Amy Goodman: Army Recruiter Threatens High School Student with Jail Time

[marmar]

via AlterNet:



Army Recruiter Threatens High School Student with Jail Time

By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!. Posted August 7, 2008.

A Texas army recruiter was recently suspended for telling a teenager he would be sent to jail if he chose college over the military.



Amy Goodman: As the wars drag on in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military is increasingly desperate to get recruits. A story involving an Army recruiter in Texas last week has now led to a bipartisan call for an investigation.

The recruiter from the Greenspoint Recruiting Station in Houston was suspended last week after a recording of his threats aired on a local CBS affiliate, KHOU. The recruiter, Sergeant Glenn Marquette, warned 18-year-old Irving Gonzalez that he would be sent to jail if he decided to go to college instead of joining the military, even though Gonzalez had signed a non-binding contract that left him free to change his mind before basic training.

Republican Congress member Ted Poe told the CBS affiliate that "We don't want the government, military, the Army, deceiving American citizens" and suggested that Congress might have to get involved if the Army did not react to the incident.

Last year, Irving Gonzalez and Eric Martinez signed up for the non-binding delayed enlistment program in high school. But earlier this summer, when 17-year-old Eric Martinez told his recruiters he had decided to go to college instead of the military, his mother was told Eric had no choice and could face jail time if he resisted joining. Irving Gonzalez helped get Eric out of enlistment hours before he was to be shipped out of Houston for training. He knew he was next in line. He decided to record his next conversation with his recruiters. This is a part of what Sergeant Marquette told Irving Gonzalez in that recorded conversation.


Irving Gonzalez: The main thing is, I want out. I don't want to be in it. I don't want to go to the Army.

Sgt. Glenn Marquette: Well, you need to talk to my company commander.

Irving Gonzalez: To your company commander?

Sgt. Glenn Marquette: Mm-hmm. You need to come in here, and I need to bring you to my company commander.

Irving Gonzalez: But is there a way out? Is there a way for me to get out, because I don't want to go in there if you are just going to like…

Sgt. Glenn Marquette: No, there is not a way out. You signed a binding contract.

Irving Gonzalez: There's no way out?

Sgt. Glenn Marquette: No. When you sign a contract… .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/94192/army_recruiter_threatens_high_school_student_with_jail_time/

[sharesunited]

1. Teach your children well. The USA needs to feed its war machine.

The recruiter is not your friend. (Neither is the policeman, but that's another story.)

[whatchamacallit]

6. Hey, I have an SUV to feed!

America needs your lazy little spuds to win The War Against Terror (TWAT)!

[Raster]

7. War is a good business. Invest your child today.

Reality check: Children are nothing more than raw materials to the Military-Industrial Complex. That's right, RAW FUCKING MATERIALS!!! Once they enter the intake apparatus, they are no longer your children. They are no longer human beings. They are raw materials waiting to be transformed into components of the HIGHLY PROFITABLE warfare infrastructure. WAR IS A BUSINESS!

Wake up America and LEARN IT!:kick:

[onethatcares]

9. no, war is not a business

WAR IS A RACKET, AND WE THE PEOPLE NEVER WIN.

[Smith_3]

2. Like the army cares. The only reason why they suspended the guy is because he got caught.

Pretty much like Lyndie England.

[unhappycamper]

3. Here's a little more info on the Delayed Entry Program.

In all cases, you can walk away with no consequences. Period. End. Of. Story.

http://www.girightshotline.org/discharges/index.shtml

[marmar]

5. Thanks for that......

Lying, fascist recruiters? Now THAT will boost military participation rates! :crazy:

[carlyhippy]

4. haha, the DU adbot has an ad for the US Army below

Strength, Character, Willpower...

[tbyg52]

8. And kudos to a member of the corporate media doing the right thing.

The original investigation a while back, and this followup, came from Channel 11 in Houston.

http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080728_tnt_armyrecruiters.eb16366.html

Edited to add link.

[Th1onein]

10. If you were on the second floor, you couldn't go down......

"And it took us a while, and, I mean, the elevator didn't want to go down. They had it programmed to where, like, if you were on the second floor, you couldn't go down unless someone came up to get you."

This is kidnapping. Or false imprisonment, at the very least.

[ColbertWatcher]

11. WTF! WTF! WTF! WTF! WTF! WTF! WTF! n/t