What if they gave a war and nobody came?

[trof]

AWOL STATE OF MIND: CALLS FROM SOLDIERS DESPERATE TO LEAVE IRAQ FLOOD HOTLINE
The GI Rights Hotline, a national soldiers' support service, has logged a 75 percent increase in calls in the last 12 weeks, with more than 100 of those calls from soldiers, or people on their behalf, asking about the penalties associated with going AWOL - "absent without leave" - according to volunteers and staffers who man the service.

Many of the calls have come from soldiers who are among those now on the first wave of 15-day authorized leaves that began almost two weeks ago. Some hotline callers have indicated they may not return, staffers said. "What would happen if I just don't go back" to Iraq, one soldier asked a worker at a GI support-line center.
http://www.nypost.com/cgi-bin/printfriendly.pl

Left waiting in Iraq

Catherine Hightower
October 5, 2003

Blue Springs, Mo. -- My son-in-law is a member of the Missouri National Guard, currently stationed in Baghdad. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently visited Iraq. A few days before Rumsfeld's visit, my son-in-law's unit had received the news it had been awaiting eagerly: Its departure date from Iraq would be Dec. 3. This was the first time the men had been given an actual date after many months of wondering and questioning.

My son-in-law was among a small group of men who had lunch with Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld was queried about the Dec. 3 departure date, and he assured the men that it was correct.
Three days later the media reported that the Defense Department was extending the tours of reservists and national guardsmen well past the one-year deployment. (Some of the men actually received this new from their families over the phone.) My son-in-law's unit now has a departure date of April 22.

Morale among my son-in-law's unit, already low, has plummeted even further. When he was first deployed, he was apprehensive but willing, as he said, "to serve my country." He no longer believes what he is doing is serving his country in any way. "We just patrol and do guard duty," he says. "We're walking targets." These men feel that they are viewed by the Bush administration as expendable bodies.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-0310050502oct05,1,3719435.story?coll=chi-newsopinionvoice-hed

Army Reserve Battalion Can't Get to U.S.

By ANNE SAUNDERS, Associated Press Writer

CONCORD, N.H. - The saga of an Army Reserve battalion trying to return from the Middle East on leave took another twist Sunday, when family members learned their loved ones could not return to the United States because there was no room on the homebound flight.

None of the 220 soldiers who arrived Sunday in Baltimore was from the 368th Combat Engineer Battalion, based in New Hampshire, said Maj. Allen Hing, an Army spokesman. The development, and the lack of official information about when they might see their loved ones, left already frustrated family members even more anxious.

"I don't know who or what to believe anymore," said John Madden. Madden, of Manchester, had been waiting for a call from the airport from his son, Sean, since morning but had heard nothing by Sunday night.

Family members of the 60 reservists had been told they were coming home from Kuwait on leave and had arranged flights for them, but then found out in calls and e-mails last week that the leaves had been suspended. Then, on Friday, the military said that the reservists would be coming home after all and that the incident was "a major miscommunication." On Sunday, Army officials gave conflicting reasons for the new delay.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=716&e=6&u=/ap/20031006/ap_on_re_us/leave_reversal

[even]

1. Good work.

KICK. Sad to read.

[trof]

2. Thanks, even. Didn't comment before,

due to length of post. The above articles started me thinking, trying to put myself in the boots of one of the troops over there.

In my head I know that the odds of eventually coming back in one piece are very good. On the other hand, I know that every minute I'm in Iraq I'm involuntarily involved in a massive "game" of Russian roulette. If my number comes up, the game is over for me. I think if I were not a "regular", if I were guard or reserve, my stress level and apprehension would be even higher. Now I'm basically a civilian soldier (with the emphasis on civilian), a week-end warrior, who never expected to be called up for this long or be put in a situation like this.

Based on past history, the most I anticipated was a 4 to 6 month call up to help out the regulars where needed. I wouldn't like it, but I could put family and career on hold for that long. Now my active duty has been extended, again and again, and I am no longer in control of my life. My family is frightened and angry. In many cases I've taken a pay cut. How will I keep paying the bills? How long can my employer be reasonably expected to hold my job open for my return? How long before I say "screw this" and, if I ever make it home on furlough, see what my options are if I just refuse to return. Is it worth some jail time and a dishonorable discharge? For me, I think it might be. At least I'd be pretty sure of remaining alive.

Two recent stories come to mind. The sergeant in his 50s who transferred from a combat unit to a support unit and then decided to resign from his reserve unit altogether, only to learn that this was no longer an option for him. He was sent to Iraq and killed there. The other is the Georgia National Guard (I think) troop who won the state lottery ($62,000,000?) while home on leave. If I were him I'd be calling Johnny Cochran.

[bicentennial_baby]

3. I knew it!

I had a feeling that these leaves would result in a bunch of AWOl soldiers, and I may just be right...

[dbt]

4. Well, when the Commander-In-Chief gets CLEAN away with being AWOL

(as bu$h did ca. 1972), it is obviously no big deal. There should be no repercussions at all for service personnel who "just don't go back."

If the bu$h precedent is any indicator, such personnel will also receive sundry awards and advancements in the private sector for such actions.

:evilgrin:
dbt

[trof]

5. Yep, there's that too.

Doesn't set a legal precedent, but it would sure be nice to bring it up at your court martial.