Vietnam-era Marine deserter arrested at Mexican border (had a 1966 felony warrant for desertion)

ap on Riverside Press Enterprise ^ | 9/15/06 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

SAN DIEGO

A man who deserted the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War was arrested as he entered the United States from Mexico, authorities said Friday.

Victor Aguirre, 63, was wanted on a 1966 felony warrant for desertion, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection bureau. He was arrested Thursday at San Diego's San Ysidro border crossing.

Aguirre will likely be taken to Camp Pendleton Marine base, about 50 miles north of San Diego, for processing and release, said Capt. Jay Delarosa, a Marine spokesman. He will likely be discharged without facing formal charges.

The circumstances of Aguirre's desertion were unclear.

"One of the first things we instill in young recruits is to take accountability for their actions," Delarosa said. "This guy getting caught is just an end to the decision he made a long time ago."

Deserters can face punishment ranging from discharge to five years in jail. In March, a man who fled to Canada at the height of the Vietnam War was arrested after he and his wife tried to enter the United States at a border crossing in Idaho from their home in Kingsgate, British Columbia. He was held briefly at Camp Pendleton before being discharged and released.

CBP agents make daily arrests after routine ID checks turn up outstanding warrants, said spokeswoman Angelica De Cima. But, she said, warrants as old as Aguirre's are unusual.

[Dog Gone]

I thought Carter pardoned all these cowards.

[mcg2000]

What's the odds he has a pony-tail?

[Texasforever]

No not deserters. He did pardon draft dodgers that fled to Canada.

[Dog Gone]

Ah, I missed the distinction in the story.

I'm not sure how aggressively you punish desertion 40 years after the fact, but I don't think you completely forgive it.

[Texasforever]

They will probably give him a minimal sentence unless he has some other criminal charges that were pending.

[jazusamo]

I doubt he'll get a sentence at all. The one mentioned in the article was discharged and released and this one will probably be the same. This other one arrested in Idaho happened within the last year IIRC.

[Criminal Number 18F]

Carter pardoned all the draft dodgers, resisters, and rioters. It was the very first thing he did and was a thumb in the eye of the professional military, which has set the tone for Democratic Party relations with the soldiery ever since.

But Carter did not pardon military deserters. My understanding is that his first drafts did, but some of his little elves talked him out of that.

You may remember that the Marines tried Garwood.

There was some precedent for letting these traitors walk, even in Carter's black day. When the POWs came back from Vietnam, Nixon was in the throes of Watergate and he stopped the planned trial of the six "Manchurian candidate" collaborators who helped the torturers.

One of them, an enlisted Marine, capped himself anyway. Several of the others remain active in far-left groups -- closely allied with Jimmy Carter.

For the same reason, political weakness, no one pursued a treason indictment against Jane Fonda and various others who went to NVN to aid the enemy.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[Ken522]

He should be subject to courts-martial, and all back-pay and privledges should be revolked!

[Texasforever]

He should be subject to courts-martial, and all back-pay and privledges should be revolked!

Well being a deserter that would be a moot point. He has no back pay or privileges anyway. He will plead guilty to the charge and that will probably be that. There really is no rational defense he could make.

[Dog Gone]

If we didn't try Fonda for treason, it's questionable whether we ever will do to anyone in the future. It just wouldn't be PC, I guess.

[proudmilitarymrs]

I'm gonna bump this one until tomorrow. I should at least be given a day to decide. He took a lifetime while my brother had half his life blown away!!!!

[American Soldier]

I don't know anything about the six people you mentioned. Do you have a link to a story about this? I'd like to find out more.

[navyguy]

Punishment: He should be fined an amount equal to the cost of training his replacement, in todays dollars.

[PhillyRepublican]

This clown will wind up on "Nightline" or "Good Morning America" in the near future portrayed as some hero protester. PUKE!!

[LibKill]

After all these years I am inclined to be merciful.

Flogging with the cat o' nine tails will do nicely.

Deserters are scum and should be treated as such.

[Timedrifter]

My question would be if he was a volunteer or a draftee? If he was drafted I would let him walk since the military of today recognizes the superiority of volunteer over conscript forces.

[jordan8]

Well, at least somebody is being arrested at the Mexican border. They should release him after making him promise to show up for court and then just forget about it, that way he won't foul up the machinery.

[Captain Rhino]

IIRC, after 30 days of being absent without leave, the Marine is declared a deserter and a charge sheet is prepared. At that time, Federal and State agencies are notified that the Marine is wanted for desertion (along with any other serious crimes that he or she may be suspected of). After a further period (long enough to be reasonably certain that the Marine is not going to return to the unit), the Marine is transfered by service record book to Casual Company, Headquarters, Marine Corps. Lacking the physical body, the unit accomplishes the transfer by making a unit diary entry in the Marine Corps personnel system transferring the Marine and they send the Marine's service record to Casual Company by mail. There the service record book resides (with the pending charge sheet inside) until the Marine is apprehended or the government decides it has no further interest in prosecuting the Marine if apprehended and administratively closes the record. That's probably why the CBP spokeswoman expressed surprise that the warrant was still active after 40 years. However, the government, being an artificial entity, has no theoretical limit to how long it will wait to apprehend a lawbreaker and the Marine Corps is particularly unforgiving in desertion cases.

I suspect that, given this Marine's age (63) and his unfitness for further military service, the Marine Corps will move fairly quickly to process the pending charges against him and then administratively discharge him. He will either be charged for Desertion (Article 85) or Absence Without Leave (Article 86) with aggravating circumstances (length of time gone and apprehended by civil authorities at the military's request). In either case, the maximum punishment listed in the MCM includes a Dishonorable Discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and between 18 months and 3 years confinement. In time of war, the maximum punishment is death.

These are maximums and he probably will get a lot less. I suspect there will be "bad paper" of some kind and maybe a very short period of confinement (assuming he is even medically fit to serve confinement). How long he is at Camp Pendleton and how much punishment he receives will depend on his total record, his attitude toward the charges and administrative proceedings, and how much effort the Marine Corps wants to expend on processing this 40 year deserter.

[operation clinton cleanup]

If nothing else, at least they are doing background checks. I doubt this was the first time this guy crossed the border.