(no subject)

[plonq]

Words fail me.

I suppose there's no statute on these things, but after 40 years...  What pushes it firmly into the realm of pettiness is the part where they won't even let his family pass along word to him that his brother died.  I suppose they could try and send him a note - not that he could read it, given that they confiscated his glasses too.

Comments

Not much sympathy from me...

[ionotter.livejournal.com]

The man won't get much sympathy from me. Maybe if he was 85 and drooling into his pablum, they should let it go, but he's not so he's going to get the punishment he deserves. And this is the Marines, so there's not going to be any leiniency or cutting him a break unless it comes from higher up.

Why such a hard-assed attitude?

He volunteered.

If the man had been drafted and then took off, I'd say let him be given a dishonorable discharge and be done with it. No jail, no fines, no bullshit; just a boot in the ass and send him on his way. But because he volunteered and chickened out later, I think he shouldn't get off so easily.

The Vietnam was was wrong on so many levels that there should be mercy for those who fled the draft. He was also granted the opportunity to seek amnesty, but he didn't.

Re: Not much sympathy from me...

[plonq.livejournal.com]

Heh - I didn't expect that he'd get much sympathy from you. I respect where you're coming from, though I disagree somewhat on philosophical grounds.

Re: Not much sympathy from you...

[dakhun.livejournal.com]

He didn't know he'd actually be posted to Vietnam when he volunteered.
And what difference does it make that he didn't fill out the proper forms by the deadline to get amnesty? I can see that *legally* it makes a difference, and legally he doesn't have a leg to stand on, and legally he should be prosecuted, but *logically* it is a different matter. Common sense dictates that if you offer amnesty, real amnesty, it doesn't make sense to take it away later just because a form wasn't mailed in. He's no worse a person than the people who deserted just like he did but decided to fill out the form. That's why this situation is so stupid.

Re: Not much sympathy from you...

[ionotter.livejournal.com]

He didn't know he'd actually be posted to Vietnam when he volunteered.

Ahem. He was volunteering for the Marines. Marines have no function other than to fight. They don't make bases, they don't fly transports, they don't man ships and they don't do paperwork. They fight, that's it.

There was a war on. So either this guy is the world's biggest moron, or he did just what the paper says he did and backed out.

As for the amnesty thing, the ONLY reason that is there is because President Clinton himself ordered the military to offer it. The military ALMOST mutinied over that, and more than a few senior officers retired early or out-and-out resigned over it. When the president tells you to do something, you do it. It's still being offered, but only through gritted teeth and bulging veins.

When this man screwed up, they got a chance to sink their fangs into somethign that's been pissing them off since Clinton left office.

When I joined, I did so with full knowledge that I could be called upon to fight and die, but I never turned away and never hesitated. I did my job. After nine years, I left with an honorable discharge, a clean record and a clean concience. And while I may be homosexual-and probably hated by many military members for it-I still consider them to be my shipmates.

Deserters don't just screw over their country. They screw over their command, they screw over the American People, they dishonor their ancestors, and they disgrace the military.

But most heinious of all, the most unforgivable crime for which they should freeze in the Ninth Layer of Hell, is they leave their fellow Marines hanging by their balls and in need of another trained soldier. They were supposed to be part of a team, and instead they took off on their own, thinking of nobody save themselves.

Let him burn.

The marines need to get over themselves.

[plonq.livejournal.com]

I know of no other profession where they stalk their ex employees like they do in the military and (apparently) especially the marines.

Re: The marines need to get over themselves.

[ionotter.livejournal.com]

You have to understand, desertion isn't just walking off the job. Think of it this way: You volunteered to be a firefighter, and you're in a burning building. You're half-way to the day-care center, where nearly 30 kids are trapped and screaming for help, when you suddenly chicken out and decide that being a fire-fighter isn't for you. You're not hurt, you're not in any immediate danger if you stay with your team, but you decide to bug out anyway. So you drop your part of the hose, turn tail and run.

The problem is, the hose is too heavy and too powerful for any less than five men, and you've just decided on a career change when the going got tough.

Even in the civilian world, you would be tried for criminal negligence, dereliction of duty, maybe even manslaughter if anyone died because of your cowardice.

This is why desertion carried the death penalty in time of war. That almost never happens anymore, but you can pretty much count on spending the rest of your life crushing rocks into pebbles at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.

The other thing is, if they didn't pursue deserters and make their lives and absolute monstrous living Hell of paranoia and terror that they'd be caught, then EVERYONE would desert when the going gets tough.

I saw it all the time in the Navy. Stupid Kid joins the military to get a free ride around the world and free money for education, then suddenly gets all pissy and scared when they have to actually START DOING THEIR JOB.

Cowards. And they deserve the life of a coward; to live in mortal terror of being found and caught.

Let him burn... for about a week

[dakhun.livejournal.com]

but you can pretty much count on spending the rest of your life crushing rocks into pebbles at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas


But Lieut. Lawton King, who speaks for the marine corps at Camp Pendleton, Calif., said that is unlikely.

He said the most likely outcome is an "administrative separation," a dishonourable discharge from the marine corps.

"Unless there is more information of a criminal nature or other factors that must be accounted for, most cases like these are separated administratively, and fairly quickly," King said.

King said most cases are handled within seven days.

[boinggoat.livejournal.com]

"There's a very uncooperative staff sergant here..."

Sounds like somebody just gets erect at having 'caught hisself a dee-serter!'

[orleans.livejournal.com]

That's just ridiculous overkill. What are they trying to prove anyway ... taking glasses away from an old man. :(