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Feelings Mixed in Army Deserter's Hometown
AP ^
| 6/13/5
| ALLEN G. BREED
Posted on 06/13/2005 1:05:45 PM PDT by SmithL
Rich Square, N.C. -- Despite its pacifist Quaker beginnings, this soybean farming community is not shy about celebrating its military history. Bracketing the two-stoplight town are iron plaques honoring the Army colonel who guided the first automated aircraft landing and the general who led Marines in the first Gulf War.
There was a time when some could have imagined a similar honor for Sgt. Charles Robert Jenkins, who as a freckle-faced, jug-eared boy stitched soldier patches from Kellogg's Cornflakes boxes onto his clothes, prowled the woods with his BB gun for "commies" and lied about his age to join the National Guard.
But any hope of that died 40 years ago, when he deserted his post and slipped across the snowy border into communist North Korea.
This week, a stooped Jenkins is returning home for the first time since his desertion in 1965. He wants to see his 91-year-old mother before she dies, to introduce her to his Japanese wife and two daughters. And after four decades in exile, he wants to touch his native soil one last time before leaving, perhaps forever.
But the 65-year-old Jenkins should not expect a warm welcome from his hometown. For some in this struggling crossroads of 1,000, the long years have done little to dull the sting of his betrayal.
"I would have liked to have seen him lined up and shot like a traitor. I don't care how old he is.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; US: North Carolina; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: charlesjenkins; deserter; jenkins
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I have very mixed feelings.
Firing Squad?
Hanging?
Maybe, keelkauling?
1
posted on
06/13/2005 1:05:45 PM PDT
by
SmithL
To: Former Military Chick
2
posted on
06/13/2005 1:08:35 PM PDT
by
SmithL
(Proud Submariner)
To: SmithL
The guy was captured, tried, convicted, and punished.
Plus, he chose to live 40+ years in a Hellhole.
Enough, leave the guy alone.
3
posted on
06/13/2005 1:10:29 PM PDT
by
Guillermo
(42% of suicide bombers in Iraq are Saudi and Bush continues to lick their boots)
Comment #4 Removed by Moderator
To: Persistent Shortfalls
Christ-like forgiveness...? DU-type answer?
5
posted on
06/13/2005 1:12:05 PM PDT
by
SIDENET
("You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred.")
To: Persistent Shortfalls
6
posted on
06/13/2005 1:13:24 PM PDT
by
SmithL
(Proud Submariner)
To: Guillermo
The guy was captured, tried, convicted, and punished. Plus, he chose to live 40+ years in a Hellhole.
Enough, leave the guy alone.
I agree... He should also write a book of life in the people's worker's paradise...
7
posted on
06/13/2005 1:14:24 PM PDT
by
2banana
(My common ground with terrorists - They want to die for Islam, and we want to kill them.)
To: SmithL
Shun him. Leave him alone. Not enough shunning anymore.
8
posted on
06/13/2005 1:15:11 PM PDT
by
eyespysomething
(Peace - that brief moment in history where everyone stands around reloading.)
To: SmithL
You know, you never see a good keelhauling any more. Maybe in exreme circumstances, we should allow a pay per view keelhaul.
9
posted on
06/13/2005 1:18:15 PM PDT
by
Holicheese
(Timmy like windmills!)
To: SmithL
Force him to listen to that droning Hillary Clinton read her own Autobiography.
10
posted on
06/13/2005 1:27:52 PM PDT
by
theDentist
(The Dems have put all their eggs in one basket-case: Howard "Belltower" Dean.)
To: Holicheese
How about a pay-per-view shunning?
11
posted on
06/13/2005 1:36:53 PM PDT
by
JohnnyZ
(Defeat Pat DeWine, RINO Mike DeWine's son! Tom Brinkman for Congress http://www.gobrinkman.com/)
To: Guillermo
The guy was captured, tried, convicted, and punished. Plus, he chose to live 40+ years in a Hellhole. Enough, leave the guy alone. According to the article, he tried to escape in 1966. He was doing forced labor. It doesn't sound like a trip to Club Med by any stretch.
Which makes me wonder... what does anyone think the time span was between the "I don't wanna go to Vietnam" thought and "Man, I really f**ked up" thought?
My guess is about 30 minutes after he encountered the first North Korean.
APf
12
posted on
06/13/2005 1:41:08 PM PDT
by
APFel
(This space for sale or rent)
To: SmithL
13
posted on
06/13/2005 1:57:54 PM PDT
by
Junior
(“Even if you are one-in-a-million, there are still 6,000 others just like you.”)
To: Guillermo
30 days in jail is not a punishment.
14
posted on
06/13/2005 2:38:08 PM PDT
by
Between the Lines
(We are enabled to see the Lord at work if our eyes and our hearts are open." - George W. Bush)
To: Between the Lines
The story behind his 30-day sentence is pretty amazing.
There was huge pressure from Japan not to punish Jenkins. While he was in NK, he married a Japanese woman who was kidnapped by the NK's. She was finally freed a few years ago when the NK's were forced to admit that they had kidnapped 15 Japanese from inside Japan, and taken them to NK to train NK spies. It was almost too wild a story to be true... but it was.
She didn't want to return Japan without her husband (Jenkins) and her two daughters. The daughters didn't want to leave without Jenkins. Jenkins didn't want to leave NK because the Americans would punish him as a deserter. His 30 day sentence was a compromise. The Americans refused to let him go with no punishment, but Japan is a very important friend, and there was huge pressure on their Prime Minister(Koizumi).
This guy will never write a book. He's dumber than a rock. The NK's finally gave up on using him to teach English, as his grammar and accent are terrible.
15
posted on
06/13/2005 2:52:24 PM PDT
by
lOKKI
(You can ignore reality until it bites you in the ass.)
To: SIDENET
"Christ-like forgiveness...? DU-type answer?
Yup, but people forget even though the "Good Thief" was forgiven (by Christ Himself, no less), he still died on the cross next to Jesus.
16
posted on
06/13/2005 3:48:27 PM PDT
by
Chinito
(6990th Security Group, RC-135/Combat Apple, Class of '68)
To: Chinito
Good point. It looks like that troll got taken care of, too.
17
posted on
06/13/2005 3:59:44 PM PDT
by
SIDENET
("You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred.")
To: Chinito
Yup, but people forget even though the "Good Thief" was forgiven (by Christ Himself, no less), he still died on the cross next to Jesus.You seem to think that dying on the cross next to Jesus was a bad thing. Therefore, you obviously don't believe in the story of Christ. Further evidence: (by Christ Himself, no less).
Who else could forgive him, then or now?
I am not condemning you as that is not up to me. I am simply pointing out the obvious.
18
posted on
06/13/2005 4:39:31 PM PDT
by
Mind-numbed Robot
(Not all that needs to be done needs to be done by the government.)
To: Between the Lines
Well, that's the punishment he was sentenced to, by official legal channels.
What more do you want? A lynch mob?
19
posted on
06/13/2005 5:34:19 PM PDT
by
Guillermo
(42% of suicide bombers in Iraq are Saudi and Bush continues to lick their boots)
To: Constitution Day; TaxRelief; 100%FEDUP; 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember; ~Vor~; A2J; a4drvr; Adder; ...
20
posted on
06/14/2005 5:17:37 AM PDT
by
Alia
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