive networks with many local peace and social justice organizations as well as the local authorities.
