The Definition of Irony!

[johnc]

On December 6th, 2004 Pablo Paredes, a volunteer US Navy Sailor, refused to board the U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard, a US Navy assault ship saying, "I don't want to be a part of a ship that's taking 3,000 Marines over there [iraq], knowing a hundred or more of them won't come back," he said. "I can't sleep at night knowing that's what I do for a living." Mr. Paredes has since become a cause celeb for many anti-war groups:

 

http://www.notinourname.net/troops/pablo-paredes.htm

 

Over the weekend, after being diverted from its voyage to the Iraq theater of war, the U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard departed Guam on its way to Sri Lanka. The ship is expected to arrive later this week to begin providing medical relief and logistical support for the victims of the recent tsunami's in the Indian Ocean.

 

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=7&id=323705

 

EDIT: Mr. Paredes was a sailor, not a marine.

[AgentZ]

Sorry to say but he signed on and should have either gone to war or gone to jail.

 

I am in New Zealand, which has a fairly high anti Bush and anti war attitude. I feel more and more proud every day of what our guys are doing over there and hope for them to all come back safe. I grew up in the states in a Navy family so I know what it is like to send a family member to war and I can tell you it isnt fun. But I think it would have been evenworse for my father to have said he wasnt going and left his fellow men in the lurch.

[Phantom]

I served 23 years combined active duty Navy and reserves. This dude is a "volunteeer". He wasn't drafted like back during the Vietnam era. I fully understood and supported true conscientious objectors back then even though my own butt was on the line to go in harms way. I do not, however, support someone who volunteered to be a member of the military and then thinks he can pick and choose his duty based on his personal belief. He needs to spend some time in the brig contemplating what his beliefs really are.

[Pop N Wood]

He says he is willing to spend a year in jail rather than support the war.

 

Gotta admire his dedication to his beliefs, no matter how misguided. At least he is being man enough to stand up and face the music (unlike the pussies fleeing the country).

 

I think people should act on their conscience. But he also needed to factor in his previous commitment, whether he feels he has “grown up†since his enlistment or not. This war is not so clearly black and white, good or bad, to outweigh that. I would like to think he will live to regret this as a mistake. But being anti war didn’t hurt Tom Hayden much.

 

I can’t believe his conscientious objector argument will hold water when he was little more than a cab driver. CO status just means you are moved to a non-combat roll to finish out your obligation. The military has procedures for just this reason. If he does jail time it will be for going AWOL and missing movement, not refusing to be a part of killing someone. The CO crap seems like an afterthought on his part.

[Zhadman]

I I do not, however, support someone who volunteered to be a member of the military and then thinks he can pick and choose his duty based on his personal belief.

 

Unfortunately there are many like him. We had guys do this all the time (albeit in a different way). They would 'injure' themselves or come down 'sick' so they didn't have to fly (do their job). Tactical DNIF'ing we would call it (DNIF = Duties Not to Include Flying).

 

I can't tell you how many last minute deployments I, and others, had to take because of this. And that's the part that bugs me... they might not be going, but now someone else has to in thier stead.