Posted on 06/20/2005 11:09:39 PM PDT by TheOtherOne
"I let my soldiers down. I let the U.S. Army down. I let the government down, and I made it very difficult for my family in the United States to live," Jenkins said.
The 65-year-old Jenkins said he lived in harsh conditions in North Korea. While there, he thought he would never again see his mother, Pattie. They were reunited last week.
Jenkins was a 24-year-old sergeant with the U.S. Army's 1st Calvary Division when he left the squad he was leading on patrol in the Demilitarized Zone and walked into North Korea on July 5, 1965.
While he appeared in North Korean propaganda films and taught English, Jenkins said North Korean agents were never able to break him and he was never brainwashed. On Monday, he called North Korean leader Kim Jong Il "an evil man."
"Sorry, about that defection thingy."
Quite a consequence for a mother to endure for over 40 yrs. At least she was able to see her son.
The treasonous bastard should have been shot, then stood up and shot again.
After that, I would have thrown his body to wild pigs.
Better yet, put a parachute on him and drop him back in NK.
yeah yeah whatever...as long as our thirst for revenge is quenched that's all that matters.
You betcha!
Keep around and beat him with rubber hoses.
Seriously, I think he served his time up there in the PRK. What in the world was he thinking? The RVN for a year or the PRK for the rest of your miserable life.
A traitor no doubt, but at least he feels remorse for his actions which is much better than what we have come to expect from some of the traitors we have at work today in the U.S. Senate.
So this pathetic traitor won't get his pension and he was "imprisoned" for 25 days and he is free to roam the country, talk to the media, and he will start a new life in a country that is allied to the U.S. And yet Senator Durbin seems to think that America is a cruel, unforgiving "Nazi" country. Maybe Mr. Durbin should go to North Korea and stay there since America is so bad.
Wonder if this Dude learned anything living in NK for 20+ years.. NK of all places.. Man, he must be dumb..
He forgets to mention that he let down his family, which refused to believe that he was a defector. Until recently, the family was public in its campaign to convince others that Jenkins was kidnapped.
And he humiliated them and abused their trust, all because of his own cowardice. What a pathetic old wanker.
He would have been better off doing 20 years of hard labor at a military prison than the life he chose. Let it be.
Soga is the big story in this one and the sad story--nobody seems to be listening to her about all the Japanese still up there in the DPRK who were kidnapped.
And, the big question, WHY did "Super" (his nickname), do it??? I guess it was just immaturity and he got pissed off one day on a whim, at the CO or his unit leader, and just decided then and there to take a stroll across the MDL. A combination of being 24 years old, stupid, unpatriotic and bullied a bit through life including in the military. What a jerk. He paid for it, though. If he had remorse soon after he did it (I hope) he must have sh*t his pants realizing there was no going back to North Carolina and Momma once in Pyongyang under Kim Il Sung.
Soga was his passport out of that place. If it were'nt for her love, and an almost over- benevolent US Military 40 years later (up to the President who knows this case), and Prime Minister Koizumi, why Jug Ears still be up there living in hell.
You mean JUGHEAD.. Man, defecting to North Korea..
Becoming a Quadriplegic (in the U.S.)would almost be preferable.. to that..
His sentence should be, being allowed to see what hes missed.. in Leavenworth.. on TV.. Even leavenworth is better than North Korea.. by a long shot..
AFTER being properly debriefed..
What was he thinking? He wasn't
I really don't feel any more anger, though. Living in that stalinist hell hole for 40 years and losing his country and family is harsh enough punishment for me.
I agree with you.
While my first thought is execution, his life in N. Korea must have been hell.
And coming 'home' and seeing what he threw away is enough punishment.
Not enough for me.
If I ever see his lame ass on the Yamanote I am definitely going to express my displeasure with his actions -- physically.
Jenkins defected because he built some weird fantasy about being treated like some mythical God-king in North Korea. His actions were totally self-centered, selfish and absolutely treasonous. He may not have gotten what he expected -- if you believe him (which I don't) but so what?
The very thought of him walking on the sacred soil of the United States as a free man is painful to me. If I had been the JAG negotiating his plea bargain, one stipulation I would have insisted on would have been that he renounce his American citizenship and promise never to return to the U.S.
OK, he's Soga's husband and she has obviously suffered enough. He is going to live the rest of his life in Japan, a free man JUST because of that.
I, however, do not forgive, and will not forget.
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