Posted on 05/11/2005 2:43:18 PM PDT by Ramonan
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Court-martial proceedings opened Wednesday for a Navy sailor turned anti-war activist who refused to board his ship when it deployed to the Persian Gulf in December.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes pleaded not guilty at the outset of his trial on charges of unauthorized absence and missing his ship's movement.
Paredes, a 23-year-old from the New York City borough of the Bronx, waved his right to have his trial heard by a military jury. The case instead will be decided by the judge, Lt. Cmdr. Bob Klant.
In his opening statement, prosecutor Lt. Brandon Hale told Klant that on Dec. 6, as sailors prepared to board the USS Bonhomme Richard, Paredes arrived at the Navy pier wearing a black T-shirt that read "Like a Cabinet member, I resign." The weapons control technician handed over his military identification card and said "I quit," Hale said.
Defense attorneys countered that the charge of unauthorized absence is unfounded because Paredes, who expected to be detained that day, instead was told he was free to go.
Paredes, wearing his dress white Navy uniform Wednesday, sat at the front of the courtroom which was packed with reporters and anti-war activists. His supporters included Fernando Suarez del Solar of Escondido and Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, who both have spoken out against the war since their sons were killed in Iraq.
In the days before the court-martial, Paredes seemed unfazed by the prospect of a conviction following the military equivalent of a civilian misdemeanor trial. He could receive a year in jail, a forfeiture of pay, reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge if he's convicted.
"The president of the United States has a DUI under his belt," Paredes said during a recent interview, referring to the president's 1976 drunken driving arrest in Maine. "I think I'll make it with a misdemeanor."
The Bonhomme Richard and two other ships were carrying about 3,000 Iraq-bound Marines when it set off on a six-month deployment to the Pacific and Indian oceans.
While his shipmates bid farewell to loved ones, Paredes sat pierside and told reporters he did not want to be part of a war he considers illegal and immoral. He said his military training taught him to avoid what he views as a war crime.
"The war is the real crime here, and that's what I want to get across," Paredes said. Navy prosecutors, however, blocked Paredes' plans to put the war on trial during the court-martial, he said.
Defense attorney Jeremy Warren said Paredes passed up deals that would have minimized his punishment in exchange for a guilty plea.
"He's not backing down from what he did or why he did it," Warren said.
A Navy officer reviewing Paredes' request for conscientious objector status has recommended that it be denied.
Paredes says he was a different person when he joined the Navy in 2000, looking for a job and a way to get a college education. The Navy sent him to Yokosuka, Japan and once there, he says he had something of an awakening.
He began devouring works by writers like Noam Chomsky, the MIT linguistics professor and political activist. He joined political discussions with like-minded friends who criticized the Bush administration. Japan's strong moral code impressed him as well, and when he left the country last year, Paredes says he had a huge internal conflict.
"I was ashamed to wear the uniform," he said.
Paredes' case has attracted attention from all political stripes. Retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, a Fox News commentator who served in the Reagan White House, has labeled Paredes a coward. Chomsky and Ron Kovic, the disabled Vietnam and author of "Born on the Fourth of July," say they admire Paredes for his courage.
If anyone hasn't yet Smash has some great stuff on this, as it is in his neck of the woods.
http://www.lt-smash.us/
Keelhull his ass
Oh, yes he joined the Navy. But only to plant flowers.
Keelhauling is too good for this loser.
A sailor who won't board a boat. That's great stuff.
I don't understand what the fuss was about.
All he had to do was explain to his CO that he was so stupid that Chomsky made sense to him.
They would immediately have given him an honorable discharge for his honesty.
Paredes, wearing his dress white Navy uniform Wednesday, sat at the front of the courtroom
Later in the article he says"I was ashamed to wear the uniform"
Well which is it? A little inconsistant I think.
It will be removed off his sorry carcass shortly anyway. He is not fit, to wear it. Jeff
When my battalion left for Vietnam, the coffee-house advice was to refuse to board the ship.Our instructions were that if anyone refused, a commissioned officer was to order the soldier to board the ship. If he refused, he was to be placed under arrest and ordered to be confined in the nearest military facility pending trial by court martial. In our case, that was the ship's brig. We had no takers.
Proud Americans!
>>>>"I was ashamed to wear the uniform," he said. <<<<<
Mr.: I am ashamed to see you wearing it to. I am ashamed to even think of you as an American. I can only hope the court martial strips you of all rights to wear that uniform and gives you the maximum sentence it can.
Makes me yearn for the days when he would have been hanged at the yardarm without much ado.
And to get that college program, guess he must of forgot the Navy's real purpose. "I only joined for the college". I've run across pukes like that.
"The president of the United States has a DUI under his belt," Paredes said during a recent interview, referring to the president's 1976 drunken driving arrest in Maine. "I think I'll make it with a misdemeanor."
LOL. Hope his career aspirations end with golden arches - that's as good as it'll get.
Can't wait for him to really see the consequences - BCD - no good job ever - no home - no car
Let's see how he feels in 15 years...
Maybe he thinks he can convert his Marine guards in the Stockade.
Not to mention that "the college education benefit" that he claims as the reason for joining the Navy goes 'poof' with a BCD or Dishonorable! Couldn't happen to better scum.
Later in the article he says"I was ashamed to wear the uniform"
Then he should also be ashamed to live here and be a citizen. Take his citizenship and run him out of the country.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.