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-- 82nd Airborne soldier leaves his post, seeks asylum in Canada

82nd Airborne soldier leaves his post, seeks asylum in Canada

Canadian Press


Friday, February 20, 2004
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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A soldier in the 82nd Airborne Division who says he had "a romantic vision" of military life has left his post and is living in Canada, where he has sought refuge as a conscientious objector.

Jeremy Hinzman, a member of the 2nd Battalion of the 504th Brigade Parachute Infantry Regiment, could be prosecuted as a deserter if he is caught inside the United States.

He'll be listed on a national database and could be arrested, but the army won't go looking for him, said Sgt. Pam Smith, a spokeswoman for the 82nd Airborne, based at Fort Bragg.

"We don't have time to go and track down people who go AWOL," she said. "We're fighting a war."

Hinzman, who grew up in Rapid City, S.D., joined the army in January 2001. He and his wife and baby fled last month to Toronto.

Hinzman told the Fayetteville Observer by phone that the socialist structure of the military appealed to him - he liked the subsidized housing and groceries and, at the end of his service, the money for college.

"It seemed like a good financial decision," he said, adding, "I had a romantic vision of what the army was."

But he was horrified from the start of basic training, by the chanting about blood and killing during marches, by the shooting at targets without faces and by what he called the dehumanization of the enemy.

"It's like watching some kind of scary movie, except I was in it," he said. "People would just walk around saying things like, 'Oh, I want to kill somebody."'

Hinzman said he turned in his first application to be a conscientious objector in August 2002, saying he wanted to fulfil his service obligation but not to participate in combat.

He said army officials told him his six-page explanation was lost. But later, when he was doing clerical work, he was handed a file that included the application.

He reapplied, but by that time his unit was on track to go to Afghanistan and he left with it. With the application still pending, he was kept off patrol and worked as a dishwasher.

Hinzman said his application was denied while he was in Afghanistan.

He returned to Fayetteville in July and talked things over with his wife, Nga Nguyen. They figured it was only a matter of time before his unit would be sent to Iraq. He said he felt the war there was unjust and was being fought over oil interests.

On Dec. 20, Hinzman found out that his unit would be deployed to Iraq. On Jan. 2 - a Friday, the start of a four-day weekend - he packed his wife and 14-month-old son, Liam, into their car for the 18-hour drive to Canada.

His absence was noticed that Monday and he was declared absent without leave the following day.

Hinzman said he has received much support from Quakers in Toronto and Fayetteville, where he joined the Friends Meeting when he couldn't find a place to practise Buddhism, his preferred faith.

Ann Ashford, recording clerk at the Fayetteville Friends Meeting, said Hinzman and his wife were faithful attendees. She said the community supports Hinzman, though no one knew of his plan to desert.

During the Vietnam War, an estimated 30,000 Americans sought refuge in Canada to avoid compulsory military service.

Hinzman's chances of receiving refugee status are slim: Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board said none of the 268 American applicants last year was accepted.

Those who are denied refugee status may be granted permission to stay in Canada under other provisions, said Charles Hawkins, a spokesman for the board.

Hinzman said he knows the decision will take a while. He said the hardest part has been leaving the people in his unit, which is now in Iraq.

"I didn't do this out of animosity toward them," he said, "but toward the situation we were in."

-

Information from: The Fayetteville Observer, fayettevillenc.com

� The Canadian Press 2004

http://www.canada.com/search/story....52-b1c67f3a181c

***
Send this waste of oxygen back to the loving arms of Yank MPs at the border.

What the heck was he thinking when he signed up for infantry? It's going to be a picnic?

Indeed appalling... The punishment for desertion in time of war includes a death penalty. F*cking self righteous coward. The Canucks need to give him up else face the blemish of harboring criminal yellow bellies like they did in Vietnam.


[[[smoke]]]

Wow, some people just don't know about consciously objection and have to flee the country

quote:

Originally posted by smokeape Indeed appalling... The punishment for desertion in time of war includes a death penalty. F*cking self righteous coward. The Canucks need to give him up else face the blemish of harboring criminal yellow bellies like they did in Vietnam. [[[smoke]]]

I don't see you over in Iraq

Well, considering he signed up for infantry.

quote:

But he was horrified from the start of basic training, by the chanting about blood and killing during marches, by the shooting at targets without faces and by what he called the dehumanization of the enemy.

This is standard operating procedure in any military. It's not to make you want to kill - it's to give you the ability to do so if the need arises. Without this training it takes longer to get over the mental block, and in the heat of combat, that's a problem.

While I do not support the Iraq war knowing what I know today, I believe that this guy is the classic case of someone who joined the military for the perks and didn't want to be there anymore. He served in Afghanistan I believe as a dishwasher because he had submitted a form on this issue of not wanting to be in combat and it was being reviewed and denied. I know what the army entails and would not join for the superficial benefits and then not want to serve in time of need. Its unlikely he will get asylum in Canada, what is he running from persecution, of what. He did what he feel he had to do but it says more about him than the army I feel.

Re: 82nd Airborne soldier leaves his post, seeks asylum in Canada

quote:

Originally posted by EvilTree What the heck was he thinking when he signed up for infantry? It's going to be a picnic?

my thoughts too

what a fuking guy, deserter, coward.

if he didnt want to fight, he shouldnt have joined in the first place.

The US has major propaganda for recruitment, offering "free" college and things like that. In actual fact, if you fail a course or do bad in a course you have to repay all the college courses you took that the military payed for you. This was on a program on TV i saw, dateline i think?

Come on, give the guy a break.

Haven't you done anything, such as a major change in your life, that you regreted afterwards? I know i've done some

quote:

Originally posted by smokeape Indeed appalling... The punishment for desertion in time of war includes a death penalty. F*cking self righteous coward. The Canucks need to give him up else face the blemish of harboring criminal yellow bellies like they did in Vietnam. [[[smoke]]]

You're calling HIM a self righteous coward? He offered to fulfill his service, he just didn't want to see combat. What's wrong with this? I do beleive he was naive for expecting anything other than what he got by joining the Army, but you can't blame him for not wanting to participate in killing other people. Especially since he has a wife and baby to care for.

You're probably in decent enough physical shape, right? Hell, even if you weren't, lets assume you were 20, and could run through a wall. Why don't you join the reserves, or national guard or something. You don't even have to fight, you can help assmble equipment or ship supplies or be a driver, whatever they may need you to be. Your country needs you, after all. Its war-time. But that would certainly be an inconvienence to you, wouldn't it? It's so much easier to just sit back and watch the war unfold on CNN, while everyone else is out there dying, then come on a message board and criticize people who would rather not go and kill and maim other human beings.

You have kids, don't you? When they're 18 and are facing a draft, will you proudly send them off to die? Even to some stupid, unconstitutional conflict, which directly disobeys the rules of the United Nations, that many Americans, and probably 80% of the rest of the world do not support, that is driving the nation further and further into debt and has absolutely no sign of ending? If so, then I seriously doubt your parenting ability.

If you support killing others, then don't let someone else do it for you, then flame those who would rather not.

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