Some soldiers trying to get out of Army

[Judi Lynn]

Saturday, December 31, 2005 · Last updated 9:28 a.m. PT

Some soldiers trying to get out of Army

By MARTHA MENDOZA
AP NATIONAL WRITER

Kevin Benderman spends his days sitting in a plastic chair in the stockade at Fort Lewis, Wash., completing a 15-month sentence for "missing movement" with his unit. Jeremy Hinzman is raising his baby boy in Toronto, awaiting a court date when he hopes the Canadian government will grant him political asylum. Aidan Delgado is back in school, studying religion at the New College of Florida and practicing Buddhism.

All three are among a small but growing number of soldiers who have become disillusioned with the war in Iraq and are trying to get out of their required service.

Increasing numbers of men and women in uniform are seeking honorable discharges as conscientious objectors. Others are suing the military, claiming their obligation has been wrongfully extended. Many have simply deserted, refusing to appear for duty.

Some are more desperate: Last December, Army Spc. Marquise J. Roberts of Hinesville, Ga., persuaded a cousin to shoot him in the leg. The cousin was sent to jail, Roberts to the stockade.
(snip/...)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Getting_Out.html

[still_one]

1. nothing is worse than asking someone to kill for their country based on

lies

[VegasWolf]

11. One thing. Dying for a lie.

[Algorem]

13. Illegal orders from "commander in chief".

[hadrons]

2. in 1987, I knew a guy who had someone shoot him in the leg to get out ....

it was in basic, I don't have proof this was the case, but the circumstative evidence is strong this was the case ... he was a nice guy, but bit of a bumpkin, teased alot. His treatment partially led to my disillusionment and I got out ... great timing, before Panama and Iraq I

[Selteri]

8. My uncle is over 65 so he feels safe...

Yet over Christmas he was mentioning a friend of his from the Amry who had been pulled back in and put on the fiel at 58, mind this was a retired colonel.

[nofurylike]

3. thank you for posting this excellent article, Judi Lynn!

Bless those brave souls!

i keep hoping that their standing up will encourage other servicemembers, too, will allow others to feel enough support to join them in standing up.
or, standing down, i guess that would be. brave!


peace and solidarity!

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. I feel bad for them, but still....

To seek a discharge because of a genuine, profound change in your world-view that leads you to believe the war machine is fundamentally immoral, that is one thing. To seek a discharge because you've had your fill and want to go home... sorry, too late. The battlefield is not like watching TV where you can change the channel if you get bored.

I lay the blame squarely on the military recruiters for inducting people entirely unsuited to the work. "The army is FUN! You get to TRAVEL! You will learn all sorts of JOB SKILLS! We will send you to COLLEGE!" Nowhere in the commercials or hand-outs does it say "You will learn either to kill people, to help your countrymen kill people, or both. And you will end up facing folks who are pretty pissed off that you've been killing people, pissed off enough that they will stop at nothing to kill YOU." For some odd reason, that information gets left out until after the new recruit has sold his soul to Uncle Sam and it's too late to back out.

[MADem]

5. I lay the blame on the DOD who puts the recruiters to work, myself

Recruiting is a NON-VOL job nowadays...in peacetime, it is easy duty, and you are carefully chosen for it. Nowadays, what they do is take servicemembers who have enough time in so that they are more than halfway to retirement and are heavily invested in their careers, many of whom have a family to support, and who have PERFECT RECORDS. In short, high achievers who never fail. Then, they throw an impossible goal at them, and watch them wage an internal, mental war between integrity and survival. I've seen quite a few of them crack under the strain, and it ain't pretty.

I blame the suits, not the uniforms. The suits are calling the shots, not the military.

[Tom Joad]

6. Comprehensive list of the real heroes, those who resist can be found...

at http://tomjoad.org/WarHeroes.htm

[katinmn]

7. K & N

[oasis]

9. Sign up and die for a lie? Rummy's Iraq fiasco has sunk recruitment for

the next decade.

[0007]

10. Support the WAR donate a Son or a Daughter

[BrotherBuzz]

12. "As you know, you have to go to war with the Army you have...

not the Army you want. You can have all the armor in the world on a tank, and it can be blown up." - Rumsfeld, 08 Dec 04