THIS IS A LETTER I JUST SENT TO CONGRESS. HUNDREDS OF SOLDIERS ARE BEING DENIED THEIR BASIC RIGHTS AND ARE FORCED TO GO TO COMBAT AFTER FILING C.O. PAPERWORK.
THIS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO GO ON!
DEAR HOUSE AND SENATE MEMBERS:
The military and especially the Army have been summarily denying soldiers filings to be discharged under a Conscientious Objector status.This is a situation that I am in the process of documenting and exposing in hundreds of individual cases.
To the extent of my knowledge;edge and based on very informed opinions of legal experts, this is ILLEGAL AND DIRECTLY AGAINST THE MILITARY RULES AND REGULATIONS TO DEPLOY SOLDIERS TO A COMBAT AREA! HUNDREDS OF APPLICATIONS ARE BEING DENIED AND THE SOLDIERS ARE BEING SENT INTO COMBAT IN DIRECT VIOLATION OF THE MILITARY CODES OF CONDUCT AND REGULATIONS.
A soldier that has filed paperwork to be discharged under C.O. status IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO CARRY A FIRE ARM OR BE SENT INTO AN AREA OF COMBAT OPERATIONS!
Why are the soldiers being deployed and forced to carry weapons and conduct combat patrols and operations? Under the specific guidelines, the minute a soldier picks up a firearm or fires a shot from it, his CO status is immediately suspended and he can no longer qualify to be considered for CO because he is taking part in combat operations!
The Army is forcing these soldiers into situations where they have no choice but to carry firearms and fire back at insurgents to defend their lives or others in their unit!
WHY ARE YOU CONTINUING TO IGNORE THIS ISSUE?
THIS SOLDIER'S STORY IS BUT ONE EXAMPLE OF HUNDREDS I KNOW OF.
I am sending this to all of you in hope that it will raise awareness and put a stop to this outrageous and illegal action by the military.
Department of Defense
DIRECTIVE
SUBJECT: Conscientious Objectors
Certified Current as of November 21, 2003
http://www.dtic.mil/...
3. DEFINITIONS
3.1. Conscientious Objection: General - A firm, fixed and sincere objection to participation in war in any form or the bearing of arms, by reason of religious training and belief.
3.1.1. Class 1-O Conscientious Objector. A member who, by reason of conscientious objection, sincerely objects to participation of any kind in war in any form.
3.1.2. 1-A-O Conscientious Objector. A member who, by reason of
conscientious objection, sincerely objects to participation as a combatant in war in any form, but whose convictions are such as to permit a Military Service in a non-combatant
status. Unless otherwise specified, the term "Conscientious Objector" includes both 1-O and
1-A-O conscientious objectors.
3.2. Religious Training and Belief: Belief in an external power or being or deeply held moral or ethical belief, to which all else is subordinate or upon which all else is
ultimately dependent, and which has the power or force to affect moral-well-being. The external power or being need not be of an orthodox deity, but may be a sincere and
meaningful belief which occupies in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by the God of another, or, in the case of deeply held moral or ethical beliefs, a belief held with the strength and devotion of traditional religious conviction. The term
"religious training and belief" may include solely moral or ethical beliefs even though the applicant himself may not characterize these beliefs as "'religious" in the traditional sense, or may expressly characterize them as not religious. The term "religious training
and belief" does not include a belief which rests solely upon considerations of policy, pragmatism, expediency, or political views.
3.3. Non-combatant Service or Non-combatant Duties (1-A-O) (used
Interchangeably Herein)
3.3.1. Service in any unit of the Armed Forces which is unarmed at all times.
3.3.2. Service in the medical department of any of the Armed Forces, wherever performed.
3.3.3. Any other assignment the primary function of which does not require the use of arms in combat provided that such other assignment is acceptable to the
individual concerned and does, not require him to bear arms or to be trained in their use.
DODD 1300.6, August 20, 1971
2
3.3.4. Service aboard an armed ship or aircraft or in a combat zone shall not be considered to be combatant duty unless the individual concerned is personally and
directly involved in the operation of weapons.
3.4. Non-combatant Training. Any training which is not concerned with the study, use or handling of arms or weapons.
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MY REPLY TO THE SOLDIERS WIFE:
I must say it is a most excellent site and very concise and detailed information about the case and the harassment and denials. I will make sure that I link it on my Yahoo and other group pages and send a link to as many vets and advocacy rights groups as I can.
I am working with about 10 large vet groups right now and am trying to get more to sign on for the vets and soldiers. I have some serious anti-war sentiments, but I honor and respect all soldiers who have put their lives in the hands of this country and people.
I try to make people understand that just because I oppose this current war and the way the administration treats the soldiers, I am not opposed to the soldiers who are risking their lives and sanity for it. I know that many of them would not choose to fight this war if it was up to them. I speak to so many that tell me they are afraid to tell anyone or to let people know how they really feel.
I am currently working on an expose on COs and the way the Army and military COC is denying proper and legally enforceable applications for discharge. I would really like to speak to your husband about it if he ever feels that would be possible. I am also working with Perry O'Brien and several others who successfully got out under CO status.
I know of at least 50 soldiers who have been sent to Iraq after filing and being denied or pushed aside. If I know of this many I can only think that there are hundreds of them I don't know about.
If you would like to talk my number is -----. If your husband would like to have me publish anything I can put it out there around the world for everyone to see. I currently have over 10 million readers around the world. Please call me at your convenience. I will do whatever I can to help out and to get this noticed by people in Congress.
I am going to contact Rep. Lane Evans and John Murtha about this and see if they can do anything to help. I will get it in front of the Senate and House Armed Services Committee and he rest of Cnogress to see if they will do anything. I really have a Way of getting things done after all else seems to have failed.
In truth and freedom,
Jay Shaft
Jay,
I saw your webpage and wanted to ask if you would take a look at my website. I have on there what my husband and our family has been enduring since my husband joined. If you find it worthy, would you consider putting a link from your website to ours. My husband and I feel as though soldiers are obviously not treated like the Americans or humans that they are. I really appreciate your time.
Cordially,
Heather Gorman
www.soldiersrights.com
Our Story:
The reason I have put this website together is because my husband, an army soldier, has realized how his rights as a soldier have been denied and because of this, our family has gone through more than most people should ever have to. I know we aren't the only ones, but we are one of the few who are speaking up and saying something. No family, and no soldier should ever be treated like an animal, or not worth anything. Unfortunately, that's exactly how the army is treating my husband and our family, all because we stood up for our God given rights. Here's a timeline on what has happened thus far, and mind you, this is NOT everything:
July 2003-Chris left for bootcamp. Was at Fort Leonardwood was due home November 5, 2003.
Sept. 2003-I went into premature term labor, contacted Red Cross, but was told that they needed my entire medical file before they would contact my husband. I refused. Contacted Fort Leonardwood, left a message, was told they would get it to Chris immediately, they never did.
November 2003-Chris "graduated" but was ordered to stay for extra training. Was to be 2 weeks long, but didn't start right after getting done with AIT.
December 2003-Chris got to Fort Hood. He was told to come home and get his family. Chris verified over and over that he was
NOT going to be sent to Iraq. His command repeatedly told Chris that he would not be going and to go ahead and move the family to Texas. I got very sick and had to be put in the hospital. Our daughter was born a month early and was sick. We had to delay our move to Texas by a couple of days, this was ok'd by Chris' chain of command.
January 2004-Moved to Texas, found a home to rent, moved in and a week later Chris was told he was going to Iraq. (What really irritated me about this was, not only was he told over and over that he wasn't going, but on a news program, there was a general who stated that they were training Iraqi soldiers and that it would take at least 2 years to get the Iraqi soldiers prepared. Yet my husband was fresh out of boot camp and they threw him in the front lines with no problem.)
March 2004-Husband was told by his Sgt. that he would be heading home on March 27. Never happened! Then the Sgt told my husband that if he helped at the wash rack that he would get him on the next plane. Chris stayed up for 72 hours straight, got back, the plane had already left. Then the Sgt said Chris could have his seat on the plane he was going home on. Chris packed his bags, was ready to go, only to see the Sgt get on the plane and leave. Chris finally made it home April 15, 2004.
May-September 2004-Chris was gone all the time at the field, ranges, and so on. Never home. It was very stressful on our family. This was not the life that the recruiter told us it would be: like a 9-5 job and Chris would be gone 1 night a month for duty. Obviously that was another lie.
September 2004-Chris became a Christian. The army didn't like that Chris was wanting to spend more time at church and with his family. They began to make him work later and later each night. Also during this time, money had been removed from his pay check, illegally, by a captain. Along with that, other money was taken out without us even being aware beforehand, by Fort Leonardwood. We later found out that it was for laundry service that Chris was ordered to use. They took the money a YEAR after Chris was done with boot camp and they took 2 different amounts. Chris told his chain of command and they proceeded to tell my husband that the army can take his money whenever they want. This was also around Christmas and it left us high and dry during the holiday season with our 3 children. The army also failed to mention that dental was NOT included in insurance and that it was something we had to pay for separately. We found that out AFTER my daughter had an emergency dental appointment because she was in so much pain. NOBODY causes my children pain and expects me to sit back and allow it to happen. I don't work that way!!!
January-May 2005 Chris was out in the field every other week. No notice of date changes. Last minute decisions to go out into the field, chain of command calling Chris, at the last minute, telling him he had duty, and so on. All of it was making it very difficult to make appointments, go to church, have family time and so on.
May 2005- Met with Chris' captain and Lt. We spoke about the difficulties that our family was having. The captain suggested that Chris file paperwork for a hardship discharge. Chris turned in the required paperwork and the captain (who suggested it in the first place) denied the request. When I called him to ask what was going on, he told me that there was not enough evidence to support the hardship (even though there was enough evidence to support his suggestion of it). They sat on my Chris' packet until the end of October 2005-It was denied. When I contacted army legal, I was told that there was NO appeal process and that my husband was going to Iraq no matter what. This "officer" also proceeded to tell me to suck it up, and if I couldn't hack it, to move back home to Minnesota. I am 33,with 3 children. I also told him that we had just bought our first home. He then told me that we should just sell it. It was a disgusting display of disrepect and lack of class. We then turned to GI Rights, again, and told them of the situation. They suggested that my husband go for conscientious objector based on what my husband believed. So we gathered the proper paperwork and turned it in the beginning of November 2005.
November 2005- The conscientious objector packet was turned in. Chris had the required interviews. We had the IO hearing on November 21, 2005. (That was a joke) All the questions that were asked were about letters I wrote to the President and Department of Defense, which had the company investigated. Anything that had to do with Chris' packet was conveniently left out of the comments. During this time and before deployment, Chris' Lt had pulled him aside and told Chris that he should be the one to die in Iraq because he's a Christian and going to Heaven, while other soldiers would be going to hell. He was also given extra duties, ordered to stay later than other soldiers and so on. The day before Thanksgiving, Chris received a call from his squad leader saying that the Lt. Col and the captain wanted to meet with him about keeping him back on rear-D until his packet had gone though all the appeals and so on. So Chris headed into the base and on his way in, he received a message from his 1st Sgt stating that if he didn't want to go to Iraq that he should get into the company immediately. Chris got there and sat there for 3 hours. After waiting for the meeting, the 1st Sgt came out and said, "you're shipping out with the rest of us on Monday." When Chris asked about the meeting the 1st Sgt walked away.
November 28, 2005-Deployment! I had typed up a quick rebuttal to the IO's comments so Chris could get that into his packet before he left. Chris was asked by numerous people why he was going, that they thought he was staying back. There was obvious confusion. When Chris asked why he was going, he was told that he could work his packet from Kuwait, and that he would have unlimited access to the phone and internet. He got to Kuwait and the phones and internet were shut down for a week at a time.
December 24, 2005-Chris' chain of command ordered Chris out to Iraq. He arrived at Camp Kalsu with less than enthusiastic reception. His chain of command told Chris that they weren't expecting him and that they didn't know where to put him. (Strange, being that they are the ones who ordered him out there.)
January 2006-General Thurman had requested to see Chris'CO packet. The general denied it. When Chris was finally able to look at his file, he noticed that the rebuttals that our lawyer and I had turned in, were NOT in the packet. Chris also noticed that there were extra sheets that he had never seen before. When he was finally able to get copies, the papers had to do with the company being investigated. Nothing in the packet had anything to do with my husband's packet.
Currently: He is without a clear chain of command. The chain of command that is SUPPOSED to be in charge of him won't even talk to him. Chris has put in numerous written requests to speak with IG to file complaints-DENIED! Chris has put in written requests to get back to Texas to work with our lawyer-DENIED! When he went and spoke with legal, they told Chris they weren't there to help him. Chris also found out that while he was in Kuwait, the rest of the company put in for mid-tour leave. When he attempted to turn in his request, first he was told that he couldn't travel while a packet was in the works, but that comment was taken back after my husband confronted the Sgt. Major about why he traveled to Iraq or even Kuwait if that was true. Then Chris was told all the flights had been filled and so on. I then wrote to President Bush, congress and others. Currently there are investigators in Iraq, hopefully doing their jobs.
It's sad that soldiers who are supposedly protecting our freedoms, are NOT given those same freedoms they protect. There are too many power-hungry people at the top who don't care about the people who are actually the ones doing ALL the work. It must be nice getting paid the big bucks, to sit in nice, plush, air conditioned offices and order soldiers to commit horrendous acts. Worse yet, soldiers are ordered to travel down the same road, at the same time everyday so the enemy can plan and plot because of the predictable pattern. The enemy is able to set up IEDs or attacks the convoys which injures and kills soldiers. It makes it worse knowing that these "generals" and higher ups in the chain of command, think they are above the law and are untouchable. I DON'T THINK SO!!!
UPDATES: 02/26/2006
Chris called this morning and informed me that an NCO had ordered him to work 14 hours instead of 12 hours. There also had been an agreement with Chris and another soldier so Chris could recognize the sabbath, which is very important, and this NCO decided to threaten Chris stating that he was now ordering him to work at 6pm instead of midnight, which is how it had been. Go figure, that a soldier with morals and beliefs would get treated like this!