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Team Rubicon


“Crossing the Rubicon” is a saying that refers to a person or team of people who have dedicated themselves fully to a task with immense inherent risks (Rubicon).  This saying comes from an event in history when Julius Caeser led his army across the Rubicon River into Italy.  At the time, there was a law in place that dictated that an army would disband at the border.  Caeser leading his troops and his troops following Caeser was an offense punishable by death to both Caesar and his followers.  Since Caesar won the battle, neither was punished (Rubicon).
In For Love of Country, there is a chapter detailing the beginning of and tremendous work done by Team Rubicon.  The chapter starts with the story of someone that was killed by an EF4 Tornado that struck Viloria, Arkansas on April 27, 2014.  The authors organized the story in Problem-Solution Pattern.  The problems are victims of natural disasters need help rebuilding and veterans who need a sense of purpose and healing.  The solutions are that veterans are very well trained, organized, and capable of living and working in less than ideal conditions.  Also, veterans were able to have a sense of camaraderie and purpose working with other veterans, and helping others work through crisis in their lives helped the veterans to heal from mental issues (Schultz and Chandrasekaran).
Team Rubicon was created out of the desire of one veteran to assist people rebuild after natural tragedies.  The name of Team Rubicon seems very fitting, as the veterans are assisting people in spite of great risks, just as the veterans had served their country, many times in the face of great danger.  The mission of Team Rubicon is two-fold.  The obvious operation is to help people recover after natural disasters.  The seemingly less obvious purpose is to help veterans feel a sense of  usefulness and to help recover from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In serving with other veterans who may have had similar experiences in war,  many veterans were able to  experience “post-traumatic growth” by helping others with their own traumatic experiences (Schultz and Chandrasekaran 142).  


Works Cited
"Rubicon." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubicon. Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
Schultz, Howard, and Rajiv Chandrasekaran. "Team Rubicon." For Love of Country, Vintage, 2015, pp. 131-46.



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