In today’s article, An Army Minus One on Common Dreams, it’s been announced that Army Specialist Mark Wilkerson has turned himself in to Fort Hood in Texas, after being AWOL (Absent Without Leave) for more than 18 months.
Initially supportive of the Iraq War, Wilkerson realized over time that the war was wrong and that he could not bring himself to kill and developed an inner urging to not go back with his company’s second deployment.
Wilkerson is one of hundreds of U.S. Soldiers who have refused to fight in Iraq and have claimed Conscientous Objector Status.
Cindy Sheehan has asked for more people to follow in Wilkerson’s footsteps. “Mark served one tour in Iraq and what he saw there changed him to such a degree that he couldn’t in good conscience return again. It shouldn’t be his duty to enter combat once again. He has already done what has been asked of him, and fulfilled his oath,” Sheehan said.
“There is a belief on the part of the soldier that they will be used carefully, and as a last resort only when all other means to resolve a conflict have been exhausted. Instead, soldiers are put into harm’s way without proper training and equipment, and for reasons we have come to find were fraudulent. The social contract between the U.S. government and our society and the solider who serves has been broken,” she said.
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 