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Home Front: WoT
Army Mechanic Acquitted of Desertion, Convicted on other Charges
2005-07-29
FORT STEWART, Ga. -- An Army mechanic who refused to go to Iraq while he sought conscientious objector status was acquitted of desertion Thursday but found guilty of a lesser charge and sentenced to 15 months behind bars.

Sgt. Kevin Benderman, 40, also was given a dishonorable discharge and a reduction in rank to private on the charge of missing movement. If he had been found guilty of desertion, he could have faced five years in prison.

Benderman failed to deploy with his 3rd Infantry Division unit in January, 10 days after he told Fort Stewart commanders he was seeking a discharge as a conscientious objector. He has previously said he refused to deploy to Iraq after his first combat tour during the 2003 invasion made him opposed to war.
He enlisted, got to the rank of sargeant, went to Iraq, and then decided to be a C.O.?
Benderman's company commander and direct supervisor in the division's 3rd Forward Support Battalion flew to Fort Stewart from Iraq to testify Thursday that the soldier disobeyed orders to deploy and demoralized his fellow troops after they left without him. "He got what he deserved," said Capt. Gary Rowely said during a court-martial that lasted less than three hours. "He's doing 15 months; we're serving 12 months in Iraq."

But Benderman said he didn't mean for his actions to hurt his comrades. "I am not against soldiers," he said. "I don't care what anyone says. Though some might take my actions as being against soldiers, I want everyone to be home and safe and raising their families. I don't want anyone to be hurt in a combat zone."

William Cassara, Benderman's civilian defense attorney, argued that Benderman believed he had been excused from deploying so he could work on his objector application. "I think the sentence was overly harsh," said Cassara, who said the soldier would get an automatic appeal.
Posted by:Steve White

#4  Didn't lots of CO's serve as medics or chaplain's assistants in WWII?

And the claim that "Benderman believed he had been excused from deploying so he could work on his objector application."?

It is to laugh.
Posted by: mojo   2005-07-29 14:09  

#3  Desmond Doss - I never knew about him. Thanks for the link.

He set the bar.

SSGT Benderman was just looking for a quick way out because he found out that war sucks. Well wih that dishonorable following him around, life's going to suck for a lot longer for him.
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-07-29 10:28  

#2  Son, here is a real CO.

Nuff said!
Posted by: Elmaitch Unomort5930   2005-07-29 09:24  

#1  ...Here's where this idiot lost me.
The DoD has a policy in place if you decide that you don't want to play any more and I saw it used twenty years ago, and in ODS as well. I'm willing to believe that someone can see the Great Light, and that's fine.
BUT - and IIRC, that jackass Paredes did the same thing - you are not allowed to just opt out of the game. You have to go with your unit, and then they decide what to do.
A true CO would have gone. This guy didn't. He simply decided that he did'nt want to play anymore, and figured that claiming CO status was his best bet. Well, fine. He can be the prom queen at Leavenworth for the next 15 months.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2005-07-29 07:07  

00:00