My name is Terry Holbrooks. I was previously in the military and was a guard in Guantanamo Bay where I converted to Islam.
Prior to joining the army, I'd usually hang out at a pool hall. There's a pool hall that I would sit and play pool at for the majority of the evening.
That and drinking. I was drinking very heavily.
I joined the military due to the fact that I wasn't really going anywhere with my life. I wasn't content.
And I wanted to be more productive than my parents had been.
Kind of bring some pride to the Holbrooks legacy.
We flew to ground zero.
So we could see ground zero that day.
It was the last thing we saw of America before we left was ground zero.
They really drilled this intense necessity of hate and anger towards these people.
Who are these other 775 people? I can't imagine there being that many co-conspirators.
It just seemed kind of ridiculous to me.
And obviously, as time has shown, we've sent 550 of them home now.
So they weren't guilty to begin with.
They were always smiling.
There must be something in your faith or in your life that's lacking in mine.
Because I'm here, and I'm not smiling every day.
But you are. That's amazing.
What do you have that I don't?
More often than not, the detainees, prayer itself, prayer call would be mocked.
What they'd be saying during prayer would be mocked.
The Army doesn't care.
It's just not a matter of concern.
We don't need to be culturally sensitive or culturally aware of these people.
I don't think they ever thought that individuals were going to be talking with the detainees.
Detainee 590, the general.
He was kind of a celebrity, so to say.
He would ask you questions that would probe thinking.
It wasn't necessarily he was trying to argue with you.
He would ask you questions that would make you think.
He introduced me very much to Islam.
He had a lot to do with my acceptance of Islam.
I sent my shahada with him, and he congratulated me.
I think it's very much possible to fully adopt to Islam,
and to live an Islamic life, and to be a good Muslim,
and at the same point in time, be an American.
One of the things I've noticed since I conversed with every door that I close,
Allah opens a better door.
I found Islam in Guantanamo,
and it's not something that I could ever find anywhere else.