DOES ANYONE REMEMBER MICHAEL NEW? Texas soldier takes a constitutional stand

REMARKS OF MICHAEL G. NEW MICHAEL NEW HOMECOMING RALLY MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURTHOUSE CONROE, TEXAS JULY 28, 1996

Standing is an important posture in life. People stand when the national anthem is played. When the flag passes, people stand and cover their hearts. On political issues people ask where do you stand, what is your position?

For generations, parents in America have taught us how to stand. They have shown us what to stand for and what to stand against.

I am here today for no other reason than the fact that I made a stand as a U.S. Army Specialist on October 10, 1995. It was a simple act. The course set before me was clear. I had no question about where to stand that early fall morning in Schweinfurt, Germany.

It all began on August 21, 1995 when my seniors in the U.S. Army chain of command informed me that my battalion, first of the fifteenth, 3rd Infantry Division, would soon be deployed to a UN operation in Macedonia. However, they said this UN mission would be different from the previous UN mission on which I served in Kuwait. My seniors informed me that this deployment required my battalion to significantly alter our uniforms by removing the U.S. flag from the right shoulder, the senior side of the U.S. Army Battle Dress Uniform, to the left shoulder, and replace the flag with a UN patch, badge and insignia. We would also wear a UN blue beret or helmet.

This seemed like an unusual requirement, to put the UN badge in a more important position on my uniform than the flag. Without knowing a lot about the UN, it seemed wrong to me. The Army taught me that the wearing of a uniform, or the accoutrements of a uniform, was a sign of allegiance and faithfulness to the authority or power so signified. As an American fighting man, how could I wear the badges and insignia of another government? I had taken an oath to the United States of America and no other. I had sworn to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, to obey the orders of the President and those in authority over me. But the Army enlisted oath doesn't bind me to blind obedience, but goes on to say "according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, so help me, God."

Like I said in that oath, I fully intended to obey all lawful orders, according to regulations. Congress makes all regulations governing the land and naval forces. And the experts in the military on the wearing of the regulation uniform are the sergeants. So, I asked my sergeant, how we as American soldiers, could wear a "UN uniform" and still be American soldiers? The response I got to my sergeant's level question about the proper wear of the historic U.S. Army uniform was not what I expected. I was threatened with court martial, imprisonment or less than an honorable discharge, if I did not wear the "UN uniform."

And further, I was directed to study the history and objectives of the UN. This I did and I was more proud to be an American than ever before. I knew I did not want to be a member of the UN military force. The UN Charter, their constitution, is based upon very subjective man-made regulations and their brand of human rights are given by the men of the United Nations. Their rights are not like those we have been endowed with by our Creator, but rather can be modified or taken away by the UN. I saw from my own study that the UN's authority and founding principles are diametrically opposed to the founding documents of America, my country, and the United States, my government.

As the time ticked off from August, through September to October, I did not receive an answer from the Army about the lawfulness of the order to wear the badges and insignia of the UN on my uniform, until October 2, 1995, when there was a special unprecedented briefing on the legal basis for deployment to Macedonia and the wearing of the "UN uniform." The five hundred and fifty soldiers in my battalion filed into an auditorium in Schweinfurt to hear from an Army lawyer, who was a West Point graduate. At the end of a 52 minute presentation, he finally came to the answer I had been waiting so many tense weeks to hear. The reason, he says, we wear the UN uniform, is because "they look fabulous!" Everyone in the auditorium laughed. I didn't think it was very funny.

By that time I knew that the UN uniform was not regulation. The only regulation berets, are the Green for Special Forces, the black for Rangers and the maroon for Airborne. None of the seven UN uniform accoutrements have made it into the Army's regulation handbook for soldiers because Congress has not approved the wear of the UN uniform.

My stand was not a matter of conscience, it was a matter of my understanding that there is an objective (stand)ard which doesn't make allowances for what I think or feel about it. I believe that the laws and our Constitution are the final word, and I had sworn to uphold this objective external standard. Thus on October 10, 1995, on a misty fall morning, I walked out into a sea of baby blue, in my historic and completely regulation U.S. Army battle dress uniform. The same uniform in which many a brave soldier has shed blood in order to preserve and protect our American way of life. I was ordered to fall out for not surrendering my regulation BDU. As I followed the my squad leader from the formation that October day, I knew I would never return to my unit and that I was in trouble with a huge institution, one which I care a great deal about, and one in which I strove to be a good soldier.

After I made my intention to stand firm clear to my family, Dad knew I was going to need some legal assistance. My mother and father have been very supportive throughout and I can never thank them enough for standing by each other all these years and especially for standing by me over the past year. They taught me that in life taking a stand could cost me. They were right.

Dad found help for me in Colonel Ronald D. Ray. A retired Marine, Col. Ray is a lawyer, a Vietnam combat veteran and an historian. I received word that I would be court martialed for my stand and Colonel Ray began researching my legal position. He said my stand did not just need a defense. It also needed an offense. He said, "We never win on the defense. We must take the war to them." While he told me my case was conclusive, and that I was on solid legal ground, he did not trust the courts. And, as a Vietnam veteran, he said experience had taught him that you can win all the battles and yet lose the war in the court of public opinion. Therefore Colonel Ray and my father took the offensive war to the airwaves of talk radio and let people know of my stand.

I believe that Colonel Ray was ignited by my stand but he also said he had a belly full of limited "no-win" UN wars, probably from his time in Vietnam. Some of you may be veterans of the Korean war. Korea was the first limited UN war in which victory was not the primary objective. Orders began coming from New York instead of Washington and General MacArthur, who said, "In war there is no substitute for victory," had to be relieved of command. That kind of winning attitude had to be eliminated. Then came Vietnam. It badly marked a generation. Men, deceived by their political leaders, fought half a world away when the real battle was being fought here for the heart and soul of America. It seemed, as I learned more about how the UN military wages "peace" in places like Korea, Vietnam, and Somalia, that Macedonia and Bosnia seemed like more of the same limited "no-win" UN wars.

In January 1996 as we prepared for court martial, my stand would ratchet up in a way I could never have anticipated due to four Presidential letters which appeared in Col. Ray's fax machine from Germany late one evening. These letters were part of the legal discovery the Army owed my defense but they were held back without comment and too late for inclusion in the written legal presentation before the court. These letters would show without question that Bill Clinton had misrepresented the Macedonian deployment to Congress. Mr. Clinton told the Congress in those four letters that the Macedonian mission was not of significant danger to warrant their approval. That was provably not true. The Colonel said that the military judge would never rule on the lawfulness of a Presidential order, so he filed suit against the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Army seeking an honorable discharge for me in an independent federal court. The offensive campaign in the Courts, the Congress and the court of public opinion was really accelerating.

The President said the Macedonian deployment was a Chapter VI UN mission. However, 27 UN Security Council Resolutions would refer to the Macedonian deployment as a Chapter VII, which, under the UN Participation Act of 1945, requires Congressional approval. Approval is required because the Constitution provided for a balance of power. The President is not a King. When America sends her sons and daughters into harms way, the voice and will of "We the People" must be heard through our elected representatives. This responsibility and limitation on his Presidential authority was something else Bill Clinton dodged. I clearly understood my stand was now toe to toe with Bill Clinton. On October 10, 1995, my stand was related to my change of status as an American fighting man. I had not questioned foreign policy. Remember, I had asked a sergeant's level question.

1. I was standing against an unlawful order to deploy to Macedonia; 2. refusing the President's order to wear the UN uniform; 3. refusing to serve under a foreign UN commander; 4. and refusing to be required to carry only the UN identification card.

In January 1995, as a result of the Presidential letters, my stand began to be seen in a much larger context, as a stand for the country and a stand for over 30,000 other soldiers unlawfully deployed around the world in UN military operations.

However, on January 24, 1996, I was convicted of not obeying what the prosecution called a "lawful order" even though they admitted in open court in Germany that the uniform was not a regulation uniform. My defense was not allowed to put on the overwhelming evidence that the order was unlawful which pointed to presidential wrongdoing and the failure of Congressional oversight. The military judge basically said it was above his pay grade to rule on Presidential wrong doing and bucked it up to the next judiciary level.

My stand has brought me back to America with a bad conduct discharge and appeals hanging over me in both the civilian and military court systems. I left Germany in the middle of July and traveled to Washington to meet with Congressional leaders whom Colonel Ray had briefed on my stand and its significance to American law and public policy. Because of my stand and the tremendous support my stand has received from many wonderful people like you, Colonel Ray gained access to testify before a Senate foreign policy subcommittee and UN ambassador Madeline Albright had to come and explain by what authority America soldiers are transferred from the U.S. military to the UN military. Through it all, I have simply stood and, until reaching America two weeks, I have not spoken about this matter which shows just how powerful a stand can be.

I am now out of uniform, but the Congress is not out of jeopardy of losing control of America's military to U.N. command and control. But because of my stand, there is legislation now in Congress. H.R. 3308, which is deceptively entitled, "The Armed Forces Protection Act of 1996," has been rightly labeled by Congressman Roscoe Bartlett as "unconstitutional, containing an illegal transfer of Congressional authority to the Executive branch."

If it is passed, H.R. 3308 will give legislative and political cover to President Clinton for his three years of misrepresentation to Congress in sending U.S. soldiers like me on UN military operations to places like Macedonia, forcing us to wear unauthorized UN uniforms, and to serve under foreign UN commanders. These UN commanders take an oath of exclusive allegiance to the United Nations, but after committing themselves to the UN and being put on the UN payroll, they command U.S. troops making life and death decisions over them.

Even President Clinton has admitted that if captured, these troops, unlawfully deployed, fall into a bottomless pit in international law when serving as UN military. They lose important legal protections if taken hostage, as many have been in Macedonia, and that is of critical importance, especially if the one captured is your son, father, uncle, or anyone else in your family.

Substitute legislation has been drafted and offered by my defense team to Congressmen and women to introduce and support in opposition to H.R. 3308. It is entitled "The American Soldier Protection and American Command Preservation Act." It would prevent the president and others from freely internationalizing the U.S. armed forces through the multi-national government of the United Nations. I am told the Republicans have been slow to pick up this legislation and the opportunity to shame Bill Clinton for this bad treatment of American soldiers, especially in an election year. Col. Ray says it is because they don't really disagree with Clinton's UN policies to wage "peace" around the world.

Now, as you can tell, I am not a speaker or a politician. I am a soldier. I swore an oath to the Constitution, took my post and I made my stand. I was proud and comforted to make my stand on October 10, 1995, protected by our Constitution. I have done what I am able to do. Let my stand serve as a sign to you of how far we have gone in subjugating the United States military to the United Nations military. However, I must tell you I do not intend to become a symbol, only a sign to point out, in this case, a hazard. I do not want to be held up as something extraordinary. I did only what I had to do to be able to keep my oath and live with myself.

The message I stand before you today to give you is to contact the Legal Defense Fund, keep up with the latest information in regard to the defense of my stand, which so many of you have kindly adopted. My mission in the courts is simply to obtain an honorable discharge for my honorable disobedience. Also, please stay current with the offensive action taken as a result of my stand, the Congressional legislation developed by Colonel Ray and others more skilled than I, to protect our country and support our troops. If I could cause this much trouble as one person, just think about what you can do. It is up to you.

I am a simple soldier, and I am now a civilian, as I said earlier, I am not a speaker or a politician, but there are those of you who are. And because you are, I charge you this day to take up this effort because the day is coming soon when the U.S. Army Code of Conduct will become as obsolete as General MacArthur became during the Korean war when the code was written I am told by heroes like, Dwayne Thorin, because of the confusion among the ranks about their allegiance: To the UN or U.S? It reads in part:

I will never forget that I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender my men while they still have the means to resist.

I will never forget that I am an American fighting man, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which make my country free. I will trust in God and in the United States of America.

Born in Danville, Kentucky, on January 15, 1945, Higgins earned his bachelor's degree from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. A scholarship student in the Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps, he received the Marine Corps Association Award and was commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1967. He later obtained a master's degrees from Pepperdine University and Auburn University. He graduated from the Army Infantry Officers Advanced Course, the Air Force Command and Staff College, and the National War College.

As a lieutenant, he participated in combat operations during 1968 with C Company, 1st Battalion, 3d Marines in the Republic of Vietnam as a rifle platoon commander and rifle company executive officer, and was aide-de-camp to the Assistant 3d Marine Division Commander. In 1969 Lt. Higgins served at Headquarters Marine Corps and in 1970 as the Officer-in-Charge of the Officer Selection Team in Louisville, Kentucky.

Captain Higgins returned to Vietnam in 1972 as an infantry battalion advisor to the Vietnamese Marine Corps, then served as a rifle company commander with C Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines. From 1973 to 1977, Captain Higgins served at the Staff Noncommissioned Officers Academy and Officer Candidate School, both in Quantico, Virginia.

Returning to the Fleet Marine Force in 1977, Capt. Higgins was assigned to the 2d Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where he again served as a rifle company commander with A Company, 1st Battalion, 2d Marines. Upon promotion to major, he was reassigned as the Logistics Officer for Regimental Landing Team 2, 4th Marine Amphibious Brigade.

After completion of the Air Force Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base in 1980, designated a distinguished graduate, he returned to Washington where he served at Headquarters as a Plans Officer until his selection to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. During 1981 and 1982, he served as Military Assistant to the Special Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, then as Assistant for Interagency Matters to the Executive Secretary for the Department of Defense. After graduation from the National War College in 1985, he returned to the Pentagon as the Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, where he served until he was transferred to his United Nations assignment in July 1987. He was promoted to colonel on March 1, 1989.

Col. Higgins' military decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (posthumous), Bronze Star with combat "V," Purple Heart (posthumous), Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal with bronze star and combat "V," Combat Action Ribbon, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with silver star, Staff Service Honor Medal, United Nations Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal (posthumous), and numerous unit commendations and campaign ribbons.

So, where are the blemishes?

....And if I ever had an insubordinate SOB like Mike New under my command I'd kick is ass from here to next Christmas and then I'd toss what was left of it into the brig....

With all due respect Commander, I think you're being a bit disingenuious here. You know durned well you would not have kicked anyone's fourth point of contact. You would have followed established procedures, just as SPC New's chain of command did.

Although I appreciate the sentiment, let's not get carried away eh sir?

RLTW!

Semper Suo

Hmm, I suppose there was a point in that rant of your's. Let's see if I can find one.

your career constitutes that of a "sycophant running around in fatigues."

I assume you're talking about Colonel Higgins. Two tours in Viet Nam. Service with the Reagan Defense Department. Instructor at the Marine NCO school. Doesn't sound like a sycophant to me. The Marine Corps doesn't issue the CIB, but his Bronze Star and other awards speak for themselves.

As for me, over 20 years service and never heard a shot fired in anger. How about you?

New is no coward! Those who like sheep, went along to get along, are the cowards. New is a true Patriot of heroic proportions, who refused to obey an unlawful order.

If we learned anything from the Vietnam war, it is that obeying unlawful orders from superiors, will not excuse soldiers for committing unlawful acts. Our Government has no right to put our troops into the position of damned if they do-damned if they don't.

I am sure that many of the older folks on here were told as was I: Obey orders first and ask questions later. That worked just fine until cowards began giving the orders, and sacrificing their obedient troops to save their own @$$e$, when things went wrong.

I am as aware as anyone else,that instant and unquestioning obedience to orders in combat situations, is essential to victory as well as the safety and well being of the Military unit. It is even more essential that those who issue the orders, not be allowed to save their own butts by sacrificing those who are merely obeying orders.

Michael New was a member of the United States Army-not the UN Arsewipes.

Every award in his "rack" is the standard for an officer serving in RVN in a combat unit. His legion of merit was posthumously awarded which means that was given after his murder. From what I can tell from your post he spent approximately 3 years out of 21 in "Line" positions as either a platoon leader or company commander. The rest of his career was spent as an XO or other flunky paper pusher. What exactly else does your post indicate about his service record? It does appear that he is very highly educated which means absolutely nothing in the military. I'm no ignorant civilian bamboozled with a chest full of pretty ribbons. Lets hear what former subordinates say about him. It is interesting that despite being a combat veteran with a "I Love Me" wall full of diplomas it still took him ten years to make Major. That could be because of the cut downs after the Viet Nam war though. I'm not criticising him, I'm just trying to put in perspective that not every officer that gets whacked by a psychopath is God's gift to the military.

I would say that even if Col. Higgins was a sad sack soldier, he died serving his country so is a hero in my book.

Although for what it's worth, I would say the man was an honorable hard-charging marine and not a sad sack. He was both a platoon leader and a company commander in combat line units and he had experience as a staff officer at many different levels. A fairly rare combination due to the Carter military purge.

Also, officers who serve in the staff position's Col. Higgins served in usually become well connected, and are pretty much able to pick and choose assignments. I'm sure he could have gotten out of that assignment if he so chose. But he didn't. As far as that goes, he could have requested the assignment (just to get out of freaking DC!)! A true warrior and the marine corp is worse off without him. May the Lord bless his soul.

As to SPC New.....I think he did what he thought was right. It took a lot of courage and conviction to do what he did, IMO. I respect that. As to the hub-bub about whether or not the orders were lawful? Well the courts have said they were lawful orders, so New got what punishment he deserved. However, I disagree with the opinion of the court as to the lawfulness of the orders.

That being said, if I was still wearing the uniform, I would wear the U.N. attire if ordered to do so until such a time that the decision was overturned.

GO ARMY!

RLTW!

Semper Suo

What, no snappy reply to my post 72? You gonna want to know about my service record? Fine, Commander, USNR. Born and raised in Illinois. DMG, University of Illinois Navy ROTC. Nine years active duty in DD's, DDG's and FFG's with the Atlantic Fleet. Recalled to fight the Battle of the Pentagon during Desert Storm. And if I ever had an insubordinate SOB like Mike New under my command I'd kick is ass from here to next Christmas and then I'd toss what was left of it into the brig.

You sound like a truly wonderful military person. If there are more like you out there, perhaps y'all could serve under UN command so those who don't think it's constitutional, don't have to do that.

I see a lot of names on this thread of people that chastised that female pilot in Saudi Arabia for refusing to dress up like an Arab ninja woman by wearing a burkha, that are now calling Spc. Michael New a 'patriot'.

Michael New wouldn't wear a blue beret because he said 'if I wanted to become a mercernary, I would have joined the French Foreign Legion'. The female pilot refused to adopt 12th century customs to satisfy a bunch of insane muslim assholes who probably cheered when the WTC was destroyed.

I won't name names, but how do some of you reconcile that conundrum?

Oh, I get it: It's all about who was POTUS at the time.

I'm sorry to hear, but not completely surprised to find out, that Michael New has run into some prescription drug problems. I knew a couple combat medics after VN who just seemed to have learned too much about medicine for their own damned good.

I didn't inquire about your military experience, but since you were so quick to lay it all out there, I'll certainly be polite, salute the Navy rank and say thank you for your service to our nation. I'll even admit there were a few days and nights around Nha Trang in '67 that I was delitefully impressed with the Navy's ability to move dirt with 8"guns, from 5 miles offshore. But as an old Inf OCS grunt I must be honest and say from experience, ROTC just isn't all that 'strack' ... and the Navy yet.

On a more serious note, I find the older officers from VN era and before are much more concerned with the 'global-homoginization' of our military forces. The newer crop seem much more willing to accept service and deployment into U.N. Police Actions run by politicians. While that may serve U.S. corporate interests, it happens at the risk and expense of national sovereignty and American blood. Something I consider sacred.

I've never gotten the impression that Sp4New was just some smart-assed troop who acted upon a wild impulse when he refused to show up in formation that morning w/o the American flag on his shoulder ... I feel certain he thought long and hard before he made his stand. I'm certain it took an enormous amount of courage in the face of tremendous pressure, not to mention that it all took place during the Homo-feminization of our military - the Klinton era. This was not the mark nor the actions of a man who was weak, a slacker or simply a smart-ass fool.

This was the evidence of deep-felt conviction and the final outcome of his case is still undecided, with many of us who stand beside him, understanding our national sovereignty is on the line.

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