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Deserter discharged from U.S. Marines
Nearly 40 years after he deserted his military unit in California and fled to Canada in protest over the Vietnam War, Allen Abney is officially no longer a U.S. Marine.The 56-year-old Kingsgate, B.C. resident was formally discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps Wednesday night, one week after he was arrested at a border crossing into Idaho and transferred to a military prison at Camp Pendleton, Calif. U.S. military spokesman, Lieut. Lawton King, said the discharge was recommended by Col. Patrick O'Donogue, the current commander of Abney's original military unit, earlier this week after reviewing the facts of Abney's desertion in 1968 and interviewing Abney. The deal was then sealed Wednesday night by Maj.-Gen. Michael Lehnert, Marine commander in the U.S. western region. "What that means is that today, if he hasn't done so already, [Abney] has to finalize the discharge paperwork and then he'll be on his way," King said in an interview from Camp Pendleton Thursday. King said Abney, a Canadian citizen since 1977, spent Wednesday night in a military barracks following his release from formal detention. He was transferred to San Diego Thursday afternoon, and was expected to be flown at military expense to Washington state, where he was to be reunited with his wife, Adrienne, three adult children and a seven-year-old grandson. Earlier this week Abney's daughter Jessica told The Vancouver Sun the family was hopeful the U.S. military would free her father in time for him to attend his brother's funeral on Saturday. Gerry Abney, 55, died of cancer while his older brother was incarcerated in California. King wouldn't comment on the exact nature of the discharge, citing privacy reasons. The military had the option of pursuing a court martial against Abney, who enlisted with the Marines in 1968 but deserted after five months in basic training. That option could have landed Abney in jail for up to five years. After reviewing his file, however, O'Donogue opted for a discharge, King said. "I want to emphasize that this decision was made by the Marine Corps because we feel that it is in the best interest of justice, the Marine Corps and Mr. Abney that he be [discharged] administratively," King said. Neither Abney, nor his family in Kingsgate, was available to comment at press time Thursday. Abney was arrested March 9 on a 1968 federal warrant. Born in Kentucky but raised in Canada, Abney had passed through the border countless times since he deserted in 1968 in opposition to the war in Vietnam, Jessica Abney said in an interview last week. Last Thursday, however, he was detained by U.S. border guards after his name showed up on a federal database during a routine records check. In 1977 -- the same year Abney became a Canadian citizen -- then-U.S. president Jimmy Carter signed a pardon for Vietnam draft dodgers and deserters, but the program required deserters to apply for the special discharge review program. Abney didn't apply so the arrest warrant remained active. According to King, Abney is one of 125 men for whom arrest warrants were issued by U.S. Marines during the Vietnam era, from 1961 and 1979. Posted by: ryuge 2006-03-17 |
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