"WE MISSED YOU. WELCOME BACK."
-US Army
Posted on 11/01/2008 2:17:52 PM PDT by bubman
Need advice for a friend that was just caught going through US border. My friend a canadian citizen enlisted in the US army in 1988 at 22 in the hopes of persuing a military career. Was dissapointed to find out that he could not persue the disciplines he was interested in. (which was entirely different from what the recruiter told him) Went awol 5 months from joining. Has been to the US on numerous occasions but not since 911 happened. Had to take care of an issue in the US and was arrested by the border patrol. Identified himself with a canadian passport. No intention of hiding his identity.Has three kids married and is an upstanding member of his community. Lost his father recently and was one of the reasons he went to the US to resolve an estate issue. Feedback would be appreciated especially from legal and military backrounds.
Get a lawyer, go to trial, do whatever time for the crime, go back to his family.
Ping to you, sir.
Hire a good lawyer, one with a lot of experience in the field. Make a deal.
Not a lawyer and I have no good legal advice to give.
But this is a case where past judgement and legal indiscretions have consequences.
Why didn’t he become a Canadian citizen?
he always was a canadien citizen that is one of the reasons why he was not eligible to participate in his chosen disciplines when he joined but this was not told to him by the recruiter.
Usually the military doesnt pursue charges when it has been this long. However, he chose to violate the law and IMHO should pay some sort of penalty for doing so.
I heard of a case where an American soldier stationed in South Korea defected to the North in 1964 (when he heard he was going to be sent to Vietnam). His wife, a Japanese woman who had been abducted by the North Koreans (he married her after defecting) was eventually allowed to return to Japan, but he was afraid of being shot for desertion. When he finally went to Japan and turned himself in, they busted him to private, gave him a dishonorable discharge, and perhaps a short stay in the brig—in other words, a slap on the wrist. But they may have thought spending 40+ years in North Korea was punishment enough.
Tell him to hire the best lawyer in this field that he can afford. Absolutely do not hire Joe The Local Ambulance Chaser.
Tell him to stand up like a man, instead of running like he did in the first place. Even though he deserves jail time, I doubt anything will come from it, other than a Dis-honorable discharge. Heck, with things the way they are, they may even give him an “Other Than Honrable” discharge. If Obama becomes president, and his courts martial hasn’t happened, he might even be able to get a medal out of it and get to go home as a hero of the left.
Like people have said, a lawyer would be really needed. Though he may have a breach of contract, I’m not sure how that works.
While I can understand making a mistake at 22 years old one has to learn to be responsible for decisions. You just don’t walk away from the military after 5 months because it wasn’t what you thought it would be. A cowards way out. The fact is that he thought he’d never have to come back to the states and thought he could get away with dishonorable conduct. Get a lawyer, accept the consequences and learn a lesson.
John / Billybob
It’s up what the U.S. Army wants to do in this case. My guess they will let him skate.
“resolve an estate issue”?
a (born in ‘67 or so) Canadian citizen (who happens to be AWOL, no, actually now a deserter of the US Military) needs to travel to the US to resolve an “estate issue” upon the occasion of his Fathers death? Was the father an American?, etc....
Ah yes, the old “my recruiter lied to me.” Wow, if I had a nickel...
Suck it up and take your lumps Sally.
By the way, what port did he get nabbed at?
"WE MISSED YOU. WELCOME BACK."
-US Army
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