Un-Volunteering: Troops Improvise to Find Way Out -NYT

The night before his Army unit was to meet to fly to Iraq, Pvt. Brandon Hughey, 19, simply left. He drove all night from Texas to Indiana, and on from there, with help from a Vietnam veteran he had met on the Internet, to disappear in Canada.

In Georgia, Sgt. Kevin Benderman, 40, whose family ties to military service stretch back to the American Revolution, filed for conscientious-objector status and learned that he will face a court-martial in May for failing to report to his unit when it left for a second stint in Iraq.

One by one, a trickle of soldiers and marines - some just back from duty in Iraq, others facing a trip there soon - are seeking ways out.

Soldiers, their advocates and lawyers who specialize in military law say they have watched a few service members try ever more unlikely and desperate routes: taking drugs in the hope that they will be kept home after positive urine tests, for example; or seeking psychological or medical reasons to be declared nondeployable, including last-minute pregnancies. Specialist Marquise J. Roberts is accused of asking a relative in Philadelphia to shoot him in the leg so he would not have to return to war.

..........MORE........

http://nytimes.com/2005/03/18/national/18soldiers.html

I saw Camilo Mejia speak the other night in Miami. It was a humbling and moving experience.

from a transcript:

<snip>

Camilo: I reached the point of no return. You know, I had to do something and it was either go back and shut my mouth, or make a stand for my core principles and my beliefs….and at some point face a court martial, and God knows what else. I decided to…make a stand. (applause)
So I decided to make a stand…and I went to jail, and I just recently got out. You know, people tell me, "You know it must have been horrible, you’ve sacrificed so much". But, you know, coming from a place like Ramadi wasn’t really as bad as being in jail. And, at the same time, I did something to some extent selfish because I did it to save my humanity.

more…

http://miami.indymedia.org/news/2005/03/887.php

because if the army finds them 20 years down the road they will prosecute them. So basically they are going to have to stay in Canada and never come back unless some President down the road gives them a pardon. Which is probably doubtful since they were already in the military and not conscientious objectors or trying to avoid the draft.

After the actions of recruiters amongst other things are denounced by our next administration.

since recruiters have been doing the same thing since the dawn of time. These shocking exposes that have been floating around about the recruiters are kinda sad since they were doing the same things fifteen years ago when I enlisted.

The recruiter can lie to you up one side and down the other, but when you sign the enlistment document and initial all of the 1066 pages and individual contract guarantees, you are certifying that you agree with what is on the FORMS, not what the recruiter may or may not have said.

And the form says, in essence, if the pretzeldunce sez it is a "war" or a "national emergency" that once they have caught ya, they can keep ya.

I know there are plenty of people who don't like this unfortunate fact, but it's the law of the land. Also, since the Korean War, especially, and even since Vietnam, the form has become much more specific. Of course, they try like hell to get the enlistees to whip through the paperwork, and they do get irritated when they have a load of people to process and the future recruit wants to read all of the documents. The thing to do is ignore those people, the odds are good you'll never see them again unless you look them up. I think anyone who does NOT read every damn line, twice, is making a mistake they could well regret.

You should always read the fine print but especially when you sign enlistment papers. They JAG corp of the various service has gotten it down to a science. To parahprase the old saying "give your soul to Jesus, because your body belongs to the US miltary." They can lengthen your enlistment, shange your MOS, call you back after you enlistment is done and do it legally as long as the president has signed the executive order saying there is a need. There has never been a president or a member of the senate or congress who has ever tried to change it and I doubt they ever will.

Watch. =)

and if you have never been in it then you don't really understand how different it is from your every day life.

the military base -- all the rules are different. It is a different world -- and it is NOT the America we are taught about in school.

On base the CO is god -- his will be done! And then the Fleet Admiral -- on up the chain of command.

We support your decision. If you are out there googling your name to find what others are saying about this... You are doing the right thing. Be strong. When the war is unjust the patriots are the ones who refuse to fight.

and the true heros.

Here's a link to the transcript:

Three U.S. Soldiers Refusing to Fight Speak Out Against the Iraq War

Note: just before Amy goes to Kevin Benderman, where the Anonymous AWOL Soldier says "I know at Fort Sill, I suppose in lieu of a court-martial, you ask for another dishonorable discharge" that should read "an other than honorable discharge".

and apparently the Armed Forces aren't reporting them or taking them off the rolls to prosecute. DOD doesn't want the U$ to know that many are fed up. Three tours of duty is a hell of too much!

No need to extend current enlistements when there's such an unending supply of ready and willing College Republicans just itching to volunteer for military duty......

lolololololololololol

find a better way of solving problems without killing.

"instead of another television set, we would have peace."

John Lennon