AWOL soldier surrenders after 19 months

ANGELA K. BROWN
(AP)

KILLEEN, Texas -- A year and a half after going AWOL before his second deployment to Iraq, a soldier surrendered at Fort Hood on Thursday with a dozen war protesters by his side.

Army Spc. Mark Wilkerson said he was tired of running and sought help from Cindy Sheehan's protest camp in nearby Crawford, which helps educate soldiers about their rights as war resisters.

"I just could not in good conscience go back to a war I felt was wrong," Wilkerson, 22, of Colorado Springs, Colo., said at Sheehan's camp before the 40-mile trip to the post near Killeen where he had been stationed.
...

Wilkerson went to Iraq at the start of the March 2003 invasion and returned to the U.S. a year later. He said his views of the war changed, so he applied for conscientious objector status a few months before finding out his unit would return to Iraq.

His request was denied and he was told his appeal would not be considered until his unit came back. He said he then fled during a two-week leave before the January 2005 deployment.

full article

"His request was denied and he was told his appeal would not be considered until his unit came back."

Until his unit came back... What friggin' sense does this make? Applying for conscientious objector status means absolutely nothing then, right?

Anonymous