Posted on 12/17/2007 1:55:16 PM PST by Zakeet
BERLIN (Reuters) - A U.S. Army medic jailed for desertion after refusing to return to Iraq is on a mission to tell young Americans about the grim realities of war before they join the military.
Mexican-born combat medic Agustin Aguayo, in Germany to receive a peace award, told Reuters that U.S. Army recruitment methods were unfair as young people got a one-sided, positive picture of combat.
"I want to bring young people awareness. We ask them to sacrifice so much yet we don't educate them about the realities of war," said Aguayo, who describes himself as a conscientious objector, in a telephone interview on Monday.
Aguayo, who had been stationed in Germany, was sentenced to eight months behind bars in March after escaping through a window at his base in 2006 and missing his unit's redeployment to Iraq. In 2004 he had served one term as a medic in Iraq, refusing to load his gun while on guard duty.
With his prison term over, Aguayo visits U.S. schools to warn potential recruits about the pain and suffering soldiers and their families experience, especially in hotspots like Iraq.
He lambasted the way military recruiters go to schools and promise students positive experiences.
"They don't hear what it is like to kill someone, to see a friend die, to hurt another human, to be in an occupied country, shooting someone at close range. It's really unfair."
Aguayo is still involved in a legal battle to be recognized as a conscientious objector by the Army and the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to hear his case.
He expects to be officially discharged from the Army once legal proceedings are wound up.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Agustin Aguayo, a mexican-born U.S. Army medic and self-described conscientious objector, attends a statement of his lawyer David Court at the Leighton Barracks in the southern German city of Wuerzburg March 6, 2007. Aguayo is on a mission to tell young Americans about the grim realities of war before they join the military.
Take that uniform off, scumbag!
Militant
“Mexican-born”
Wants the American rights but not the American responsibilities.
You volunteered, coward.
So...how does he get his message across without looking dumber than dirt himself?
Deserter and a Coward.
No one is dillusional about the realities of war... war is war.
This guy is no CO... CO’s have worked as medics on battlefields across this planet, and given their lives to save others..... this guy is just a coward and a deserter.
“I don’t like the way the game is played, so now let’s change the rules!”
What an idiot.
I’VE never been in the military yet I know this: People die. Things get blown up.
“Mexican-born combat medic Agustin Aguayo”
I hope no one offered him citizenship for his service. (assuming he’s not already a citizen) (in which case, I’d deport him back to Mexico)
He disgraces the uniform of this country. Revoke his passport and send his sorry butt back to Mexico.
What a great way to get yourself, and worse, your fellow soldiers killed.
Nobody told me that someone might shoot at my precious @ss.
He should come to Arizona for a cowardice award.
U.S citizenship should be revoked for anyone deserting from the military. They are running out on their country. We should close the door behind them and send a bill to their family for reimbursement of training expenses.
When you put your own personal interests above that of your unit, other people die. i.e. Gays in the Military
What kind of school would let a convicted criminal and military deserter address their students?
“I want to bring young people awareness. We ask them to sacrifice so much yet we don’t educate them about the realities of war,” said Aguayo.
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“They don’t hear what it is like to kill someone, to see a friend die, to hurt another human, to be in an occupied country, shooting someone at close range. It’s really unfair.”
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Cowards are a dime a dozen these days. Obviously he played a lot of video games like a lot of youth and missed a few events and reports about why we ended up ‘over there’.
One ought to ask if maybe the media is as guilty as the recruiters in not showing the WTC towers and those who jumped that fateful day... and maybe showing the young people what happened that day.
But to some, it doesn’t matter, we were asking for it, it was our fault. I guess the same applies to him, being Mexican born, he blames the good old USof A for the woeful conditions in his native land that probably were the main reason he ended up in the US.. and frankly, he doesn; think it’s worth fighting for. Fine.
deport his arse,, muy pronto. Let him fend for himself from whence he came.
The already get a highly distorted view of that from the MSM.
A public school, aka publically funded thought control camps.
a coward and a deserter! take that Uniform off you piece of crap.
WTF??? It's COMBAT you dumb f#$k, what did you expect?
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