Anti-War Up - Quaker deserts as unit deploys

http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story....&Story=6185924


Published on: 2004-02-19

Quaker deserts as unit deploys
By Julia Oliver
Staff writer


Contributed photo
Jeremy Hinzman fled to Canada with his wife, Nga Nguyen, and their son,
Liam, in January.

Jeremy Hinzman said he could barely stomach chanting "kill we will" during
basic training and, as a Quaker, he didn't want to shoot anybody. But it was
the thought of serving U.S. interests in Iraq that made the 82nd Airborne
Division specialist flee to Canada last month.

"I would have felt no different than a private in the German Army during
World War II," he said by phone from Toronto, where he is seeking refugee
status.

Hinzman, 25, who was a member of the 2nd Battalion of the 504th Parachute
Infantry Regiment, is subject to prosecution as a deserter if he is caught
within U.S. borders.

His name will go on a national database that law enforcement officers can
access, said Sgt. Pam Smith, a spokeswoman for the 82nd Airborne. He can be
arrested, but the Army won't go looking for him, she said.

"We don't have time to go and track down people who go AWOL," she said.
"We're fighting a war."

Hinzman, who grew up in Rapid City, S.D., joined the Army in January 2001.
The socialist structure of the military appealed to him, he said. He liked
the subsidized housing and groceries and, at the end of his service, the
money for college.

"It seemed like a good financial decision," he said. And, he said, "I had a
romantic vision of what the Army was."

But from the beginning, basic training bothered him. He said he was
horrified by the chanting about blood and killing during marches, by the
shooting at targets without faces and by what he called the dehumanization
of the enemy.

"It's like watching some kind of scary movie, except I was in it," he said.
"People would just walk around saying things like, 'Oh, I want to kill
somebody.'"

He felt that the prospect of killing should be taken more seriously and that
soldiers should not talk about death in such a cavalier way, he said.

In August 2002, Hinzman turned in his first application to be a
conscientious objector. He wanted to fulfill his service obligation, he
said, but he didn't want to participate in combat. He wrote a six-page
explanation of his beliefs, but the Army told him it was lost.

"I was informed three months later that it was never received," he said.
Last fall, while doing clerical work, he was given a file that included that
application.

By the time Hinzman applied again at the end of October, his unit was on
track to go to Afghanistan. He deployed in December, and the application was
pending.

"I didn't mind being deployed. I just didn't want to shoot anybody," he
said.

Not allowed to go on patrol, he worked as a dishwasher, often 15 hours a day
and, for the first few months, without a day off. He said his unit didn't
get into any major combat.

Application denied

While he was in Afghanistan, his application for conscientious objector
status was evaluated and denied, he said. Hinzman said he thinks one
question - Would he defend his unit if attacked? - destroyed his chances. He
said he answered yes, reasoning that he had no choice if he was forced to
carry a gun.

"I was a little bit too honest, I guess," he said.

In July, he returned to Fayetteville, and to his wife, Nga Nguyen, and their
14-month-old son, Liam.

"My son, of course, was a little bit shy about seeing me, but that went away
after a few hours," he said.

He and Nguyen figured it was only a matter of time before his unit would go
to Iraq. He said he felt the war there was unjust and was being fought over
oil interests.

"Had we, say, gone to war with North Korea or someone that was an imminent
threat, I would have gone along with it," he said. "I signed up to defend
our country, not be a pawn in some sort of political ideology."

He began to think about his options. And about what he might have to do if
he went to Iraq.

On Dec. 20, Hinzman found out that his unit would be deployed. And on Jan.
2, he packed his family into his car for the 18-hour drive to Canada. The
three left at night, on the Friday of a four-day weekend. Hinzman's absence
wasn't noticed until that Monday; he wasn't declared AWOL until the
following day.

Support network

Through his philosophical objections to the Army, Hinzman has received much
support from Quakers in Fayetteville and Toronto. He has always been
interested in Buddhism, he said, but joined the Friends Meeting after he
moved to Fayetteville and couldn't find a place to worship in the Buddhist
faith.

"The Quaker's mode of worship was closest to meditation because it's
silent," he said. In Toronto, the Quakers took Hinzman and his family in
while they looked for an apartment, he said.

Ann Ashford, recording clerk at the Fayetteville Friends Meeting, said
Hinzman and his wife were faithful attendees of the meetings. She said the
community supports Hinzman, but no one at the meeting knew he was planning
to desert.

"We're all very concerned about him," she said.

Ashford said Hinzman spoke with Chuck Fager, executive director of the
Quaker House, a related organization that counsels soldiers who are seeking
discharge from the military. Fager could not be reached Wednesday but has
said in an e-mail that calls to the organization's hot line from service
members and their families last year reached a record total of 6,187, up by
50 percent from the year before.

According to the Toronto Globe and Mail, Hinzman is believed to be the first
U.S. soldier filing for refugee status in Canada for refusing duty in Iraq.
During the Vietnam War, an estimated 30,000 Americans sought refuge in
Canada to avoid compulsory military service.

Hinzman's chances of receiving refugee status are statistically slim:
According to Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board, none of the 268
American applicants last year was accepted. But people who are denied
refugee status are not automatically deported; they may be granted
permission to stay in Canada under other provisions, said Charles Hawkins, a
spokesman for the board.

Hinzman knows that the decision will take awhile.

"It's a big drawn-out process," he said.

He said that the hardest part has been leaving the people in his unit, which
is still in Iraq.

"I didn't do this out of animosity toward them," he said, "but toward the
situation we were in."

Staff writer Julia Oliver can be reached at oliverj@fayettevillenc.com or
323-4848, ext. 280.
--
Veterans Call to Conscience to Active Duty Troops and Reservists
4742 42nd Ave. SW #142
Seattle, WA 98116-4553
CallToConscience@yahoo.com
www.calltoconscience.net

On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 2028 -1000, "redvet" wrote:

>http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story....&Story=6185924
>
>
>Published on: 2004-02-19
>
>Quaker

With all due respect to the Quakers, you are kidding right, the
Quakers have been CO on religious ground if they ask for along time.


Red your material is getting real thin.
I still want to know why you and your group has left out the Democrat
National Convention, you got Kerry, and Clark both were in wars and
both killed their enemies, with awards for doing so, so why no
protests?

If I may, I'm a happy as hell John Bull Wayne and you have parted
company, you do know he was bring you down, you at least carry
yourself with some resemblance of respect, he on the other hand was
gutter trash. It was good for you and your cause to distance yourself
from that low life.
How's the weather on the Islands, going on vacation in March, see ya
real soon.


Ken
11Bravo

"Ken" wrote in message
news:ndig30dm7hlp4pl3vam0tp2g8bviidu6sv@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 2028 -1000, "redvet" wrote:
>
> >http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story....&Story=6185924
> >
> >
> >Published on: 2004-02-19
> >
> >Quaker
>
> With all due respect to the Quakers, you are kidding right, the
> Quakers have been CO on religious ground if they ask for along time.
>
>
> Red your material is getting real thin.
> I still want to know why you and your group has left out the Democrat
> National Convention, you got Kerry, and Clark both were in wars and
> both killed their enemies, with awards for doing so, so why no
> protests?
>
> If I may, I'm a happy as hell John Bull Wayne and you have parted
> company, you do know he was bring you down, you at least carry
> yourself with some resemblance of respect, he on the other hand was
> gutter trash. It was good for you and your cause to distance yourself
> from that low life.
> How's the weather on the Islands, going on vacation in March, see ya
> real soon.
>
>
> Ken
> 11Bravo

A)
Cuz we'll be at the republican convention (Re: post on anti-war movement
and DNC working together of several months back, suggest you rent "Born on
the Fourth of July" fast forward to the convention part <
http://www.vaiw.org/vet/index.php>)

B)
Don't know which of the many John Waynes you're writing about or the
context.

C)
Weather's fine, rainy season pau... Major anti-war demo at Ala Moana
Park on the 21st of March... Recommend 'Magoos' near the university for the
beer choices, 'Hoku's' at the Kahala Mandarin for mixed drinks and the
ambiance, 'Fox and Hound' on Kilauea avenue for the company of women of
independent means and Guiness on tap, spend lots of money while your here.
redvet