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[Milldog1776]

So why the Hell did this dickhead enlist in the first place?


SAN JOSE
Judge orders discharge of an anti-war Marine
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

A federal judge has ordered the Marines to discharge a San Jose lance corporal as a "conscientious objector" who had an aversion to killing and participating in war.

Robert Zabala, 23, must be released from the Marines Corps Reserves by mid-April, U.S. District Judge James Ware said in a 21-page ruling Thursday.

"We're very pleased with it," Zabala's attorney, Stephen Collier, said Monday. "I think it's a good decision and that it makes clear to the armed services that they can't deny conscientious-objector discharges from the military."

Zabala, a UC Santa Cruz student, began boot camp in June 2003. During a three-month period that summer, one of Zabala's superiors repeatedly gave speeches about "blowing s -- up" or "kicking some f- a-," which caused him to wonder "how someone could be so motivated to kill," he wrote in his court petition in April 2006.

In August 2003, a fellow recruit committed suicide on the shooting range, and the same superior used profanities to belittle him, Zabala wrote, saying he was "abhorred by the blood lust (the superior) seemed to possess."

An instructor showed recruits a "motivational clip" showing Iraqi corpses, explosions, gunfights and rockets set to the song "Bodies," by the heavy-metal band Drowning Pool. The lyrics included "Let the bodies hit the floor," and Zabala said he cried -- his only time while in boot camp -- while other recruits nodded their heads in time with the beat and smiled.

"The sanctity of life that formed the moral center of petitioner's life was being challenged," Collier wrote in a court filing.

After Zabala returned to UC Santa Cruz, he had a conversation with a fellow Marine in May 2004. "I began to think about the thousands of people who died in the past year in war, who didn't die due to just one soldier or suicide bomber, but largely by an organization," Zabala recounted. "This organization trains to kill human life."

Zabala, who followed some Buddhist-related traditions but was not a practicing Buddhist, applied in June 2004 for a discharge on the basis of conscientious-objector status, but was denied one, court records show.

Zabala's grandfather served in Vietnam, his parents and uncles were in the Navy, one cousin is in the Air Force and another cousin is the Marines, according to Collier.

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.

[loyalonehk]

So why the Hell did this dickhead enlist in the first place?

For the College money...     F*%K EM !!!  Dont want em, dont need em!  He'd just be a liability anyway...

He should have joined the Coast Guard or Green Peace

[JimH]

A Marine "conscientious objector?
I could see it perhaps when the draft was runnimg and sopme where given a choice to go into the Corps,but today there is no excuse,there are LOADS of Movies and Shows from Jack Web and the DI through to today with the Military channel that pull no punches as to what the Marines do in training and what they do for a living.

Instead of Discharging him,they should have changed his job/MOS to some thing Blood Lust like,maybe a corpsman?
 
He is claiming some ill effects of the DI not letting the men get down over a Buddy offing himself on the Range,lol,Man the Corps has eased up and they are still offing themselves what a joke,this guy is a waste,better he is out than stinking up the Corps with this Baby mentality.

[cgonzales]

we had a pu22y like that in my unit in the CAV just before desert shield. said he wanted to be in a non-deployable unit without a fierarm. so the C.O. sent his ass to levenworth. he to was in it for the college money.

[Kentbob]

we had a pu22y like that in my unit in the CAV just before desert shield. said he wanted to be in a non-deployable unit without a fierarm. so the C.O. sent his ass to levenworth. he to was in it for the college money.

Awesome.  That's for sure, the prison never deploys.  I like it.

Kent

[loyalonehk]

Instead of Discharging him,they should have changed his job/MOS to some thing Blood Lust like,maybe a corpsman?
 

Whoa, hold up!  Fist off, A Marine cant change his MOS to a Corpsman.  Corpsman is a Navy NEC, we dont have MOS's.  But I am going to assume you knew that and might just be taking a dig at me...  LOL  Good on ya!  
Second, he would have to go Blue side Navy.  SGRUNTS (squid grunts) would eat him alive.  Hmmm, should I mention the Marine that passed out in the Combat Life Savers class I was teaching a couple weeks ago.  I like to show pictures of actual casualties from my deployment in 2005.   I turned around when the class got my attention because the Marine fainted and ended up out cold on the floor of the classroom.  Goodtimes...  

I would have given him (the objector) a "Pogue" job and pigeon holed him in some closet, so no one could see him sucking his thumb.  What a waste...

[/img]

This is a picture taken in our STP of one of our pilots that took a round to the face from below while flying the MedEvac chopper in while we were taking mass casualties.  This was the pilot and he landed the bird, waited until Pt's were off then wlaked into the STP.  NO BS - I was there and this is my picture.  He lived.

 

[JimH]

loyalonehk,
Sir I was not taking a dig at you.

I have Great Admiration for Navy Corpsman,(squids,lol) willing to put their lives on the line for the Marines ,both parties take rounds and get shot and killed,both serve and are Heroes.

If this Marine no longer wished to serve in Our Great Corps he could have asked for transfer or been involuntarily transfered to the Navy side ,as a Lance Corporal he would have been able to attend Navy schooling to be a Corpsman or any other navy school with out loss of rank,he could have done his time and who knows what he may have become and what it may have taught him,releasing him was an easy way out but such is todays world.

Many Conscientious Objectors became medics (Some CO's went to prison) and since we are dealing with the Corp,I said Corpsman,simple as that.(wasn't looking to take a dig,nor looking to get technical)
One famous CO was Desmond Doss,a CO who was a medic in WWII and Winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Though one does not wish to serve as a shooter,one may make their mark in other ways that serve the agreement they made with the Government and help those on their side.

Again I do not know the Deal of this Marine who willingly enters the Marines and then decides that they are Blood Lusters,the Marines have never hidden the Job they are asked to perform and with every Marine being a possible rifleman one would expect all to know what the ultimate job and mission of the USMC is.

Great picture,Great story of that pilot,Great Job on those who worked on him.

Thanks for your service and care for Marines,again it was no attack towards you.

[loyalonehk]

loyalonehk,
Sir I was not taking a dig at you.

I have Great Admiration for Navy Corpsman,(squids,lol) willing to put their lives on the line for the Marines ,both parties take rounds and get shot and killed,both serve and are Heroes.

If this Marine no longer wished to serve in Our Great Corps he could have asked for transfer or been involuntarily transfered to the Navy side ,as a Lance Corporal he would have been able to attend Navy schooling to be a Corpsman or any other navy school with out loss of rank,he could have done his time and who knows what he may have become and what it may have taught him,releasing him was an easy way out but such is todays world.

Many Conscientious Objectors became medics (Some CO's went to prison) and since we are dealing with the Corp,I said Corpsman,simple as that.(wasn't looking to take a dig,nor looking to get technical)
One famous CO was Desmond Doss,a CO who was a medic in WWII and Winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Though one does not wish to serve as a shooter,one may make their mark in other ways that serve the agreement they made with the Government and help those on their side.

Again I do not know the Deal of this Marine who willingly enters the Marines and then decides that they are Blood Lusters,the Marines have never hidden the Job they are asked to perform and with every Marine being a possible rifleman one would expect all to know what the ultimate job and mission of the USMC is.

Great picture,Great story of that pilot,Great Job on those who worked on him.

Thanks for your service and care for Marines,again it was no attack towards you.

No worries Brother,

These talk forums are so impersonable - if you could have seen me, you would have seen the smile on my face and heard the laughter when I read your post and I saw you mention corpsmen...   It takes all kinds to keep the big green/blue (whateva) machine rolling.  Your absolutely right - this cheese ball did take the easy way out.  I hope he does some good with his life but a little piece of me hopes he flunks out of college and gets his ass kicked severly in the real world.  (Then maybe he will realize that we dont have to love what we do, but sometimes you just gotta do it!)

(IMO)  There is a Hero inside all of us.  Without the support of those here at home takin care of business and watching my back in CONUS while I was deployed, I dont think I would have been as focused in the sandbox.  To me the Heros are our Fathers/Mothers/Brothers and Sisters that are there when we come home to let us know it's all RIGHT.

Have a great day.  My twisted side loves it when I get picked on (even thought you were not picking on me or the Corps) kinda wish you were.  I get picked on by people that love me all the time...  Thats how I know they like me!   LOL 

Im just another window lickin freak at heart!

Peace

[Kentbob]

Let's not forget either, that Sgt. Alvin C. York was a conscientious objector, originally, until his unit commander talked him out of it.

Kent

[grlaun]

I think he should be required to stand in the middle of a Iraqi Vets and explain himself, then see how he gets along.  Joining my glorious Corps and complaining about the sancitity of human life!  Yes, the Corps defaces the enemy to make him easier to kill - better for the mind and spirit.  We want to preserve our sanctity of life.  He should have his a** kicked!

[whitewolf]

Hello from Kuwait: I read all the posts about this CO-Cant add to much but I thought you former jarheads would  get a  kick  out   of this story-Its 1958-I am in Platoon 188-my 3 D.I.s are korean vets-
At various times they hold THUMP CALL-The platoon lines up outside the D.I. Hatch and each of us  has  to make a left face line up in the center of the hatch and receive THUMP call-if the D.I.s today could  be allowed to  do  this  possibly the CO  would  have  changed  his  mind-You never  know???
Jump ahead to 1968-Vietnam-I thanked my  lucky stars I  had  some hell of gung ho D.Is--semper fi-i  got to go do  some  more patroling in the city. (Its safe here)-Ari the whitewolf

[Kentbob]

You know, it occurrs to me, that this guy is going on about the sanctity of human life, and I won't disagree with him on that point.  But who better than someone who values human life to be a soldier or Marine?  Psychotic killers do not make good troops.  The best troops are the ones who value life, and will be trusted not to lose their head and massacre innocents. 

No, this guy was just a wuss who didn't realize what he was getting into, and got scared.  The sanctity of human life crap is bull.


Kent

[whitewolf]

Kentbob-I agree-it  was   too much  for  him-they  should  have put  him  out in Boot-but  we  know that unless something trmatic  occurs they  try  to push  some  through the cycle-Wonder  if  they  still have the recycle  platoon that boots are  sent to to  see what  the real story is and go  for discharge if  need  be??Richard (ari the whitewolf in Kuwait)