European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 tetters the stars and stripes monday november 19,1990�?� readers respond to conscientious objector As an army Veteran 1968-1971,1 feel i must respond to the writer regarding conscientious objectors. His taken. To Quot Quot views Are Well taken. However i think he a missing a few important Points. Regarding the conscientious objector who was a medic during Wii who won the medal of Honor Etc no he does no to sound like a Coward or fundamentalist ideological idiot. He sounds like a draftee who like Many of us did his Job and honoured his commitment to our country. As an adult which i assume you Are is it not incumbent upon you to understand a situation before giving your solemn oath to it you were not drafted. You volunteered for military service. Thus you took an oath of your own free will that stated a i swear to support Ana defend the Constitution of the United states against All enemies foreign and you further stated during this Sweang in Quot i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation. Therefore if you re truly a conscientious objector and not just someone looking for the government to subsidize his education travel plans or career mobility Why did you join the military and take such an oath _ i suggest you take your own very Good advice and look into history. You in Rind that the armed forces Are just that armed forces. A Tony Horowitz Friedberg Germany. First he is privileged to be associated with the largest group of a conscientious objectors Quot in the free world a members of the United states department of defense. Warriors done to Wake up one morning and decide to go to War. They Are usually handed a real Tough problem with conditions done to Hurt too Many people make us proud done to screw up and by the Way win these problems Are thrust upon us by our elected leadership. We As warriors accept these challenges because at some Point in our lives we freely chose to be part of the solution. I know of no other group in the world who detests the ugliness of combat More than warriors bloodied by it. No one on this planet has More to lose or has less to gain from Battle. Second you voluntarily put yourself in your current position which is Between a Rock and a hard place. You Are among warriors men and women who Are ready to do whatever it takes to preserve a Way of life that you use As a shield to express your views. Third you re Quick to Point out How a conscientious objector won the medal of Honor. You missed the Point partner. He was a Warrior who though he kill another human being still went into Battle to save his fellow comrades. It sharply Points out the fact that warriors work Only As a team each knowing their weaknesses and strengths. You done to need the skill or inclination to kill just a desire to do the very Best you can under the worst conditions imagined to preserve a Way of life Worth fighting for. As warriors we done task Why we just do. Peace is not our profession deterrence is not our Mission. Our profession is War and our Mission is to serve As the cutting Edge of National policy. A chief warrant officer Tracy Paul Warrington bad of Liz Germany Correct me if in a wrong but Isnit a conscientious objector someone who for religious reasons seeks to avoid fighting in a War now suddenly everyone wants objector status. When you joined the military you took a vow to defend your country against All enemies foreign and Domestic. Your status is now Active duty. If people choose to use religion As a shield from real life they should join a monastery not the military. A Michelle Brooks Wei Brincken Germany to All conscientious objectors its wonderful that we Are Able to express our feelings on certain issues affecting our lives. This is a Freedom Given to us through plenty of sacrifice and blood. A recent letter from an airman stated that a cos Are a peaceful people a Breed few and far Well i really done to know about that particular Bloodline but websters dictionary describes a co As a one who refuses to serve in the armed forces or Bear arms on the grounds of moral or religious another Freedom we have is Choice. As you did my Choice was to enlist in the armed forces the . Air Force. Like you i raised my hand and swore to defend my country the Constitution and obey the orders of the president and the officers above me. The realities of armed conflict Are harsh and none of us likes it but it was something i had to consider before i made my Choice to enlist. Did no to you consider this before making your Choice also stated was a we will not take part in any does this mean you refuse to deploy to another location or during deployment refuse to Bear arms to defend fellow workers As we Learned from this recent deployment we May in times of crisis have to defend or guard no matter what Job we have. We All want peace. We Are a team and must work together As one regardless of our beliefs. You have the right to express your views and believe in them without harassment but the ultimate question is when called upon in times of armed conflict can we count on you Only you can answer that. As i see it just about everyone is a co per be because we All want peace and would have nightmares if we had to Hurt someone else. With our Choice to come into the armed services we took on the responsibility to serve with commitment. Even though most of us Are not directly involved with killing indirectly we Are by supporting people and organizations that do the killing. So this is to remind people All people of their oaths of commitment and service. Sometimes we forget. A tech sgt. Matthew j. Regginello operation desert shield. They Are All Gung to for the military when they Are collecting those paychecks and enjoying those benefits but Call on them to do the duty they volunteered for and they suddenly become peaceful people. I feel that the Only time a person can be classified a a conscientious objector is if be is drafted into the service. We need people in our military who want to be there during the bad times As Well As the Good not soldiers of convenience. My husband does no to want to go just As none of the men there now wanted to go. But they saw it As part of their duty and went. A Tina m. Newman Wiesbaden Germany. In Case you Haven to figured it out yet the purpose of having military forces is to be Able to conduct War. And other than for a free trip to Europe with a paycheck your motive for being a member of the . Air Force is questionable. I have nothing against conscientious objector h in the military they done to belong. If you so Choos please Don t participate m War but please Stop Wash my tax dollars and get out. There Are thousand women and men willing to replace you who done to min living up to their oaths. N a tech sgt Grayling Hunter operation desert shield no matter what ones Job May be in the military Clear thinking person realizes that the military exists ultimately wage War a or at least to prevent War by Tea ing a potential enemy believe you will wage War if be Essary. What kind of double Standard have you set for you self what kind of moral Standard allows you to acce compensation tax monies for working in an Ore Aniz Tion that exists contrary to your professed beliefs a to volunteered Alvin York was drafted. Ideally if All people were conscientious objectors w would have no need for military services. However a live in a real world with real tyrants and real evil a around us. We fully defend your right to your belief b would not your cause be better served out of uniform As it now stands it is difficult to View your beliefs credible and your logic about this matter makes to thought process suspect. �?1st sgt. James t. Perry a sgt. 1st class Randy s. Hamilton a sgt 1st class Eugene Johnson a sgt 1st class Allen r. Lawless a sgt 1st class Leonard m. Mutter i Berlin. The writer made a very valid Point cons Cintio objectors As american citizens have every right t their beliefs and should not be put Down for those b lies. But perhaps he has chosen the wrong career. I joined the air Force for a number of reason one of which is to defend my country. In a not anxious t go to saudi Arabia but if i Nave to i will that is part my commitment to the . Air Force. After All if to can to depend on the . Military to defend you in Tim of crisis who can you depend on a sgt Christine Aguirre Raf Alconbury England. First of All does no to such a term apply to someone we has been involuntarily drafted to fight in a War Anyon who freely signs his or her name a on the dotted line a to speak signs a contract to protect and defend his her county. Soldiers Are trained to do so in the under Rable event of War. No one i know wants or likes War but that Hart altered the fact that Man has continued to have wars f centuries. Part of being a Soldier is to be committed t whatever Mission is required to include combat. I Don promote or advocate War yet in the event of being in combat environment id do my Best to protect and d fend fellow soldiers and my own life. To receive All the benefits of the military yet refuse partake of or become involved in a Mission because of the potentiality of War is ludicrous if not a breach of contract. A name withheld Grafe Wohr Germany the following people agreed with Many of the though expressed above Bob Crockett Mainz Germany and Lehman Soester Bergrab the Netherlands. Oilman the Netherlands. Writer questions Bank Check cashing be n perplexed. Love been in the army for More than the act Anri i a., t i. In a perplexed. Love been in the army for More than 12 years and was taught As Well As realized that the affiliates of the armed services Are geared for Soldier support. Most agencies such As the Post exchanges commissaries and snack bars do a pretty Good Job of this. What confuses me is who controls the Banks . Merchants i had always thought that once the department of defense awarded the contract that they then sat Back and strictly monitored its operations. This past july merchants Bank advertised that the a department of defense Quot will now charge an increased Check cashing fee for individuals who done to have a Community Bank account. The fee was increased from $1 per Check to $3 or 1 percent of the face value whichever is greater this shows me a Lack of concern for the Soldier. Eleven of my 12 years in the service have been spent in Germany and up until this Check fee increase in be done just great with my stateside checking account. Now because of this in be been a a persuaded to open an account with the Community Bank. In the past i could Deal with the $1 fee but $3 or More no Way because my stateside Bank has served me so Well in the past and i know that i will one Day be returning to the United states i have kept that account open and must Transfer funds from it to my Community savings. All of this just to turn around and withdraw those funds from my Community account and save myself at least $3. What Good has this fee increase done has it improved service to the Soldier shortened the lines has it allowed the Bank to finally give competitive interest rates on cd since becoming a Community Bank a Happy camper a i now get their banking bulletin. Guess what they credit the increase of new accounts to their Superior service not that it s bad but it does no to take a pad to figure out the True reason for an increase of new accounts does it a Christian Mulvey Wurzburg Germany note a Yvonne Wise manager Public Media relations merchants Community Bank replies who controls the Bank i would have to say the department of defense with careful monitoring by the army and air Force. Merchants manages the military Banks in Germany Holland and Greece under a Dod fixed fee contract All profit is returned to Dod and in turn Dod absorbs operating expenses which Are n covered by income. A a Check cashing fees for non account holders we raised to $3 to help defray costs associated with handling stateside checks. The fee Wasny to implemented in you had the alternative of arms automatic Teller m Chines connected to stateside financial networks. Rev nue generated from these fees serves to reduce Banki contract costs charged to appropriated funds. You asked what Good this fee increase has done f the Soldier. Transactions inside the Bank have go Down and transactions outside the Bank a at the Gre machine a have increased. Bank representatives n have More time to answer questions and provide Servi not possible when hordes of people were waiting in t Bank to Cash stateside checks. Many individuals i stateside accounts now use the convenient Afan i Kus connected Green machines to Access finds their stateside Bank accounts. We Are Happy you have an account with us a a of iwo nov ase by the Way our certificate of Dep it old rates Are normally better than those offered stateside financial institutions. You can invest in a m chants cd for As Little As $1,000
