Posted on 11/10/2005 7:49:14 PM PST by No Longer Free State
A member of the Texas Army National Guard stationed at Fort Sam Houston who wants to be discharged as a conscientious objector stopped using military benefits after finding out her unit got orders for active duty, according to her lawyer.
Austin attorney Beverly Reeves today also told U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia Katherine Jashinski had an epiphany that caused her to question the values with which she was raised. Jashinski, 22, now believes in protecting life and opposes war.
Jashinski, originally from Wautoma, Wisc., enlisted in April 2002 for six years, and is under orders to ship out to Fort Benning, Ga., on Saturday to train to be deployed for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Her unit, the 111th Area Support Group in Austin, got its activation orders in April 2004 and deployed to Afghanistan in March.
She filed for a discharge as a conscientious objector in June 2004, shortly after learning her unit got activation orders. The Army kept her at Fort Sam while her discharge request was reviewed. It was turned down last month.
She is now asking Garcia to order the Army to keep her in San Antonio - close to friends and her lawyer - while the judge later rules whether the Army should discharge her. If the judge grants the temporary restraining order, he would have 10 days to rule on her discharge request.
During much of today's hearing, the judge focused on why Jashinski didn't seek the discharge for any of the two years she was in before learning her unit was activated.
Reeves replied that Jashinski went through a series of revelations that clashed with the values she was raised with and molded her new ideals. The period of transformation included a trip to the South Pacific, where she had discussions with people with divergent viewpoints about America's foreign policies.
Jashinski, Reeves said, also did not know what a conscientious objector was until someone asked her during training if she was one – after her unit was activated.
Reeves said Jashinski's sacrosanct lifestyle reflects her belief that life is valuable. Jashinski became a vegetarian, started riding a bicycle and changed her major from engineering to studies related to humanitarian work. She also stopped using military benefits to pay for school, and took time off from college to focus on her discharge request.
When did she stop using the benefits? Garcia asked.
Reeves said it was after learning her unit was activated, but could not provide an exact date.
Reeves, however, argued that Jashinski's fight for a discharge goes beyond her.
A decision for her could help "protect the right of individuals to be a conscientious objector, to be able to modify and change views as they are molded," Reeves said.
What happens if the judge rules for the Army? Garcia asked.
"If she's ultimately ordered to go, I will advise her to go, but if ordered to pick up a gun, she will not," Reeves said, adding that it could land Jashinski in a court-martial.
Capt. Rebecca E. Ausprung, a JAG officer with the Army's Litigation Division in Arlington, Va., told the judge that "what is at issue here today is bigger than Spc. Jashinski."
Jashinski's request, Ausprung said, is seeking a "drastic and extraordinary remedy" that interferes with the military's decision on how to maintain its forces.
If the judge grants Jashinski's request, "that opens the floodgates to other solders to come and challenge their deployments," Ausprung said.
"We are fighting a war on terror," Ausprung said. "The U.S. military has made a decision that Spc. Jashinski is necessary to fight that war."
gcontreras@express-news.net
what proof do you have that she has a "Rosy Red A%@?"
Good....you support the coward and I'll support the brave woman taking up the slack for Katerine.
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