----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On January 16 2001 I joined the Marines, I was a young, naive, conservative, flag waving evangelical. A lot has changed since then. I went to School of Infantry then Security Forces Training Company where I graduated and got orders to the 2nd Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team on (ironically enough) September 11. we were of course eager to fight terrorist, but of course that never really happened, we went all around the world, we guarded embassy's from angry people and guerrillas, we guarded ships from pirates and supposed terrorist plots, we even took ships from god knows who they were. Later on once the war started our company only sent a few marines each year to Iraq (mainly CQB graduates) so I never went. this all gave me too much time too think about the war in Iraq.
I joined the Army in December 2005 and after several more of my friends had died it kind of jump started my thought process. in late 2006 I started to become vocal about my opposition to the war and playing around with thoughts of refusing to go but I kept swaying back and forth between that or go so I can be there for my buddies (even though my buddies were all about me refusing to go). In early 2008 while in 1STB, 1BDE, 4ID when I was being very vocal about refusing to go to the war I was transferred to another unit and my resolve was solidified. I gave a formal written statement to everyone in my chain of command, they warned me to go, they threatened years and years in prison, and I'm sure they expected me to go AWOL, but instead I just hung out on the weekend of movement and reported to rear D myself, who of course wasn't even warned, in may I was given a Summary Courts Martial, I lost my rank, some money, was sent to jail, and was discharged, I am now living in San Francisco, Ca..
