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August 31, 2006
Leftist Redeploys to Prison
He served one year in Iraq and I thank him for that. Unfortunately, like all the other defeatists, he has decided to surrender after only two years on the run.
On Thursday, a year and a half after going absent without leave before his second deployment to Iraq, Army Spc. Mark Wilkerson plans to return to Fort Hood to face his fellow soldiers and superiors.
"I just could not in good conscience go back to a war I felt was wrong," Wilkerson, 22, of Colorado Springs, Colo., said Thursday at Cindy Sheehan's protest camp site.
About 50 protesters joined Wilkerson at Sheehan's site near President Bush's ranch. Roughly a dozen in the group planned to travel with him about 40 miles south to the central Texas Army post near Killeen.
Wilkerson, who said he never left the country but won't reveal where he was, has consulted with an attorney but does not know exactly what penalties he faces. Others have served time in military prisons.
Simple desertion has been decreasing in the military in recent years — about 2,500 troops last year simply didn't show up for work, down from almost 5,000 in 2001, according to the Pentagon public affairs office.
Wilkerson was just 17 when he enlisted in the Army. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandparents, who also served in the military. Then after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he felt even more sure of his decision, he said.
It's hard to criticize someone who went to Iraq--especially when I did not. Also, because I can understand the draw of celebrity when the leftist mobsters and media get their clutches on you. But he signed up and, therefore, broke his word to his fellow soldiers that needed him, the commanders that needed him, the President that needed him and the nation that needed him.
I hope his time in prison is safe and passes quickly.
Posted by Aaron at August 31, 2006 07:02 PM
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Comments
He's handsome. Too bad he's a deserter.
Posted by: PatrickP at September 4, 2006 02:34 PM