AWOL soldier pledges to wage no more war
SHERBORN -- Standing on the grounds of the Peace Abbey yesterday near a statue of Gandhi, Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia said that when he went home on leave last year after fighting in Iraq, he realized he could not return to battle.
Mejia turned himself in later to military authorities at Hanscom Air Force Base, saying he would seek conscientious objector status.
There was no time to contemplate such a decision while in Iraq, he said. In battle, "you're just trying to stay alive."
He never returned to his Florida National Guard unit after a two-week leave in October.
"I am saying no to war," Mejia said at a press conference at the abbey, surrounded by family, friends, and a large contingent of news media, including reporters from other countries. "I went to Iraq and was an instrument of violence, and now I have decided to become an instrument of peace."
While in Iraq, Mejia said, he was troubled by the number of Iraqi civilians who were killed by soldiers. "They don't want us there; we don't want to be there," he said. "We're getting killed there."
Mejia, 28, is the first veteran of the Iraq war to seek conscientious objector status, said Tod Ensign, a lawyer and director of Citizen Soldier, a New York veterans organization. Other soldiers have sought objector status, but did not fight in Iraq, Ensign said.
Before joining the Florida National Guard, Mejia served in the Army for three years. He was sent to Iraq last April and was sent home on leave in October. He was supposed to have returned to his Florida unit Oct. 16, but consulted with Gulf War veterans, who told him to speak with Ensign.
After helping Mejia with his conscientious objector application, Ensign and other Vietnam-era peace activists suggested that Mejia declare his intentions at the Peace Abbey, a tree-shrouded center in Sherborn created by a Vietnam War conscientious objector.
"I'm not a criminal, and I have not committed a crime," he said, flanked by his mother, father, brother, grandmother, and aunt. "I should not run. I am not turning my back on my comrades. I am doing it for them."
After the morning press conference, Mejia rode a bus with supporters and reporters to Hanscom Air Force Base to turn himself in to military police. Wearing a large St. Francis of Assisi medal and carrying a backpack filled with clothes and a Bible, he walked through a phalanx of reporters and camera crews toward the front gate of the base. Peace activists shouted, "I love you, brother," and chanted his first name.
Late in the day, military police released Mejia and gave him a written order to report to his unit, Company C, 1-124 Infantry Regiment of the 53d Infantry Brigade in Miami, according Louis Font of Brookline, his civilian lawyer. Mejia planned to fly to Florida last night, Font said.
Born and raised in Nicaragua, Mejia moved to the United States when he was 18 to live with his mother, Maritza Castillo. He said he joined the military a year later because he was not sure what to do with his life. He has permanent residency status and has not applied for US citizenship, Font said.
It was unclear yesterday what will happen to Mejia when he reports in Florida. Army headquarters must approve his application for conscientious objector status. If he is denied, he could be charged with desertion and face a court martial. Font said the military could also give him an administrative discharge. He said he did not know whether deportation is an option.
Lieutenant Colonel Ron Tittle, spokesman for the Florida National Guard, said Mejia was given leave last year. His company tried to reach him in March after he failed to report for duty.
Tittle said that before Mejia was called to active duty early in 2003, he had the chance to seek conscientious objector status, as dozens of other soldiers did when they were called for Iraq duty.
"We have lawyers and chaplains to talk to them if they have concerns about that," Tittle said. "There were some avenues if he wanted to pursue that route to voice his concerns before he deployed overseas."
Legal specialists said Mejia's request might be granted, depending on whether he can prove he objects to all combat, not just the conflict in Iraq, whether on religious grounds or out of personal conviction.
Eugene Fidell, a lawyer who handled conscientious objector cases during the Vietnam War, said Army regulations do not allow soldiers to be selective about their objections; they must be opposed to all war. If Mejia argues his case on the grounds he is opposed to the Iraq conflict, "that is the kiss of death," Fidell said. In 2003, half of the 60 soldiers who applied for such status were approved, according to Army statistics. By last month, two soldiers had received conscientious objector status, and three had been refused.According to a statement from Citizen Soldier, Mejia's squad was ambushed in Ramadi last May. Bullets rained down on the squad, and they returned fire while fleeing. He said squad members were euphoric when no one had been hurt, but the commanding officer said they had sent the wrong message to their attackers. "It dawned on me that protecting our troops didn't rank very high on our leaders' agenda," said Mejia in the Citizen Soldier statement. "Medals, glory and `sending the right message' were all worth the lives of a few soldiers."
Bryan Bender of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Suzanne Sataline can be reached at sataline@globe.com. 