Marine, 65, arrested for not going to Vietnam

[babylonsister]

Marine, 65, arrested for not going to Vietnam
Florida man being held at Camp Lejeune charged with desertion

Wednesday, January 4, 2006; Posted: 9:44 a.m. EST (14:44 GMT)


CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina (AP) -- A Marine was being held at Camp Lejeune on a charge of desertion for not going to war in Vietnam 40 years ago, a military spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Pvt. Jerry Texiero, 65, was arrested in August in Tarpon Springs, Florida, and brought to Camp Lejeune on December 14, authorities said.

Texiero was charged December 21 with desertion, but no date had been set for preliminary hearings in military court, base spokeswoman Lt. Col Annita Best said.

If he's court-martialed and found guilty of desertion, he could be sentenced to up to three years in the brig at Camp Lejeune and get a dishonorable discharge.

more...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/04/Oldman.Marine.ap/index.html

[PatGund]

1. Ack!

Was just about to hit the send button when I saw your post. (chuckle)

Gee, maybe they'll just send him to Iraq to serve out the rest of his time there. Can't have those youngin's thinking they can just walk away from things, after all......

[havocmom]

2. So, Vietnam era deserters can still be prosecuted?

Anybody wanna join me in forming up a posse? ;) I've never been to D.C. but I'd kinda like to go there.

[0007]

28. I take it there's no status of limitations, eh?

Argh!


What a fucking waste!

[Radio_Lady]

37. My guess is you mean "STATUTE" of limitations...

Just sayin'....

[FloridaPat]

3. So why aren't they arresting * for the same thing?

[wicket]

9. My first thought!

:grr:

[SunDrop23]

17. Same here.

[enlightenment]

4. Love this line --

"They have the burden of proof that he was not lawfully serving his time at the duty station," Ensign said in a telephone interview. "We're not going to concede it."

Sounds like they are going to use shrub's defense -- "I was there! PROVE I wasn't."

Doesn't the military have anything better to do?

[fed-up]

5. "Marines found him while matching fingerprints against names of deserters"

From the story:

Texiero sold boats and classic cars in Florida and used the alias Gerome J. Conti. He was convicted in 1998 of fraud, and the Marines found him while matching fingerprints against names of deserters.

I can't believe the Marines have so much spare time on their hands they are persuing deserters from 40 years ago!!!

Then again if the National Guard was as vigilant...

[denverbill]

10. It ain't cause they've got spare time.

My bet is they are dredging around for recruits. I'm sure they are going to offer anyone in the right age range a choice: return to duty and serve out your term or go to Leavenworth.

[FloridaPat]

13. Yes. That's rediculous.

[superconnected]

26. The deserters are likely liberal.

It's the beginning of the legal arrests. It's the start of how they're going to cleanse the place.

The Bush admin has been doing it all along but under the name of "terrorist suspect".

[Selteri]

6. I thought Jimmy Carter pardoned them all.

THis just seems interesting an d questionable.

[salin]

7. I would guess that Carter's pardon was for draft dodgers,

not those already enlisted whose 'dodging' would be desertion.

The comparison to bush's disappearance from duty is quite interesting, though.

[Syncronaut Seven]

14. Carter granted amnesty to draft dodgers only

Deserters were never let off the hook. On the upside, this guy probably never imposed on the VA for services.

[FSogol]

8. That was my thought also. n/t

[MountainLaurel]

24. It only applied to those who fled the U.S.

As was pointed out last week in a thread about a man who had lived under an assumed name in the U.S. for the past 30 years.

[Selteri]

36. MY bad. NT

[Corgigal]

11. They might offer

him serving his time now instead of in the brig. Desperate times come with desperate measures.
Not the first 60 year old they threw into the fire.

[henslee]

12. Unfortunately for Texiero, he might be made an example of -- to

send a message to anyone today who might have the same idea.

[WhiteTara]

15. hmm, can * be arrested for desertion?

Wow, if the law were equal, * would be in prison for the rest of this life and the next!

[olddad56]

21. forget VietnNam, GW wouldn't even go to Alabama.

[HuffleClaw]

16. the first name that comes to mind is GW

he has yet to prove he fulfilled HIS duties.

[jobycom]

18. So now we know who the Republicans will run in 2008. nt

[olddad56]

19. so if he is 65 and didn't go to VietNam 40 years ago, he was only 15.

That is a little young.

[LostinVA]

22. He was 25 -- 65-40=25

[DemoTex]

20. Chicken-shit from the Chicken-hawks.

There is a reason that they are trotting out this case right now. It is to serve as a lesson for GIs bound for Iraq-nam. "DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO!" screams the AWOL Bu$h.


Eltee Bu$h, who deserted a sinecure during Vietnam.

[saigon68]

29. Spot on Capt Mac

This whole dog and pony show is for today's troops

TO SCARE THE CRAP OUT OF THEM

[agincourt]

23. Richard M Nixon,

when the subject of the KIAs in Viet Nam was brought up, said "screw 'em". This is another example of the foolishness of the US legal system. If we're not executing Pulitzer Prize nominees, we're chasing after deserters in a war that the politicians gave up on.

[Lisa]

25. I thought the punishment for people who didn't show up for NG duty

.... was to be busted down to private, then shipped out to the front with the rest of the grunts? If they are going after this guy, why not *?

[kineneb]

27. Yea, but 3 years in brig still means you come out alive

as opposed to going off to fight in a "boutique" war for some assbite, Vietnam or Iraq or ?

[struggle4progress]

30. Marine charged with Vietnam desertion faces new charge

... The 65-year-old Texiero is charged with desertion, and he's also charged with larceny in the theft of $5,500 of unspecified goods from a military exchange in Barstow, California ... http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4318182

[struggle4progress]

31. Lawyers: 65-year-Old Charged With Desertion Should Be Released

POSTED: 5:33 pm EST January 4, 2006
UPDATED: 5:33 pm EST January 4, 2006

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- Military prosecutors have charged a 65-year-old Florida man with deserting the Marine Corps during the Vietnam war solely to serve as an example to troops in Iraq, his civilian defense lawyers charged Wednesday ...

Texiero's lawyers argued during a news conference Wednesday that the larceny accusation was a way to both discredit Texiero and intimidate troops serving in Iraq. They added that documents from the 1960s do not provide details of the alleged theft, but request an FBI investigation into the matter ...

Texiero could have received amnesty after Vietnam had he known to ask for it, said his lawyers, who defended his decision to leave the ranks as a right bestowed by military rules.

"By going to Vietnam he would be forced to take part in acts that were war crimes," Ensign said. "He had a duty not to go. Do we really want to fight the Vietnam war again in court?" ...

http://www.wral.com/apncnews/5846351/detail.html

[fknobbit]

33. Ouch!

Lawyers Outta defend the idiot for mental deficiency. Guy could have turned himself in at any time and the most the could charge him with was A.W.O.L...... statutes of limitation would have covered larceny.

[Realityhack]

32. They don't have anything BETTER to do with their time?!?!

People amaze me.

[TroubleMan]

34. This is actually pretty common.

People who are UA (as we called it in the Marines) or AWOL, are often dragged in many, many years after they left the service. They usually get time served for the time they spent awaiting trial (30-90 days usually), and a Bad Conduct Discharge or a Dishonorable Discharge.

This one has a longer time span from when he left than any I've ever seen, but I've seen many that were over 10 years. They don't make any example out of them usually. They just lock them up long enough to do the paperwork and plea bargain, and then let them go.

This guy will probably also get time served, which will be a month or two before he gets to trial.

[Joey Liberal]

35. The Marines are crazy

A 65 year old Private? Just give him his discharge and let him go. The Marines should have better things to do with our taxpayers money. Bush was a deserter too, but I don't see him being brought in.