Why NWTA weekend for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Men?
It was two men's vision.
Roger Dobitz and Greg Gondron envisioned and talked about holding a weekend for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing men.
Roger Dobitz, a hard-of-hearing man, is an advocate of hard of hearing people while Gondron is an educator/advocate of deaf. Both men had done the weekend training themselves.
It was not till 1997 when Chuck Daube was brought in to interpret for the first deaf man in Milwaukee. Like Dobitz and Gondron, he is an educator/advocate of deaf and had done the weekend training himself.
Two years later, Gondron joined Daube to interpret for Brian Determan in Houston (1999), and again for AJ Roupp in Washington, DC five years later (2004).
In 2005, Gondron, Daube, and Determan were brought in to staff with Roupp at a NWTA weekend at Washington, DC for another deaf man, Windy Windhorn.
Unknown to them, there was another deaf man, who went through his weekend with during the same year at different time in different place.
From there, Gondron, Daube, Determan, and Roupp agreed to form a Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing NWTA committee (D/HH committee) to make Gondron's vision a reality. Since Dobitz shared the same vision, so he joined the committee afterwards. The new committee made Gondron the man on point for this weekend.
Under Gondron's leadership, and with help from the MKP Houston and Greater Washington communities, the committee turned this vision into a reality. They held the first Deaf/HH NWTA weekend on November 3-5, 2006 on the site of the Land of My Grandfathers (LOMG) near Houston, Texas.
Among the 32 new initiates, 9 men are deaf. Among 41 men who staffed that weekend were 2 deaf and 2 hard-of-hearing men, 4 hearing men who served as interpreters, 1 of interpreters is CODA (children of Deaf Adults), and 2 hearing men who are signers.
| New Deaf Brothers | Interpreters | Signers |
| Robert Blair | Chuck Daube* | Daniel Eads |
| Hal Brown | Greg Gondron | Steve Camuti |
| John Covell | David Haynes | |
| Zant Kellam | Charles Mauer | |
| Steve Kennedy | ||
| Joshua Sherk | CODA | |
| Jim Stone | Greg Gondron | |
| Aristeo David Torres | ||
| Alex Wilhite | ||
| Staff | ||
| Brian Determan | ||
| Roger Dobitz* | ||
| Aaron "AJ" Roupp | ||
| *Hard-of-Hearing |
It was a roaring success!
The two outcomes of this first weekend's success were the birth of a new community of deaf warriors and it proved to be beneficial for both deaf and hearing men as a whole. The committee wholeheartedly agreed to offer a second Deaf/HH NWTA again this year.
In 2007, the original website for D/HH NWTA was first launched. It connected with many people in the Deaf Community and beyond.
The second D/HH NWTA weekend was held again on November 9-11, 2007 on the LOMG. The D/HH committee was chaired by Roupp and Gondron stayed on as the point man. In late summer of 2007, Roupp moved to Houston from DC, Gondron passed on the job of point man to Roupp. So Roupp was the chair of D/HH Committee and the point man for this second weekend.
The second weekend was very different from the first weekend in many respects.
Among the 26 new initiates, 6 men are deaf, 1 man is a hearing father of a deaf man who attended that same weekend, and another hearing man is an interpreter.
| New Brothers | Interpreters | Signers |
| Christopher Bradley | Chuck Daube** | James Mayfield-Smith |
| Lloyd Edwards* | Greg Gondron | Kevin O'Neal |
| Michael Edwards | David Haynes | Matt Winters |
| Donald Galloway | Charles Mauer | |
| Alvaro "Al" Jimenez | ||
| Jim Lawrence* | CODA | |
| Kevin Steffy | Greg Gondron | |
| Tim Yates | ||
| Staff | ||
| Brian Determan | ||
| Roger Dobitz** | ||
| Aaron "AJ" Roupp | ||
| *hearing | ||
| **hard-of-hearing |
One of biggest changes is the make up of 40 staff men, which consisted of 13 men who staffed first D/HH weekend---those same men returned to staff for this second weekend. Among 13 staff men are 2 deaf men, 1 hard-of-hearing man, 4 hearing men who served as interpreters, 1 of interpreters is CODA and the rest are hearing men. In addition, 27 men who staffed this second D/HH weekend for first time. Among 27 men were 3 hearing men who are signers, 4 deaf men from the first weekend and 1 deaf man from a regular NWTA, and the rest were hearing men are non-signers. The total number of old and new staff men for this second D/HH weekend was 40.
Due to the changes in the make up of staff men, the second weekend was conducted differently from the first weekend---which allowed more active participation of deaf staff men in weekend activities to make them more friendly and visible for deaf and hard-of-hearing men throughout the weekend.
It was an outstanding weekend.
Due to the success of first and second D/HH weekends, the committee offered a third Deaf/HH NWTA again in 2008.
One result from the first and second successive weekends is that the D/HH committee did not anticipate or prepare is a new and growing community of deaf warriors. This new community needed D/HH committee's further direction and attention in the aftermath of first and second successive weekends. It was an uncharted territory for D/HH committee as it grappled this new challenge.
In spring 2008, Roupp approached Chuck Daube to chair the D/HH committee and he agreed. Roupp remained on as the point man since no one was ready to step forward to assume this position.
In early summer 2008, the committee voted a new name and new logo, SILENT WARRIORS and SILENT WARRIOR WEEKEND, to represent this ongoing endeavor---
Third D/HH NWTA Weekend SILENT WARRIOR WEEKEND November 14-16, 2008
The website was revamped and launched to reflect this new change with updated information. Shirts with new logo were sold out to fund the D/HH scholarship. The D/HH committee faced a tremendous challenge in terms of securing funds and attracting men to this third weekend due to the Great Recession.
The third D/HH NWTA now named SILENT WARRIOR WEEKEND was held again on the weekend of November 14-16, 2008 at the LOMG.
Again it was different from the first and second weekends in many respects.
SILENT WARRIOR WEEKEND November 14-16, 2008 SILENT WARRIORS
Among the 16 new initiates, 4 men were deaf. One of changes is the makeup of 33 staff men, which consisted of 10 men who staffed either or both first and second D/HH weekends---those same men returned to staff for this third weekend. Among 10 men were 3 deaf men, 2 hearing men who served as interpreters, one of interpreters are CODA and 1 hearing man who is signer. New addition to this staff roster was another hearing man who is signer and 1 hearing man who is an interpreter from the second weekend. The rest of 21 staff men were hearing non-signers. In all, it totaled 33 staff men for this third weekend.
| New Deaf Brothers | Interpreters | Signers |
| Robert Ballengee | Chuck Daube* | Aaron Hendrickson |
| Sean Norris | Greg Gondron | Kevin O'Neal |
| Jesada Pua | Jim Lawrence | |
| Kevin Souhrada | ||
| Staff | CODA | |
| Brian Determan | Greg Gondron | |
| Aaron "AJ" Roupp | ||
| Alex Wilhite | ||
| *hard-of-hearing |
With the Great Recession, and ongoing challenges the D/HH committee faced, the third weekend surprisingly went well. The first, second, and third successive SILENT WARRIOR WEEKENDs fueled this growing community of deaf warriors into what is now an organization called SILENT WARRIORS.
Yet, significant changes were on horizon for SILENT WARRIORS and SILENT WARRIOR WEEKEND. The D/HH committee was exhausted after hosting three weekends, one per a year for three straight years. The existing committee had made tremendous giveaways of its time, energy, and efforts for past three years. It has not taken a break since the founding of D/HH NWTA in 2006.
In addition, Determan, Daube, Dobitz, and Roupp had been on this D/HH committee long before the founding of first D/HH NWTA weekend to this third weekend. Gondron bowed out in mid-2007 due to heavy work commitments he had at during that time. There were other men who came on board and never stayed on this committee beyond each successive weekend.
So, at the end of this third weekend, an idea was proposed to the D/HH committee that SWW to be hosted every two years begin in 2010 instead of every year as it had been done in past. The committee accepted the proposal.
Before the committee took its sabbatical leave, it agreed to have SWW in 2010. With this final business concluded, the D/HH committee went on a much-deserved and long sabbatical break.
In September 2009, Gondron, Determan, and Roupp met again. The outcome of this meeting was dramatic in the scope of its significant changes being made to the SWW. They all agreed to streamline how the SWW operates from now on.
One major change was made to SWW is to disband the existing D/HH committee. SILENT WARRIORS continued to be under the care of Roupp in collaboration with Determan and Gondron as a team managing this fourth SWW together for 2010.
Another major change Determan, Gondron and Roupp agreed on is that the SILENT WARRIORS and its SILENT WARRIOR WEEKEND do not carry any inherent obligations or expectations for men who first found and nurtured this unique weekend for past four years.
With that agreement, an official announcement was sent to the Mankind Project to ask it to assume the responsibility of this creation. The statement from the announcement as following:
"It is now time to release the care of this creation to the MKP, which we ask of the Mankind Project to be inclusive of Deaf, deaf, Deafened, and Hard-of-Hearing Men" from now on.
Another significant change was having Determan to step in as a point man for 2010, which is another milestone for SWW---freeing Roupp to focus on other aspects of SW business.
With new changes in place, the fourth weekend of SILENT WARRIOR WEEKEND was launched.
The fourth weekend, SILENT WARRIOR WEEKEND was held on the weekend of November 14-16, 2008 at the LOMG. The point man was Determan with Roupp and Gondron as a collaborative team. Their goal was to keep the operation of SWW streamlined and simple.
Among the 23 new initiates, 4 men were deaf and 1 was hard-of-hearing. One of changes is the makeup of 38 staff men, which consisted of 12 men who staffed one or all of three past weekends---those same men returned to staff for this fourth weekend. Among 12 men were 3 deaf men, 3 hearing men who served as interpreters, and 1 of 3 interpreters is CODA. New addition to this staff roster was 1 deaf man from the third weekend. The rest of 25 staff men were hearing non-signers. In all, it totaled 38 staff men for this fourth weekend.
In addition, first time there were 1 deaf man and 1 hearing signer on the Men of Service (MOS) for this fourth weekend.
| New Brothers | Interpreters | Signers |
| Christopher Brawner | Chuck Daube* | Kevin O'Neal |
| Mario Carson | Greg Gondron | |
| John Cordero | Jim Lawrence | |
| Anonymous* | ||
| Stevie Platt | ||
| * hard-of-hearing |
| Staff | CODA | MOS |
| Brian Determan | Greg Gondron | Zant Kellam |
| Aaron "AJ" Roupp | ||
| Kevin Souhrada | ||
| Alex Wilhite |
Another milestone for SWW was having more deaf men assigned to different duties as staff men.
Without a doubt, this fourth weekend was outstanding!
With the 4th successive weekend behind, SILENT WARRIORS now have 31 Deaf and Hard-of Hearing men, 10 men from Texas and 21 men from out of states.
SILENT WARRIORS continue to evolve over the time.
The story continues.