He should've got out after he returned from his first tour!!!!!!



April 29, 2005

Stewart soldier denied
conscientious objector status

By Russ Bynum
Associated Press


SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Army has denied conscientious objector status for a soldier who refused to deploy to Iraq for a second tour, saying he became morally opposed to war during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Sgt. Kevin Benderman, 40, filed his objector application Dec. 28, just 10 days before he skipped his unit’s deployment flight. The Army mechanic faces a court-martial May 12 on charges of desertion and missing movement.

Fort Stewart spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Whetstone said Friday that Benderman’s objector claim “was denied late Wednesday by Headquarters Department of the Army.”

Benderman and his military attorney, Maj. Scott Sikes, did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment Friday morning.

Benderman, who has served 10 years in the Army, spent eight months in Iraq in 2003. Though he never fired a gun in combat, Benderman has said the misery he saw — including a badly burned young girl and mass graves filled with men, women and children — led him to seek objector status.

Yeah, the timing isn't doing his case any favors.

It can't be expected that every man will have the intestinal fortitude to go to war but this guy has taken the Army's money and benefits and doesn't even have a combat MOS.

Prosecute.

Benderman could find those conditions in many parts of the third world. I hope that they throw the book at him. Not everyone over there believes in the war but they serve because they have honor

This is why you must consider the consequences when you sign on the line. Too many people aren't in it for the right reasons when they sign.