Army deserter wants to change recruitment methods

[babylonsister]

Army deserter wants to change recruitment
Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:41am EST

By Madeline Chambers


BERLIN (Reuters) - A U.S. Army medic jailed for desertion after refusing to return to Iraq is on a mission to tell young Americans about the grim realities of war before they join the military.

Mexican-born combat medic Agustin Aguayo, in Germany to receive a peace award, told Reuters that U.S. Army recruitment methods were unfair as young people got a one-sided, positive picture of combat.

"I want to bring young people awareness. We ask them to sacrifice so much yet we don't educate them about the realities of war," said Aguayo, who describes himself as a conscientious objector, in a telephone interview on Monday.

Aguayo, who had been stationed in Germany, was sentenced to eight months behind bars in March after escaping through a window at his base in 2006 and missing his unit's redeployment to Iraq. In 2004 he had served one term as a medic in Iraq, refusing to load his gun while on guard duty.

With his prison term over, Aguayo visits U.S. schools to warn potential recruits about the pain and suffering soldiers and their families experience, especially in hotspots like Iraq.

He lambasted the way military recruiters go to schools and promise students positive experiences.

"They don't hear what it is like to kill someone, to see a friend die, to hurt another human, to be in an occupied country, shooting someone at close range. It's really unfair."

more...

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSL1738756620071217?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

[gratuitous]

1. Of course they don't hear about that

And you don't hear about priests molesting boys in a Catholic Church, either. The High Church of Redemptive Violence doesn't concern itself with thte messiness of war, just the glory and the medals and the this and the that. Which is why they so heavily recruit 17- and 18-year-olds into signing those one-sided contracts.

[DivorcingNeo]

2. Being an Army vet

Oh the stories I could tell about recruiters. Especially since I have a former one in my family. *sighs*
Indeed the youth of America are being hoodwinked.