December 2023 — MHCE Newsletter

28 | MHCE - News www.mhce.us DECEMBER 2023 EDITION
Army Veteran Battling
Terminal Cancer Gets His
Wish to Shoot a Tank One
Last Time
Doctors estimated in
September that Jay Tenison,
who was diagnosed with
terminal cancer, had 3-6
months to live. One of the
things on his bucket list was
to fire a tank one last time.
Tenison, 39, is a former tanker
who served from 2004 to 2008
on active duty and another five
years in the Army Reserve.
On Tuesday, he got to check
that item off the list -- he fired
his last shot at Fort Moore,
Georgia.
“It was everything I had hoped
for, and went beyond my
expectation,” he told Military.
com. When asked how he did
on the gunnery event, which
included the M1A2 Abrams
main battle tank engaging
multiple targets, he said, “I
killed everything.”
It was the culmination of a
major movement in the Army
community to get Tenison into
an Abrams tank one last time
after he posted the request
on Reddit late last year. He
reported his hair had started
falling out, he was growing
increasingly fatigued and had
lost at least 60 pounds.
“To me, this is one of the
most special things I will
do in command,” Col. Ryan
Kranc, commander of the
316th Cavalry Brigade,
which oversees training for
cavalry and armor troops, told
Military.com. “It's humbling.”
Tenison was also awarded
the Order of Saint George, a
unique and prestigious medal
worn around the neck, given
to cavalry and tanker soldiers
for outstanding service.
In early 2022, Tenison was
diagnosed with Stage IV
stomach cancer after reporting
pain to his doctors. After
months of chemotherapy, he
got the worst news of his life
-- there was nothing medical
care could do for him and his
doctor recommended he focus
on quality of life.
Before the live fire, Tenison
was put into a simulation of
the Abrams, a virtual reality
tool all soldiers go through
before gunnery. He says he
was quickly able to relearn
how the tank operates. His
only concern was climbing
in and out of the tank. He
also got to speak with basic
trainees in tanker school, who
wore COVID-19 pandemicera
masks to protect him.
The Abrams is relatively
unchanged since Tenison’s
time in service, which included
a deployment to Ramadi, Iraq,
with 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor
Regiment, during a kinetic
time in the region. He spent
some of the mission behind
a desk doing administrative
work, but also was a part of
convoys for resupply missions
and taking the dead off the
battlefield.
“We lost seven or eight guys; I
got to carry the bodies back,”
Tenison recalled. “We would
just go and retrieve them.
They would already be in a
body bag.”
He was struggling in college
and with other personal
matters when he joined the
Army at 20 years old. Like
many enlistees, he needed a
reset button and was seduced
by the $7,000 enlistment
bonus to become a tanker.
He jokes that the Army’s pitch
shouldn’t have been as easy as
it was, but adds that he doesn’t
have any regrets. He later
earned his master’s degree
in engineering from Arizona
State University and had a
passion for renewable energy,
particularly solar power. He
worked on designs for solar
arrays for local municipalities
and the Department of
Veterans Affairs, including a
project at the Los Angeles VA
hospital.
In addition to getting behind
a tank one last time, he spent
time at the beach in Pensacola,
Florida, with his daughters.
They also took a trip to Disney
World. One of the last things
on his bucket list is skydiving.
“I feel really special,” Tenison
said. “I’m going to make a
video diary for my daughters
for when they’re older. I’m
going to tell them to keep on
going and keep giving back.
I’m hoping I can explain to
them that this was a huge
thing and what happens when
a community supports itself.”