Soldier refuses Iraq duty, gets discharge
By John Catalinotto
There are times when a vast movement of millions of people
that can change history begins with the actions of a few
individuals or even of only one person. Those trying to stop
the murderous war that the Bush administration is poised to
launch on Iraq can hope that Pvt. Wilfredo Torres is one of the
individuals whose action opens the flood gates.
Pvt. Torres has decided to refuse service in the Gulf. Tod
Ensign's Citizen Soldier group supported and defended his
stand.
Pvt. Torres took part in a meeting of veterans in New York
the day before Veterans Day, Nov. 10. He spoke at a news
conference in Washington the next day. There he explained that
he had joined the Army to "serve my country and because I was
promised college aid and skill training as a cook."
After describing various problems he had with his drill
instructors, he said he had left the Army a year before. He
then announced that out of disagreement with U.S. foreign
policy, he would refuse to be sent to the Gulf. He also noted
that "from what I've been hearing lately, our government has
done a poor job of caring for Gulf and Vietnam vets who are
sick because they served."
WW asked Tod Ensign, the director of Citizen Soldier, what
happened to Pvt. Torres. It seems he returned to the military.
He was at Ft. Knox with about 60 other GIs who were long-term
AWOLs. While Pvt. Torres was there, the base received a call
from Rolling Stone newspaper asking to interview the GI.
The base command apparently thought it would be best to
remove the problem quickly, and the next morning issued Pvt.
Torres an "other than honorable" discharge.
For people in the anti-war movement, Pvt. Torres has taken a
more than honorable step, a courageous step. His history is
common to many now in the armed forces, and if this latest
chapter is spread far and wide throughout the U.S. military
before the invasion of Iraq begins, his response may become a
common one.
Reprinted from the Dec. 5, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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under a Creative
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