Posted on 12/07/2004 9:07:02 AM PST by pabianice
SAN DIEGO NAVAL STATION, Calif. — As his ship spun into San Diego Bay on Dec. 6 to begin a deployment, Fire Controlman 3rd Class Pablo Paredes turned his back and walked through the pier gates as a crowd of families yelled “coward!” and “traitor!” The assault ship Bonhomme Richard would leave on this deployment without Paredes, a 23-year-old who refused to board the ship with the rest of the ship’s crew.
“I’m sad that anyone is on there,” he said, taking a glance shortly after the ship blew its horns and pulled from its berth.
Paredes had tried unsuccessfully to turn over his military identification card to Navy officials on the pier. While hundreds of relatives bade farewell to their sailors and Marines deploying on the ship, which is leading the 6,000-member Expeditionary Strike Group 5, Paredes waited on the pier for the ship’s departure and to see if he would be arrested.
Paredes, a former member of the now-decommissioned destroyer O’Brien, did not step onto Bonhomme Richard, where he would have had to report for a 7 a.m. roll call. He sported a scruffy moustache and beard and did not wear his uniform. Instead, he donned a black T-shirt, with the phrase “Like a Cabinet Member” on the front and “I Resign” on the back.
“I feel a lot of sadness,” he said, glancing up at the ship, with black-clad sailors and Marines in khaki uniforms standing along the rails. “It’s not against them individually,” he explained. “What they do is amazing. Somebody has to go risk their lives for their country, and they do it.”
But this time, contends Parades, himself a veteran of a Western Pacific deployment, the risk isn’t worth it. He believes the military is being misled in the war in Iraq, and he blames the Bush administration. Troops “are not told what exactly is the reason behind it,” he said. “I think oil is pretty much the reason.”
Paredes, the son of Ecuadorean immigrants, has done 4½ years of a six-year enlistment. When he reported to Bonhomme Richard in mid-November, he said, he learned that he would be deploying overseas, and likely on course to take the embarked Marines with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, to the Persian Gulf. That prospect bothered him. “My immediate reaction was that no way was I going to (deploy),” he said. “I don’t believe in the war at all.”
After a few hours talking with reporters and fending off unsupportive comments, he left. Navy spokesmen said they don’t yet know what charges, if any, he may face.
Yeppers, that pretty well works for me.
I don't understand. Really, why isn't he in jail?
Dan
Court martial. What a disgrace to America!
Yeah, I wonder what WE gave him for joining in the first place. Are we going to take it away now? And how did he get that shirt? Sounds to me like a liberal set up.
I'm glad to see this isn't a bash of Pablo Paredes. He at least deserves respect for not running and facing the consequences even if you might not agree with his actions. The Navy on the other hand....
Nobody made this jerk join. Desserters are shot in time of war normally.
'Missing movement' is one thing and can be quite serious but this POS is nothing more than a deserter. I hope he likes Leavenworth.
Amazing!!!
This pansy is walking around free!! The new "sensitive" war on Terror talked about by that idiot Kerry.
He is an affront to the brave men and women who serve proudly and with distinction.
Now that he's actually missed ship's movement, he's toast... You can talk about not showing up all you want. When you actually do it, however, you're in some deep kimchi...
Maybe a good old fashioned keel-hauling might result in an attitude adjustment. Next stop is the USS Brig...
He's officially AWOL. He's going.
"He believes the military is being misled in the war in Iraq, and he blames the Bush administration. Troops “are not told what exactly is the reason behind it,” he said. “I think oil is pretty much the reason."
In other words, he's a coward and plans to use anti-Bush rhetoric to camouflage it.
I guess they must have changed the military contracts to where you can now pick and choose which engagements and wars you wish to participate in.
So you joined the Navy? They should execute him.
He's not officially a deserter - right now he's Absent Without Leave... If he's gone for longer than 30 (I think) days, OR leaves his military ID behind and leaves, THEN he's a deserter.
Right now, though, if he were picked up, it would be an AWOL charge, a Captains' Mast, and probably 45 days in a Correctional Custody Unit (like Boot Camp all over again, and for a Fleet Sailor, it sucks hind tit) or a brief stay in the Brig...
A kerry sailor.
Part II
"But this time, contends Parades, himself a veteran of a Western Pacific deployment, the risk isn’t worth it. He believes the military is being misled in the war in Iraq, and he blames the Bush administration. Troops “are not told what exactly is the reason behind it,” he said. “I think oil is pretty much the reason.”"
Does anyone else wonder how this guy can actually believe he knows more then everyone else on that ship, his whole chain of command, and our government. These people simply amaze me, “I think oil is pretty much the reason.”, Why? Is it becuase there's oil there, is that the only requirement for this belief? WTF are these people smoking? Iraqi's are being killed everyday and these libs think its about oil, when are they going to wake up? Oil, that theory is so old and worn out you'd think even the stupidest liberal would see through it by now. If its all about oil, where is it? Where's all the profit?
God liberals really tick me off.
I saw him on the news. What a jerk. He must really love the attention, to try to provoke people by wearing that shirt like he did.
Walked off the pier? In my Navy days, Shore Patrol would have "escorted" him onboard so he could face NJP.
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