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I'm 26 years old, and as stated in my short bio, I served in the U.S. Army from 2005-2008. I approached my command and took numerous steps in attempt to relieve myself of an organization I believed to be fascist, volatile and an organization I believed was committing acts that were not morally or ethically justified. Through time, I had begun to study the theories and teachings of men such as Henry David Thoreau, Mohatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Howard Zinn and many others. I came to an evolution in my life to where I firmly believed that violence was an ignorant approach to resolution of any conflict. I strongly disagreed with the ethics involved in the Conscientious Objection packet and therefore never submitted one. I still firmly stand behind that reasoning. I eventually received a court martial for desertion and was sentenced to 4 months in prison, but thankfully due to a pretrial agreement, my sentence was a max of 100 days. I received a bad conduct discharge despite the outstanding support I received form Courage to Resist, the IVAW, and many other local peace organizations. I thank all of the supporters I had, the hundreds of people who wrote me while in prison, and also my attorney, James Branum. I currently reside in Savannah, Georgia and work full time with a law firm. I am now back in college as a political science student with the hopes of attending law school and being able to give back to soldiers just as others have so graciously done for me.
"How vain is it to sit down to write, when you have not stood up to live." -Henry David Thoreau-.
