You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Home Front: WoT
Vietnam war deserter charged
2006-01-05
Scare quotes around 'deserter' removed, as are the silly blabberings of the director of an anti-war group at the end of the article.
In a possible message to would-be deserters in Iraq, the US marines have charged a pensioner for not going to war in Vietnam 40 years ago. Former marine private Jerry Texiero was found selling boats and classic cars in Florida under a false name. He was identified as a result of a fraud conviction in 1998, which he said was the result of wrongdoing by a former partner.

Seven years later marine investigators from an "AWOL apprehension unit" compared his fingerprints with their records of deserters. He was first arrested by Florida police in August and handed over to the military on December 21.

Mr Texiero, 65, is being held in Camp Lejeune, a marine base in North Carolina. No date has been set for preliminary hearings. If he is convicted of desertion in a court martial, he could serve three years in a military jail. His lawyers were due to discuss the case with him yesterday.
I suspect they'll cut some sort of deal, but Mr. Texiero is going to prison for a while, despite the sputtering of all the anti-war groups.
Posted by:Steve White

#13  Draft dodgers were accepted by Canada and later given amnesty by Jimmy Carter. Deserters were not welcomed (though most probably got in) and did not get amnesty.
Posted by: Darrell   2006-01-05 12:41  

#12  carl - he's a deserter. He's going to get his just desserts.
Posted by: 2b   2006-01-05 12:35  

#11  No idea about the accuracy of this Wikipedia article, but at least it gives some idea of the numbers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft_dodger

(section "Draft dodging and the Vietnam War")
Posted by: Carl in N.H.   2006-01-05 12:26  

#10  I suspect the Marines won't 'honor' Texiero with a general court martial. What will likely happen is he'll face a special court martial (with one judge), end up with a Bad Conduct Discharge plus whatever fines, rank-reduction and confinement (whatever has already been served) is awarded.

The danger in that is that he could try for an upgrade-in-discharge later. May not sound like much, but a few years, a new administration, a general discharge, and a medical condition puts this waste-of-air into the VA system.
Posted by: Pappy   2006-01-05 11:44  

#9  agree with TW. I didn't notice that either. Pity for him.

a used-car salesman who was using a fake name and got busted for fraud (sure, pal, it was all your business partner's fault, right...) to be someone who turned his life around and was a decent guy.

So true, DB. Like any deserter, he's just a cheat and loser. Leopards don't grow stripes.
Posted by: 2b   2006-01-05 11:23  

#8  Tod Ensign, the legal director of Citizen Soldier, an advocacy group representing conscientious objectors, wrote to Camp Lejeune's commanding officer, Brigadier General Robert Dickerson, asking: "Why are scarce marine resources being squandered on the prosecution of a senior citizen whose only 'crime' is refusing to fight a war that today is universally discredited?"

I had a good chuckle at that one. I'm sure the first thing on Tod's mind was his concern about "scarce marine resources being squandered".
Posted by: tu3031   2006-01-05 11:22  

#7   I thought Carter forgave them and they were able to return to the US. Draft evaders that is, not deserters.

I'm sure you're right, rjschwarz -- I wasn't yet paying close attention to the outside world at the time. ;-) Did many of the runaways return home thereafter, or are they still up North, pretending to be relevant?
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-01-05 11:15  

#6  Of course you are unlikely to be shived or raped in a military stockade. So there are some big perks over a maximum security civilian prison.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2006-01-05 10:59  

#5  Trailing Wife, I thought Carter forgave them and they were able to return to the US. Draft evaders that is, not deserters.

The fact that this guy isn't in Canada says a lot about his intelligence. I wouldn't want to be put into a military prison run by Marines. No thank you. If he's smart he'll cut a deal that gets him full time for the fraud and zero time for the desertion to ensure a minimum security civilian cell.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2006-01-05 10:57  

#4  They may have gotten off free, Besoeker, but they do have to live in Canada.
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-01-05 09:51  

#3  Besoeker, I don't consider some used-car salesman who was using a fake name and got busted for fraud (sure, pal, it was all your business partner's fault, right...) to be someone who turned his life around and was a decent guy.

He's more like a stupid thug who slipped up and got busted.

Enjoy breaking rocks, Jerry.
Posted by: Desert Blondie   2006-01-05 09:44  

#2  He's evidently a successful business person and US taxpayer now, fine him $10,000 and just forget it. At least he's paying taxes here, not in bloody Canada where they all got off free!

Posted by: Besoeker   2006-01-05 09:34  

#1  The Marines don't need to send any message to their troops in Iraq, reenlistment is up. Todays troops are not going AWOL and are far different than the draftees, before I get hate mail - most all but a few Marines in the 60's were warriors and honorable. This is a message to the losers in the boomer generation that even at 65 we will find your cowards and send them to jail.
Posted by: 49 pan   2006-01-05 07:47  

00:00