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February 09, 2005
Volunteers to Clear Landmines? Lock Him up and Throw Away The Key!
So, here's what you get for refusing to carry a weapon, instead volunteering to clear landmines and roadside bombs in Iraq:
In February 2003, a month after Lance Cpl. Joel David Klimkewicz was told he was going to Iraq, the young marine filed to become a conscientious objector. More than a year later, his application was denied, and he was again told to prep for duty. Klimkewicz, 24, volunteered to clear land mines and roadside bombs but refused to carry a weapon--a stand that led to his being court-martialed in December, busted to private, and thrown in the brig at Camp Lejeune for seven months.
That jail time comes in spite of a recommendation from the Marine equivalent of a grand jury that "the matter be disposed of by nonjudicial punishment and administrative separation from the military, with an honorable discharge."
Posted by zeynep at February 9, 2005 01:34 PM
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