AWOL soldier plans to return from Canada

Kyle Reese · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 8:51 pm**

Well good. They should all come back instead of being cowards.

Founder · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 8:54 pm**

Well...it's hard to call them cowards. He even served there for several months. That isn't cowardly. He's just a young kid that got scared. It happens. He's being a man about it and coming back.

Kyle Reese · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 8:58 pm**

Maybe. I really don't like insulting anyone who served in the military and I guess it's not very fair for me to call them cowards because I don't speak with any experience myself. I just hate to think about soldiers in our military running off to Canada and I wish they could all do the same as this guy.

Republican_Man · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 8:59 pm**

He is being a man and coming back, I suppose, but not so much. He wasn't a "man" for going AWOL, that's for sure.
I mean, it's difficult to criticize someone when you're not in the military or don't plan on serving in the military, but you can still do so, and I think it is entirely right and justified to criticize those who go AWOL. Canada should send them all back tomorrow, no matter what.

Arellia · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:01 pm**

Some guys find out they're not cut out for the military. That doesn't make them less than men, it makes them less than soldiers. It's good the guy's coming back, but I think it a little cruel to hold it against him. These aren't numbers, or reports on paper. Soldiers are people. You can't expect all people to deal with combat, even the ones who go in thinking they can.

Ziona · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:04 pm**

I give him props for coming back. And I greey with Syd. Some guys just find out they're not meant to be soldiers. Now going AWOL, not sure I agree with going about it quite that way.

That's why I don't always think it's a good idea to go into the military straight out of High School, unless you know that's what you want to do. Some kids are forced into it cause they need money for college. But at 18, I don't think you know what you want in life.

Republican_Man · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:05 pm**

While I agree with you in principle, I still believe it wrong to just go AWOL like that. For all we know, this guy may have become disillusioned not with the combat of the war, but with the war itself, and you don't leave just because you don't like the war.
All these deserters need to return home, regardless of their reasons, and face the consequences.

Arellia · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:08 pm**

I can't criticize anyone who's been in combat like that for what they did to get out of it. Unwise? Yeah, sure. They shouldn't have. They did, for whatever reason, and found out they aren't soldiers. Men in that position sometimes go as far as attempted suicide. Another unwise decision. I don't feel a cold anger for those men. They deserve a little compassion.

Lord Borg · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:09 pm**

Republican_Man · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:09 pm**

Oh, I'm not angry about him, and I have compassion for him, but at the same time I feel intense distaste for what he did and am glad he's now coming back, as all those in Canada should be doing.

Kyle Reese · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:10 pm**

I don't think it was because he didn't like the war. I mean, he was hit by a roadside bomb, and that's definitely going to cause some mental distress. Still, not wanting to go back doesn't justify running from the Army.

Republican_Man · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:12 pm**

Yeah...He's braver than me, I'll give him that.
I have compassion and understanding for him and his situation, but I still don't think it's justification for going AWOL, and don't give him a pass for it.

WeAz · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:15 pm**

He's braver than most of us here, myself included...

Republican_Man · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:17 pm**

I guess I'm more angry about those people who were told to go and they were just like, "Hell no, I'm not going," which is the bulk of these people, and I'm taking it out on this guy who was clearly traumatized by his situation, hence why I feel understanding and compassion for him. But it's still not justification for fleeing to another country, one which should be sending all of these people back--especially those jerks I just described.

WeAz · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:18 pm**

I hate the people who sign up for 5 years, so they don't have to go to Iraq. Then, if they are sent, they go AWOL, claiming they didn't sign up for it...

Arellia · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:20 pm**

When you start dealing with the army, you have a lot broader perspective on these men and why they do what they do. You have a better perspective on why some people who lose a son or daughter over there become bitter. It's a lot easier to say things about people who don't have as close a connection with you... whether you like to believe that or not. I agree, if you sign up for the army, you should understand that some of these wars won't be what you want. But after you're in combat, maybe traumatized by it, that's different.

- edit -

WeAz, what do you mean by that? There's no reason an army person would think signing on for 5 years would exempt them from Iraq. The longest contract you can sign is 6 years, anyway.

Kyle Reese · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:23 pm**

Yeah I often talk to the Army and National Guard when they come to my school, and I'm in JROTC, and I watch the military channel all the time but I still don't think I know what it's like to be in the military. With a little luck in a few years I'll be in the Marines and I'll get to experience it for myself.

WeAz · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:23 pm**

No...according to recruiters who come to my school every so often, the longer you sign up for, the less likely of a combat post.

Arellia · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:25 pm**

I've never heard that. Of course, they say a lot of things.

Lord Borg · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 10:35 pm**

I don't think anyone said anything about giving him a pass. Perhaps he shouldn't have gone AWOL. I understand, or rather I try to, that he was almost killed by a roadside bomb. He sustained injries from it, the Army wanted him to go back. Who would want to?

With that said, I will agree running away isn't the answer. However, I will say branding him a coward like the suits in comfortible offices do, that run the army, isn't the thing to do.

WeAz · **Sat Sep 23, 2006 11:30 pm**

There's a nickname for those suits...but if I post it, I get banned!

Theresa · **Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:07 pm**

There's a reason you sign a contract in the military. No one wants to be shot at, or injured, or go back to a place where it could happen again, but life, especially in the military, isn't always about what we want.