AWOL Miami soldier says he'll risk prison to protest Iraq war
By Robert Nolin and Tanya Weinberg
Branded a cowardly deserter by some, lauded as a principled conscientious objector by others, Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, of Miami Beach, has become the human face of a new issue emerging from the Iraq War: When do a soldier's convictions trump his call to duty?
But all Mejia wanted to do Tuesday was see his 3-year-old daughter, Samantha.
Today the Florida National Guard veteran embarks on a journey that may ultimately end in the stockade. He must be at Fort Stewart, Ga., by 3 p.m. to answer possible charges of desertion or absence without leave. An anti-war advocate, Mejia is also seeking conscientious objector status to bar his return to the combat zone and earn him an honorable discharge.
Mejia, 28, served about five months in Iraq and failed to report back for duty last fall at the end of a two-week leave. After several months in the Northeast, he surrendered himself Monday to authorities at a Massachusetts Air Force base. He was told to report the next day to the National Guard armory in North Miami. From there, Mejia was directed to return today to the Georgia base that deployed him.
He turned down a ride provided by the Guard, preferring to travel on his own, Florida National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Ron Tittle said from his St. Augustine office. On Tuesday night, Mejia had not decided whether to drive or fly the 466 miles to Fort Stewart. He didn't know if he would have time to visit Samantha.
"It would be very painful if I wouldn't be able to be part of her life," he said.
At Fort Stewart, a military legal team will review Mejia's case. "They will do the paperwork," Tittle said. "They will decide what course of action to take."
Mejia could be charged with being AWOL, which carries a one-year sentence, or desertion, which carries a five-year sentence.
The platoon leader could also be jailed until his case is decided, but Tittle said that's unlikely. "I don't know if legal will use that," the spokesman said.
Mejia, a Nicaraguan native, said he's willing to take that risk. "I'm prepared to go to prison because I'll have a clear conscience," he told The Associated Press. Mejia's sentiments are shared by his anti-war activist mother, Maritza Castillo, and father, Carlos Godoy Mejia, a populist Nicaraguan songwriter.
Mejia's case has drawn national attention and resurrected questions about when conscientious objector status should be granted -- arguments not heard since the Vietnam War of three decades ago. Airport bystanders grumbled about Mejia's stance when he arrived at Fort Lauderdale on Monday night.
Mejia said he has already been labeled a coward by one of his commanders in Iraq.
He may have a tough time convincing military brass he's genuinely against violence. A college student, Mejia served three years in the Army before his current five-year stint in the Florida National Guard.
"These cases are a hard sell," said Eugene R. Fidell, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who handled conscientious objector petitions as a Coast Guard hearing officer during the Vietnam era. Someone seeking such status must prove an opposition to war in general, not any single conflict.
"Does his objection go to war in all forms, or is it case-specific to the Iraq war?" Fidell said. "You can't pick and choose. It has to be a profound philosophical or religious conviction."
Mejia said his experience in Iraq soured him on the military. "I disagree with this war. All you find is a bunch of lies," he said. "We're fighting for oil."
Mejia's actions galvanized anti-war activists, who cheered him on when he surrendered Monday in Massachusetts. In Iraq, the Army announced Tuesday that two medics have applied for conscientious objector status. As of last summer, the military granted such status to only 45 soldiers a year.
In New York, a veterans advocate group, Citizen Soldier, is assisting Mejia and helped retain his attorney, Louis Font of Brookline, Mass., a former conscientious objector.
Font said Mejia is the first Iraq war soldier to seek objector status. "That is significant, and likely there will be others," he said.
"We have committed ourselves to raise money for his defense," said Tod Ensign, director of Citizen Soldier. "He will make an excellent defendant."
Ensign said publicity about Mejia has led to other inquiries from soldiers considering similar action. "There was a lot of media attention, and that's great," he said. "I think there are more who share his beliefs than the Pentagon thinks. What this is, is an issue whose time may have come."
Mejia said he's prepared to face whatever the military dishes out. "I hope they treat me fair," he said. "I've not been disloyal to the military and the country, I've only been loyal to ... my conscience."
Guard spokesman Tittle said Mejia is entitled to an anti-war position but should have expressed it before his deployment to Iraq.
Robert Nolin can be reached at rnolin@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2024.
about 5 years in Leavenworth might help him sort it all out.
i wonder what these people think that the military does when they decide to sign up. He didn't mind taking the money from the Guard but when it is time to earn the freakin money he wussed out!
