Posted on 06/17/2012 1:57:24 PM PDT by Daffynition
(Reuters) - A U.S. Air Force deserter who has lived secretly in Sweden since 1984 has revealed his identity and contacted his family in the United States who were overwhelmed to hear he was still alive, a Swedish newspaper reported at the weekend.
Dagens Nyheter said David Hemler had deserted aged 21 while serving at a U.S. Air Force base in Germany, after getting involved with a pacifist church and becoming disillusioned with the policies of former President Ronald Reagan.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Race: Caucasian
Sex: Male
Height/Weight: 5'11"/121-150 lbs.
Date of Birth: 19 Feb 63
Place of Birth: Pennsylvania
Eyes/Hair: Brown/Hazel
Scars/Distinguishing Features: None
Matter Investigated: Security issue
Last Known Unit and Base: 6913th Electronic Security Squadron, Augsburg, Germany
Date of Desertion: 10 Feb 84
NCIC #: W347691778
Guess he figured that the current administration is too weak to bring him to justice.
It sounds like the boy is a loser. Probably coming out now so Barry can give him the U.S. Medal of Freedom before we throw Barry’s ass out in November.
Book ‘em Dan-o
Past the statute of limitations?
Dude wants attention.
Reagan WON the Cold War & saved Western civilzation, but this punk knew better.
Or pardon him.
Maybe his kids joined the Tea Party, that or it is okay for queers to serve now and he wants to go back in
Occupation: Traitor!!!
He can keep his sorry ass over there as far as I’m concerned!!
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Send an armed drone over to greet him!
This guy still doesn't get it, does he?
He had to have made a deal with the Swedish government first ~ they’ve been known to toss deserters out.
No statute of limitations on desertion.
I wonder what he told the Soviets on his journey to Sweden and where did he get help with his stay and how did he get a government job in Sweden?...
I say the little turncoat bastard was probably compromised and rolled by a KGB agent, and now wants to whimp out by blaming Reagan. He took an oath to defend the COTUS, and he’s guilty of breaking it. Lucky for HIM, the POTUS now polluting the Executive branch is more of a lowlife than HE is, so he can come forward now and may even get a medal for what he did.
Do I sound like I’m pi$$ed? Well, I am! First of all, this whimpy little bastard had a cushy job and held a security clearance in the Air Force. The reason I know that is because I had a similar gig in the Army.
But the thing that ices it with me is that while be was hiding out all those years, a lot of good men were wounded and/or died while being true to the exact same oath this little snake reneged on!
Leavenworth, at a MINIMUM! (If it were up to me!)
I hope his old uniforms still fit, otherwise he’s gonna have to pay for new ones.
Hang this mofo
If he did not like Reagan, He must really not like Obama.
Ah, a soviet spy. That makes a lot of sense.
When you think that Major Nidal Hasan murdered 13 people at Ft. Hood, Texas nearly 13 years ago and this president has yet to bring him to trial, the deserter can probably feel quite confident that nothing will happen to him. The message is clear that 0bama will feel sympathy for a deserter since he hasn’t got the sense of justice to prosecute someone who killed soldiers.
I wonder, will he be suing for back pay?
I suspect he's only using the Reagan criticism to guarantee a pardon from Obama.
If he stayed in the USAF for this long, he would have a good retirement pension when he got out !
No doubt he will not face much in the way of prison time with this administration in charge.
My son is a year older than this traitor, and he served his coutry proudly, as did my daughter.
I am a military widow, mother, grandmother and headed for the Great-Grandmother thing.
This POS should be spanked with a cat’o’nine tails. and so should anyone who encouraged, supported or in any otherwise gave him any encouragement.
What a pos..
You can leave the military, go through the proper channels.
I had exactly the same thought. This guy was part of a Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) unit assigned to monitor Soviet/Warsaw Pact activity along inter-German border (back before the wall came down). Very good chance this guy was a linguist or an ELINT specialist; in that capacity, he would be in a position—even as an airman—to know what we were collecting, and more importantly, the gaps in our collection efforts.
From what we’ve been told, this guy becomes “disillusioned” with Reagan’s policies and decides to go to Sweden. I was a junior enlisted member at the same time, and believe me, I wasn’t looking for tax shelters. But this guy not only travels to Sweden, he manages to support himself until he lands a government job (another amazing coincidence), despite the obvious handicaps of not speaking the language, and having no real basis for asylum or resident alien status. All in a country with some of the highest living costs in Europe. Yeah, I know Sweden has welfare programs out the ying-yang, but how many illegals make the transition to civil servant. Sorry, but his account just doesn’t add up.
True, some Vietnam-era deserters and draft dodgers made their way to Sweden. But the U.S. wasn’t at war in 1983. Clearly, someone greased the skids to help this traitor settle into a rather comfortable lifestyle in his adopted homeland. The KGB was very active in Sweden during the Cold War. Why send him there—instead of “Mother Russia?” Perhaps they had thoughts of returning him to Germany at some point, or (if he had language skills) utilizing him for operations in that country.
Additionally, if he entered Sweden legally (say, on a tourist visa), he had to show someone a passport. During the early stages of the hunt, the Air Force would have checked tourist/immigration lists for the missing airman, but his name never turned up. Either this guy was good at covering his tracks; the AFOSI was incompetent (not the first time that’s happened), or he had outside assistance. I’m putting my money on option three.
One more thought: if you look at the “Most Wanted” list for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, you’ll see that all of them are deserters. But (obviously) those aren’t the only airmen who walk away and never return. Most are on the list because they’ve been charged with (or suspected of) committing serious crimes, along with . There’a a reason this guy has remained on the list for 28 years, and there’s most likely an espionage link.
I had exactly the same thought. This guy was part of a Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) unit assigned to monitor Soviet/Warsaw Pact activity along inter-German border (back before the wall came down). Very good chance this guy was a linguist or an ELINT specialist; in that capacity, he would be in a position—even as an airman—to know what we were collecting, and more importantly, the gaps in our collection efforts.
From what we’ve been told, this guy becomes “disillusioned” with Reagan’s policies and decides to go to Sweden. I was a junior enlisted member at the same time, and believe me, I wasn’t looking for tax shelters. But this guy not only travels to Sweden, he manages to support himself until he lands a government job (another amazing coincidence), despite the obvious handicaps of not speaking the language, and having no real basis for asylum or resident alien status. All in a country with some of the highest living costs in Europe. Yeah, I know Sweden has welfare programs out the ying-yang, but how many illegals make the transition to civil servant. Sorry, but his account just doesn’t add up.
True, some Vietnam-era deserters and draft dodgers made their way to Sweden. But the U.S. wasn’t at war in 1983. Clearly, someone greased the skids to help this traitor settle into a rather comfortable lifestyle in his adopted homeland. The KGB was very active in Sweden during the Cold War. Why send him there—instead of “Mother Russia?” Perhaps they had thoughts of returning him to Germany at some point, or (if he had language skills) utilizing him for operations in that country.
Additionally, if he entered Sweden legally (say, on a tourist visa), he had to show someone a passport. During the early stages of the hunt, the Air Force would have checked tourist/immigration lists for the missing airman, but his name never turned up. Either this guy was good at covering his tracks; the AFOSI was incompetent (not the first time that’s happened), or he had outside assistance. I’m putting my money on option three.
One more thought: if you look at the “Most Wanted” list for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, you’ll see that all of them are deserters. But (obviously) those aren’t the only airmen who walk away and never return. Most are on the list because they’ve been charged with (or suspected of) committing serious crimes, along with . There’a a reason this guy has remained on the list for 28 years, and there’s most likely an espionage link.
SOL not a problem. Every day he is in deserter status, renews the charge.
Look at his unit. Of course he a WP target. You got it.
Do members of the military carry passports overseas or just military ID?
As a former member of this weasel’s command, I say that a lengthy vacation at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth is in order.
Push for extradition and lock his lame ass up for a long time
Depends...many carry U.S. civilian passports because they don’t want to be identified as military personnel, due to potential security risks. During the early 80s, with the Bader-Meinhof gang at its peak, it would have been common practice for a USAF intel specialist to have a civilian passport, in addition to his “official” U.S. government passport and military ID.
When I joined the spook world around this time (early 80s), I was encouraged to obtain a civilian passport and use it for official travel, while keeping my government passport and military ID hidden in my luggage. At the time, maintaining your blue U.S. Government passport on your person (while flying on a civilain airliner) was known as the “kill me first” card.
“Past the statute of limitations?”
Living outside of the country stops the Statute of Limitations clock. It starts again when he reaches the US border.
This twit is a traitor, he deserves what all traitors deserve. He probably won’t get it, but he should spend the rest of his life wondering.
Excellent find. Thanks Buford. He sounds sooooooooooo remorseful [//sarc]....like a petulant child.
Nearly 13 years ago?!
It happened in 2009. That was 3 years ago.
From Wikipedia: The Fort Hood shooting was a Non-State Terrorist Attack[2] that took place on November 5, 2009, at Fort Hood...
Hope he stays there. He obviously thinks it’s “better.”
Yes.
“I’ve been on the page with the most wanted fugitives, clicked on my name and looked at a photo of myself from high school. It is the only photograph of myself I’ve had access to from my life before Sweden. There is also a picture of what I could look like as a 47-year-old, a pretty handsome fellow. I guess they had less credence for my ideology than my looks”
The Air Force's estimate of his visage at age 47:
You’re welcome!
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