U.S. Army Deserter Surrenders in Kentucky!

In a disturbing turn of events decorated U.S. Army soldier Darrell Anderson has surrendered at Fort Knox after deserting the military in order to avoid another tour of duty in Iraq, in what he feels like is an illegal war.



What is the sad part of this story is the fact that Darrell Anderson felt he had to flee to make up for things that he did in Iraq. I'm sure the roadside bomb had a part to play in the decision to desert the military in an effort to avoid another tour of duty in Iraq.

While we may not see everything that is going on over in Iraq we can certainly see the effect that the war is having on those who are experiencing the war first hand.

There are those who think that Darrell Anderson is justified in doing what he did to protest a war he feels is illegal, but just as many who feel that he should receive a court martial for deserting.

The fact that he has received a purple heart would make a court martial an unlikely senerio, but some believe that is just what he deserves.

Related News Links:
www.alertnet.org
www.washingtonpost.com
www.courier-journal.com

[edit on 4-10-2006 by UM_Gazz]

So what do men with morals do, when they are told to murder innocent people but refuse?

You join the army to protect your country, to protect freedom and fight the right fight..

not to be invovled in an illegial occupation, the murder of innocent people and to watch as your friends suffer and die?

If we were doing the right thing by humanity, this sort of thing wouldnt be happening.

If you beleive in what your doing, you can do it and accept the consequences.

Let me preface what I'm about to say with this: I'm against the war. I think it's foolish, it's self-destructive, it's wasteful, it's morally repugnant, and it's going to tear this country down to the foundation.

Now, my opinion on the soldier...

Soldiering is not an easy life. It's one of the toughest gigs around. You sign up to serve, and if you don't, it's your butt in the breeze.

An army functions thanks to a chain of command. When that breaks down, nothing works. The whole concept of war-fighting is predicated on the assumption that soldiers must obey orders. Soldiers who don't obey orders are of no use - they're a liability in fact.

Now, refusing an illegal order is one thing. Commander says shoot a defenseless civilian, you can refuse with no hesitation. Refusing deployment is a whole different matter. It's not a soldier's call to make.

If you want to debate the reasons for war, be a politician. If you want to debate the morality of war, be a philosopher. If you want to fight, kill, maim, die, and so on, be a soldier. A soldier can debate the reasons, he can philosophize, but those things ought not to affect the soldier side of the man, especially not when the soldier has a job to do.

In reality, you have only a few seconds, or fractions of a second, to pull the trigger or duck, as the case may be. Philosophizing will get you killed, it will get your comrades killed, it will forfeit battles and lose wars. So the part of the man that wants to debate the issues, and drink tea, and write essays, and feel things, he has to be put down, in the permafrost, while the soldier does his job.

If this was a noble nation, I would fight and die for it. It's not, so I won't, I'll content myself with fighting and dying for my family. We can debate that, but it's pointless, because it's a judgement call. I made my decision, and this soldier we're talking about made his decision. We're both subject to the consequences of our respective decisions - that's not up for debate, that's fact.

If you sign up to serve, for whatever reason, you had damn well better serve. Failure to do so has serious consequences.

Imagine you were a commander, trying to fight a war with a bunch of philosophers under your command. I'd sooner bail out the Atlantic basin with a teaspoon than put myself through that...



[edit on 4-10-2006 by WyrdeOne]

Granted, you sign up.. your effictivley giving yourself to the military.
Lose the brain, lose your character.. you do what we want. period!

But unfortunately.. no matter what you tell someone to think, believe or do..

its still there brains concluding the facts infront of them.

I may be at the commanders disposal.. but i damn well wouldnt walk into certain death, when there's No chance of victory, or even a set strategic VALUE for what we're doing.

If you sign up to serve, for whatever reason, you had damn well better serve. Failure to do so has serious consequences.

You sign on the dotted line, game over. You fight when they tell you to. You can refuse an illegal order. Don't want to shoot civvies, then don't. You don't want to fight, don't join the infantry.

I mean, even as it is, you gotta be pretty determined to fight. You have to be armor, or infantry MOS to actually be engaged in face-to-face fighting. Arty does a little, but...yeah. Cook Platoon is effectively out of the war. Hell, if he didn't want to fight, he could have applied to switch MOS's. Training would have taken him out of theatre after his first tour, if it was accepted.

As wrong as he thinks things are, he signed his ass over to the President. TS, and let justice be done. Six Six and a Kick.

DE

Other sources say that this guy joined the military as a way to make money for college, well therein is the problem if this guy joins for the easy way to get a college degree, and finds himself in the middle of a war instead of a classroom who's fault is that?

I live next to Ft. Campbell KY. and I've heard this same story over and over many people join for the easy way to pay for college during peace time, after they find themselves in the middle of a war they never thought would happen suddenly they want to cut and run, I'm sure it's not a new idea but maybe the G.I. Bill is weakening our military? just a thought.

[edit on 5-10-2006 by the_sentinal]

I have no links to back this up, but i've heard that the current administration does not want any trials of deserters or those that refused to serve. They don't want the bad publicity. They want to bury this.

I don't see this story going very far.

At least not until the war is over.

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
A soldier can debate the reasons, he can philosophize, but those things ought not to affect the soldier side of the man, especially not when the soldier has a job to do.

WyrdeOne hit the nail on the head with this one and having a Purple Heart will make no difference at all in how he is treated. It is likely that he will get off with a reduction in rank, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonorable discharge. That's bad enough, but he could get worse.

I think wupy is right about one thing. A general court-martial would probably make a him a poster boy for the anti-America crowd and no coward deserves that.

[edit on 2006/10/5 by GradyPhilpott]