Marine Opposed to War Ordered Discharged

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Marine Opposed to War Ordered Discharged
Federal Judge Orders Marine Discharged As Conscientious Objector

SAN JOSE, Calif. Apr 3, 2007 (AP)— A Marine lance corporal who said he
had an aversion to killing and participating in war must be released from
the military as a conscientious objector, a federal judge ruled.

The Marine Corps Reserves must discharge Robert Zabala, 23, by mid-April,
under the ruling.

Zabala said he was troubled during boot camp in 2003 when a fellow recruit
committed suicide and a superior used profanities to belittle the recruit.
Zabala said he was "abhorred by the blood lust (the superior) seemed to
possess," according to a 2006 court petition for conscientious-objector
status.

Another boot camp instructor showed recruits a "motivational clip" showing
Iraqi corpses, explosions, gun fights and rockets set to a heavy metal song
that included the lyrics, "Let the bodies hit the floor," the petition said.
Zabala said he cried, while other recruits nodded their heads in time with
the beat.

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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3003249