Sailor Learns Sentence For Refusing Deployment (3 Months hard labor and rank reduced)

10 News ^ | 5/13/05

[areafiftyone]

SAN DIEGO -- A sailor who refused to deploy to Iraq with the USS Bonhomme Richard has been sentenced, 10News reported.

Pablo Paredes refused to board his ship on Dec. 6, claiming opposition to war with Iraq.

Paredes will get three months of hard labor, with two of those months restricted to Naval Station San Diego.

He also had his rank reduced from Petty Officer Third Class to Seaman Recruit, the lowest rank in the Navy.

[SouthernFreebird]

That's it? Heck why should any obey orders.

[Fenris6]

WooT! Isn't this the idiot who's ship went to the pacific rim for Tsunami relief instead of Iraq?

[sarasota]

What do they mean by "hard labor"?

[Publius6961]

That's it? Heck why should any obey orders.

No mention of deportation for being either illegal or the son of illegals?

[CrawDaddyCA]

3 months...not bad for missing ships movement.

I hope the Marines treat this one real special.

[operation clinton cleanup]

A year tour in Iraq seems more fitting.

[areafiftyone]

I don't think so from what I have been reading, he just refused to board the ship and wore a tee-shirt saying 'Like a cabinet member, I resign.'

[PISANO]

Very dissappointing and an extremely dangerous precedent that will have negative impact on the Military in general for years to come.

In a time of war this punishment was heretofore unthinkable.

[areafiftyone]

I agree!

[handy old one]

He should be forced to apologize to each and every man on board the ship and any and all family members who's children are lost in the line of duty. Not three months but for as long as the ship is deployed. Freedom is not free he signed up he must fulfill his duty some where doing something for the good of his country or be tried for treason!!

[strange1]

I wonder when his EAOS is?

3 months isn't dung, but I do believe there'll be some MARINEs who'll show him a whole new meaning of "Hard Labor"

[mbynack]

What do they mean by "hard labor"?

It used to mean making little rocks out of big rocks, but now the inmates paint, pick up trash, sweep, and dig ditches.

I was a young Airman back in the 70's and they detailed us to clean up trash that had blown over the fence from the city dump. I asked the First Sergeant why they didn't have the prisoners doing it. He told me he would check on it for me. The next day he called me in and told me that the base legal affairs officer told him that the prisoners couldn't pick up trash because it was considered "cruel and unusual punishment".

Just one of the ironies of the military.

[absolootezer0]

so let me get this straight. He gets to stay in service, draw pay, get hsi college paid (if he chooses) and will end up with an honorable discharge, AND gets what he wants? That makes about as much sense and the old penalty for failed suicide (death).

[areafiftyone]

If this is helping them keep their quota of troops then they can forget it. We don't need any anti-war weenies in our military!

[kalee]

I'm curious. What constitutes hard labor these days?

[mbynack]

He won't be allowed to stay in the Navy. He'll be denied reenlistment when his current enlistment is up. He'll still be eligible for any VA Benefits.

I really don't understand the logic behind his sentence. He should have gotten a Bad Conduct or Dishonorable Discharge, as well as a minimum of a year in prison.

[Fenris6]

Huh? He's not even getting an OTH? Thats total BS.

[A Balrog of Morgoth]

Huh? He's not even getting an OTH? Thats total BS.

Ummm, I suspect he's gonna get a Dishonorable Discharge.

[GaltMeister]

Huh? He's not even getting an OTH? Thats total BS.

Ummm, I suspect he's gonna get a Dishonorable Discharge.

I would bet he will get a BCD - 'Big Chicken Dinner', also known as a Bad Conduct Discharge.