[Marxism] Army crisis at Ft. Stewart? 23 Gis said to refuse deployment to Iraq

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

GI Special 3A12
thomasfbarton@xxxxxxxxxxxxx





Sgt. Kevin Benderman Writes:

"Why I Refused A 2nd Deployment To Iraq"---

22 More At Ft. Stewart Refuse To Deploy So Far



By: Sgt. Kevin Benderman, Published In Project For The Old American
Century



First a brief forward from POAC co-editor Jack Dalton. I received an
email a few moments ago from Kevin's wife Monica.



In it she has told me a total of 22 people in Sgt Benderman's unit have
refused to deploy to Iraq.



17 have gone AWOL and 2 have attempted suicide. The status of the
remaining 3 is unknown at this time.  We at the POAC fully support the
decision to refuse deployment to Iraq which has been made by Sgt
Benderman, and the others in his unit.



I am Sgt Kevin Benderman and:

These are the chronological events that led me to conclude that I had no
other choice than to refuse the deployment order to Iraq.



I was deployed to Iraq in March 2003 and returned in September 2003;
while I was there I was with the 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment,
4th Infantry Division.  We staged our vehicles in Kuwait and then
proceeded to move out into Iraq.



We were carried on the back of heavy equipment transporters to about
fifty miles south of Baghdad and then we downloaded the vehicles.  We
were in the vehicles while they were on the trucks, which I thought was
a little odd considering that in the garrison environment those types of
actions are considered unsafe and are therefore not allowed.



During the road march north through the country I saw the effects of
what war does to people, those effect are such; homes were bombed,
people were living in mud huts, people were obtaining their drinking
water from mud puddles along the side of the road and were catching rain
in buckets when it did rain, they begged us for food and water and we
had enough, we would share it with the people that were there, the kids
looked especially hungry and thirsty.  The commander told us to stop
giving the people food because they would get food from other sources
after the trucks started bringing in relief supplies.



Somewhere along the route there was this one woman standing along side
the road with a young girl of about 8 or 9 years old and the little
girl's arm was burned all the way up her shoulder and I don't mean just
a little blistered, I mean she had 3rd degree burns the entire length of
her arm and she crying in pain because of the burns.  I asked the troop
executive officer if we could stop and help the family and I was told
that the medical supplies that we had were limited and that we may need
them, I informed him that I would donate my share to that girl but we
did not stop to help her.



When we were there, the command elements ordered the unit to perform all
types of actions that are considered unsafe to soldiers, such as, having
military vehicle maintenance personnel retrieve missiles that were
present in our area of operations using a M88 recovery vehicle and
transport them to sites to be destroyed by the explosive ordnance
personnel.



They also ordered mortar personnel to enter into a compound that held
various types of munitions that the Iraqi army had left behind and to
load these munitions onto trucks. When these personnel were not working
fast enough for the 1SG he ordered them to throw the mortar rounds onto
the trucks whereupon one of rounds exploded and inflicted shrapnel
wounds on two soldiers.



We were using an old custom building that was located in the middle of
the town that we were in for the troop HQ and naturally that attracted
the attention of the local populace. Small children would come up to the
wall that surrounded the place before we had a chance to apply
concertina wire along the top of the wall and they would toss small
pebbles at us inside the walls.



We would tell the children to get down from the wall and leave the area,
one day the troop commander saw us telling the children top get down
from the wall and he told everyone there that if the children came back
at any time after that to shoot them if they were to climb back onto the
wall.



I was in charge of a group of soldiers that were in their late teens
through their early twenties and I had to constantly tell them to keep
their heads down because they thought that the war was like the video
games that they played back at the barracks. War is not like that at all
and until you have the misfortune to engage in it for yourself you
cannot begin to understand how insane it all is.



There are no restart buttons on reality and that is why I cannot figure
out why now we are pursuing such a policy in this day and age.  War
should be relegated to the shelves of history, as was human sacrifice.
If you stop to think about it you become aware that war is just human
sacrifice.  There is no honor in killing as many as you can as quickly
as you can.



We, in America refer to ourselves as civilized and people from other
countries still living the simple life are backwards and un-civilized,
but what is civil about the capability to create atomic weapons?  What
is civil about being able to kill over 100,000 people with just one
bomb?



We may be more technologically advanced but are we more civilized?  I
think the answer is no. War has to be considered the absolute enemy of
mankind.  Where we would be without it?



I would presume that we as a nation would be out of debt if we were to
apply as much energy to pursuing sound economics as we do pursuing war,
we would never get sick if we spent as much on preventive medicine as we
do on war, the elderly would get affordable prescription medication if
we were to use the resources that are spent on war to work for that
purpose, there would not be un educated children if we were to buy new
classrooms and books for schools instead of new weapons systems, social
security would be a lot more secure with some of the money that war
costs.



Why do we want to train the young people in the world that the only way
we can settle our differences is to kill one another?



Why shouldn't we train them to become surgeons or homebuilders?  Why
shouldn't we train to become anything but killers?  I think that the
world would be better off if we were to do that instead.



I have talked to veterans from every war from WWII on and their opinion
is that the wars they fought were to be the last war ever fought.  How
many more are we going to fight before we realize that the act of war is
for small minded people that are intent in only satisfying their own
needs and not the needs of the people in general?



I do not want to be killed because I am living in a place that has a
ruler that wants to go to war with any one.



The only way to bring peace to the world is to let the people of the
world decide for themselves what they want to spend their efforts on.  I
feel that in this day and age governments start wars, and not people,
and since the governments want the wars then why don't we let the
government fight the war?  All of the politicians that want to fight a
war are free to trade places with me at any time.



I will gladly go and learn war no more.



There are activities that I have been involved in that have led me to
these new and developed beliefs, and they are numerous but I can tell
you some of them.



When you walk in the woods and you see a deer stand and look at you, or
you are on the river in the morning and the mist rises off the water
while you hear the morning calls of the river birds, and the otters just
lie there as you glide past in your boat and don't even move, you know
that there is a better way.



When you can find solitude in the woods that are so filled with peace
and the wildlife that is all around you, you feel the better way all
around.  A person must acknowledge the fact the we are a part of the
universe and the universe does not want to be out of sorts with itself,
so why do we spend so much effort on trying to be out of sorts with
others of the human race?



I have been to the war zone and I have seen the devastation it causes.
Why can't everyone agree that war is the most repugnant of all human
endeavors?  Why is it considered noble to be able to look through the
sights of a rifle and kill another human being from 300 meters away?
Why are you a hero if you can throw a hand grenade farther than the next
guy in the foxhole?



Shouldn't these young men and women that are in the army be throwing
footballs or baseballs or softballs instead?  It would impress me a lot
more to see someone make the winning free throw at the basketball game
or kick the winning extra point at the football game, or knock in the
winning run at the World Series than to see them be able to shoot more
humans from 300 hundred meters.



I would rather they spend their time at the golf course or the tennis
courts or in college, any where but in the war zone trying to survive
and having to kill to do it.  It just doesn't make sense to me.





A Brief History of Sgt Kevin Benderman's Military Service

I first entered the army on 27 Jan 1987 and received basic training at
Ft. Bliss, TX. I received advanced individual training at Ft. Sam
Houston, TX.  My military occupational specialty was designated as 91R10
Veterinary Food Inspection Specialist which is basically the equivalent
to a U.S.D.A. Food Inspector.



My first duty assignment was Ft. Leavenworth, Ks.  Where I worked in the
commissary and my duties included; inspecting poultry and dairy
products, fresh fruits and vegetables, canned goods, and the general
sanitation of the facility.  My mission was to ensure the health of the
soldiers.  Was a part if the United States Army Medical Dept. Activity
or USA MEDDAC.



I received an Army Achievement Medal while serving on the unit fund
counsel, which utilized funds, raised through various activities to help
provide for soldiers that were not able to get home during Christmas.  I
received another AAM for assisting during an increased workload due to
personnel shortages during the Persian Gulf War.  I also received my
first Good Conduct Medal during this enlistment.



I received an honorable discharge from the Army after the Persian Gulf
War on 24 Apr 1991.  I re-entered the Army 26 Jun 2000 and was awarded
the MOS of 63M10, which is a Bradley Fighting Vehicle mechanic.  Re-took
basic training at Ft. Knox, KY and went the US Army Armor School at Ft.
Knox, KY



Received AAM for being honor graduate from the Class.



First duty assignment after completion of training was Ft. Hood, TX.
Unit was 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division.
Also known as the Buffalo Soldiers.



Went to Iraq with the 4th I.D. in March 2003 returned to Ft. Hood Sep
2003.  Re-enlisted with choice of duty station of Ft. Stewart, GA.



ARMY AWARDS RECEIVED INCLUDE TWO ARMY COMMENDATION MEDALS, 4 ARMY
ACHIEVEMENT MEDALS, 3 GOOD CONDUCT MEDALS, 2 NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE
MEDALS, And ONE GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM SERVICE MEDAL.  RECEIVED
NUMEROUS LETTERS OF COMMENDATION. RECEIVED COMBAT LIFESAVER
CERTIFICATION, WAS CHOSEN TO BE THE STUDENT 1ST SGT OF THE PRIMARY
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT COURSE OUT OF FOUR HUNDRED STUDENTS.



Do you have a friend or relative in the service?  Forward this E-MAIL
along, or send us the address if you wish and we'll send it regularly.
Whether in Iraq or stuck on a base in the USA, this is extra important
for your service friend, too often cut off from access to encouraging
news of growing resistance to the war, at home and inside the armed
services.  Send requests to address up top.







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