Jim Greenhill

When terrorists attacked the United States on September 11, 2001, Jim Greenhill acted decisively.

A British citizen who had lived in the United States since coming to Chapel Hill in 1984, Greenhill felt obligated to do something for his adopted country. So after obtaining an age waiver from the U.S. National Guard Bureau, he went to Boot Camp. Earlier this year, he became a U.S. citizen. A month later he was deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Greenhill has used his journalism background to become a Public Affairs soldier with the 128th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. He expects to be in Cuba for approximately one year.

Greenhill is the son of a World War II veteran, and he considered joining the British Army until The Morehead brought him to the United States. He studied journalism at UNC, eventually ending up with the Durango Herald (Colorado). His wife, Dr. Carol Huser, is the County Coroner.

From Cuba, Greenhill reports that his primary duty is to edit The Wire, a newspaper that serves the soldiers, sailors, airmen, coast guard, and marines of Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay. He says that he also has contact with reporters from national and international media who are interested in the detainees. He reports that he has particularly enjoyed seeing the media “from the other side of things, i.e., not as a reporter.”

In addition to working with the Joint Task Force, Greenhill can see one of the last outposts of the Cold War near his camp, where Marines guard the fenceline between Guantanamo Bay and Castro’s Cuba.

Greenhill has had numerous opportunities to observe the detainees up close. “I have had the opportunity to spend time inside the camps where the detainees are held. I have watched an interrogation. I have talked with MPs and Infantry. I have listened and watched carefully. And I am absolutely certain that the JTF is treating the detainees humanely and in a way that we and everyone else can be proud of. I know that we constantly ask ourselves, ‘Is this what right looks like?’ I know that we have the training and the resources to conduct our mission effectively. And I'm not saying this because I'm indoctrinated in the ‘command message.’ I'm saying this in part based on some of those candid moments outside of all that framework, when one gets to see what's really going on.”