When Sojourners reported on conscientious objectors during the Persian Gulf war (see "On the Front Lines of Resistance," April 1991), we heard story after story of CO applicants who were forced -- some in manacles and chains -- to deploy to Saudi Arabia. Once in the Gulf, their CO applications were to be processed -- or so they were told.
However, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) recently stated that it knew of no successful CO claim filed while serving in the Gulf; and AFSC and other agencies offering military counseling say only a handful of CO claims submitted since the beginning of Operation Desert Shield last August have been granted.
Hundreds of CO hopefuls saw the handwriting on the wall, and went AWOL rather than be put in the position of killing on command against their conscience or religious convictions. And now, as the American GIs continue to come home to a hero's welcome, many who refused to participate in Operation Desert Storm are paying a high cost for their crime of conscience.
At military bases around the country, COs are now viewed by their peers and officers as "cowards" and "commies." In fact, many say they have suffered harassment and humiliation at the hands of the U.S. military.
Some COs have been placed in solitary confinement, received death threats, been subjected to routine sleep deprivation, and been encouraged to inform on other COs in exchange for more lenient treatment. Standard CO hearings have turned into drawn-out, abusive interrogations by military officers.
"I suddenly realized what it can mean to be a dissident in this country," Sgt. Linda Loteczka of Hartford, Connecticut, told the National Catholic Reporter, describing a four-hour interrogation by an investigating officer.
The most serious form of retribution, however, are the charges facing many COs. At press time, more than 100 COs around the country were awaiting court-martial proceedings on charges such as "desertion to avoid hazardous duty." If found guilty, they could face up to five years of prison.
About 40 Marine COs were sent to Camp Lejeune Marine base in North Carolina -- the largest concentration of COs in the country -- to wait out the charges against them. One of them, 24-year-old Enrique Gonzales, is a Salvadoran refugee with permanent residency status who would face probable deportation back to El Salvador if convicted of the felony. Another, 25-year-old Marine Reserve Sgt. David Bobbit, has suffered two mental breakdowns in recent months, but the military has chosen to ignore the "strong recommendation" of a military psychiatrist that he be immediately discharged.
Bobbitt and Gonzales were among a group of eight Marine reservists scheduled to be court-martialed the week Sojourners went to press.
Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace organization, sent an open letter to President Bush on COs, signed by its member bishops. The April 25 letter called for amnesty for Gulf war COs who refused deployment and reaffirmed the longtime support in the Catholic Church for legal recognition of conscientious objectors.
In another CO development, Navy officer Tom Vickers, a 38-year-old American Baptist minister, recently walked out on his job as a religious program specialist for the Buffalo, New York Navy recruiting station. After six years of military service -- convincing young recruits from religious backgrounds to join the Navy -- Vickers decided to call it quits after struggling with his opposition to the Persian Gulf war.
"I could no longer fit into that job description," Vickers told the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America. "I told my commanding officer I could not put the uniform of war back on and I would not. Then I put on my [clerical] collar -- my uniform of peace -- and walked away."
Vickers said he observed "nationalism becoming our religion" during the Persian Gulf war, and experienced a sense of God's leading to "go and study war no more."
Judy Coode assisted with research.
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