Marine Mom Asks For Discharge
Washington Given Deployment Orders, Husband In Iraq
POSTED: 10:07 a.m. PST March 26, 2003
UPDATED: 9:08 p.m. PST March 26, 2003
SAN DIEGO -- A Camp Pendleton Marine and mother has decided to ask for a discharge after the Marines said she was going to deploy and have to leave her baby.
Cpl. Jennifer Washington (pictured, left) was recently given deployment orders and said she would have been first to volunteer for combat, but her world changed when she gave birth four months ago.
Washington said she was turning in her discharge papers Wednesday, because she doesn't have anyone to care for her baby.
Camp Pendleton have acknowledged that Washington has applied for a humanitarian hardship discharge.
It is now under consideration.
Her commanders reportedly advised her against speaking out, but she sat and talked with 10News willingly, to draw attention to what she calls the Marines' lack of support for couples in combat.
"I would love to see combat and do my job what I trained for the last 3 years," Washington said.
Washington is the only woman in the Marine Corps trained as a Zodiac driver, a truck which transports troops to the beach of a combat zone. She is also a safety swimmer and mechanic engineer.
Her husband is a Marine sergeant, who was deployed in January. He is currently in Iraq working as a machinegunner in the war.
"My unit has decided they are going to deploy me. I told them I can't go and that I have a 4-month-old son. They said, 'No, you're going anyway.' They told me my options were to find someone to take care of my son or to get a discharge from the Marine Corps," Washington said.
Despite her three years of training, Washington said she is willing to take a general discharge because the risks are too great.
"My husband's gone. He may not return. And if I go, I may not return. I'm not going leave my child with no one," she said.
Washington said when she pointed these concerns out repeatedly to her commanders she was shocked to hear their response.
"Somebody in my command advised me that I can give up my child for adoption. I said, 'Oh no, that's not going to happen.'"
"I can't leave my son. He's my only son. If it was anybody else, would they leave their son,?" Washington asked.
| Discussion |
FORUM: Her husband is a Marine sergeant, who was deployed in January. He is currently in Iraq working as a machinegunner in the war.
"My unit has decided they are going to deploy me. I told them I can't go and that I have a 4-month-old son. They said, 'No, you're going anyway.' They told me my options were to find someone to take care of my son or to get a discharge from the Marine Corps," Washington said.
Despite her three years of training, Washington said she is willing to take a general discharge because the risks are too great.
"My husband's gone. He may not return. And if I go, I may not return. I'm not going leave my child with no one," she said.
Washington said when she pointed these concerns out repeatedly to her commanders she was shocked to hear their response.
"Somebody in my command advised me that I can give up my child for adoption. I said, 'Oh no, that's not going to happen.'"
"I can't leave my son. He's my only son. If it was anybody else, would they leave their son,?" Washington asked. Copyright 2003 by TheSanDiegoChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
