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<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, March 31, 2004 6:09 AM<br>
<b>Subject:</b> "Sgt. Camilo Mejia is interviewed by Dan Rather, on
SixtyMInutes, Wednesday nigh<br><br>
"Sgt. Camilo Mejia is interviewed by Dan Rather, on SixtyMInutes,
Wednesday night, 8 pm (same Pacific time) on reasons for his refusal to
return to Iraq."<br><br>
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Forwarded Message: <br><br>
</font><font size=5><b>AWOL From Iraq<br>
</b></font><font face="arial" size=1>March 29, 2004<br><br>
<br>
</font><font face="arial" size=2>Since the U.S. invaded Iraq last year,
hundreds of American soldiers have broken the law and abandoned their
units on the battlefield. <br><br>
<b>Correspondent Dan Rather</b> talks to AWOL Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia,
and his commanding officer, in exclusive interviews to be broadcast on
<b><i>60 Minutes II</i></b> Wednesday, March 31 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. <br>
Until October, 28-year-old Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, who's with the
Florida National Guard, was stationed in Ramadi - one of Iraq's most
dangerous areas. Despite his commanding officer's suspicions that the
bloodshed was taking a heavy toll on Mejia, he was allowed to take a
short leave to work out the problems he was having renewing his green
card. (Like almost 40,000 other soldiers who have spent time fighting in
Iraq, Mejia is a legal alien.) <br><br>
It was during that leave that Mejia tells Rather he first began thinking
of going AWOL. "When you look at the war and you look at the reasons
that took us to war and you don't find that any of the things that we
were told that we're going to war for turned out to be true," says
Mejia. <br><br>
"When you don't find there are weapons of mass destruction and when
you don't find that there was a link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda
and you see that you're not helping the people and the people don't want
you there and, to me, there's no military contract and no military duty
that's going to justify being a part of that war." <br><br>
In addition to his moral questions about the war, Sgt. Mejia thought he
had a legal right not to go back. He says he satisfied his agreement with
the Army and National Guard to serve eight years, but like many in the
military, he was ordered to serve more time because of the war.
<br><br>
So, from his home in Florida, Mejia emailed Capt. Tad Warfel and
requested assistance being released from active duty. "[Warfel]
pretty much said that my place of duty was [in Iraq] and that I was to go
back immediately," he says. <br><br>
Warfel tells Rather that he was "furious" with the soldier.
"I don't know if I considered him personally a coward but I consider
what he did as a cowardly act," he says. <br><br>
"...[Mejia] told me he was coming back and he didn't, and that makes
me mad and just that any soldier that abandons his fellow soldier in a
time of war, and I can't think of anything worse ... I just hope that the
military justice system does right by me and by my soldiers and punishes
him for what he did," says Warfel. "You know, the worst
punishment in the world would be sending him back to Iraq for six more
months." <br><br>
In March 2004, Mejia turned himself in to a military base in
Massachusetts. He has asked to be classified as a conscientious objector
and to be given an honorable discharge. <br><br>
"I have not deserted the military," says Mejia. "I have
not been disloyal to the men and women of the military. I have not been
disloyal to a country. I have only been loyal to my principles and I
think that gives me the right to decide not to be a part of something
that I consider criminal. I realize I have a duty to the military and I'm
going to face that duty and I'm going to face my responsibility."
<br><br>
When asked if he still hopes to become a citizen, Mejia responds,
"Yes, I do." <br><br>
<br>
</font><font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
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