I was one of the first soldiers to go public with their resistance to the Iraq War. Iraq Veterans Against the War formed in July 2004 which was the same month I was told I'd be going to Iraq. I became an IVAW member some months later.
I dropped out of school in 1982. Just before turning 17 a recruiter convinced the me to join the military. I left my home in New Orleans and spent 7 years on and off active duty between 1982 to 1994, which included two overseas tours. One in Korea and one in Germany. In 1993, while serving in the Louisiana Army National Guard I got the opportunity to train in San Antonio, TX at Fort Sam Houston. First as a combat medic and then as a licensed practical nurse. After my discharge in December of 1994 I decided to stay in Texas and work in the health care industry.
In September of 1995 I moved to Austin, TX. In August of 2001 I enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard for three years and the very next month 911 happened. I was a medic assigned to the 249th Main Support Battalion in Austin, TX. I got stop-loss orders in July of 2004 right before his very last drill. I was told that I was to be involuntarily extended and reassigned to the 56th Brigade Combat Team as part of the 36th Infantry Division and deploy with this unit to Iraq.
According to the army's stop loss policy they can make null and void any contractual obligation you have with the military and extends your service in the military against your will. Some refer to it as a back door draft. An activist from Austin Against War got the Austin Chronicle to print an article titled Jail, Exile, or Iraqabout my situation as an anti-war activist being ordered to war. And the very next day KTBC-TV, our local Fox News affiliate, requested an interview. The week I was supposed to report for active duty I announced that I was having a goodbye party. Most of the guest didn't know it but instead of reporting for duty I'd plan to run away. On the day I was to report to Fort Hood, TX some friends of mine in Veterans For Peace hid me at their house and bought me a bus ticket the next day. I went to Tennessee to stay with a friend.
I had decided not to leave the country because I didn't want to live indefinitely in exile. My plan was to hide out until my military unit dropped me from it's roster. Then I was going to turn my self over to the USADIP(United States Army Deserter Information Point) at Fort Knox. Since deserters are no longer assigned to a unit I hoped to just get kicked out or do jail time. Either would be better than going to Iraq. But to my surprise my unit didn't drop me from the rolls so I was never entered into the [Wanted Person File] of the FBI National Crime Information Center. So I went to New York and spent the next year traveling around doing anti-war activism.
I gave interviews to newspapers, magazines, and TV and radio stations. I stayed on the East Coast until Hurricane Katrina forced me back down south to look for my missing family in New Orleans. After about two years of desertion I was kicked out of the military. I think my decision to go public with my struggle helped to pressure the military to release me in August 2006. While I was on the run in Tennessee someone made a video that was sent to Amy Goodman and she invited me to be on her [Democracy Now!] TV show. So on March 15, 2005, just before the protest of the third year of the war, I was on a show called Three U.S. Soldiers Refusing to Fight Speak Out Against the Iraq War. She had me on again about six months later for a show called Missing in New Orleans: Voices of Those Seeking Loved Ones. The video that was made by MonkeyRay Productions while I was on the run in Tennessee is now on KLRU's Docubloggers which is a video blog on our local PBS station's website in Austin. I hope to be an example for others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Carlwebb
