C.O. in U.S.

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday April 09, 2003 02:50 by Ciaron - DCW

During the last Gulf War over 400 members of the U.S. military were courtmartialledfor refusing to kill and received between 6 months and 6 years for their nonviolent resistance.

Contact:
Attorney Stephen Collier 415 771 9850
Aimee Allison (cell) 925 963 2065
Ted Lewis (cell) 415-846-2061

Portrait in Courage: Conscientious Objector to Gulf War Turns Self In
at San Jose Reserve Unit

Marine Corps Reservist Stephen Funk will publicly declare his
conscientious objection to war, before turning himself over to the U.S.
military authorities on Tuesday morning, April 1, 2003 at 9 am. He will
explain his decision to the media at the 1st Beach Terminal Operations,
4th Landing Support Battalion, located at 901 E. Mission Street in San
Jose. Funk, who grew up in Seattle, is one of an unknown number of
reservists and active duty service members to declare themselves
Conscientious Objectors in current Iraqi conflict and any other war.

"I refuse to kill," says the twenty-year-old reservist. "It is scary
to confront the military, because the military teaches you to submit to
orders even when you object. I may not be a hero, but I know that it
takes courage to disobey. I know that it demands courage to say "no"
in the face of coercion."

Funk enlisted in the Marine Corps in February 2002 and easily made it
through six months of Marine boot camp where he specialized in
assisting helicopters land. But as he trained in the use of weapons and
how to kill with a bayonet, Funk became increasingly uneasy about what
his new career really meant. According to his attorney Stephen Collier,
Funk went on Unauthorized Absence (UA) early this year, but has always
intended to turn himself in.

This reservist's refusal to kill and join in the militaristic fervor of
a wartime nation is part of a long and honorable tradition in the
United States. There have always been American conscientious objectors,
no matter what the nature of the conflict. There were an estimated
3,500 in World War I, 37,000 in World War II, 4,300 in the Korean War,
over 200,000 in the Vietnam War and 111 in Gulf War I according to
Center on Conscience and War in Washington D.C..

"I cannot in good conscience take part in war. I object to war because
I believe that it is impossible to achieve peace through violence,"
says Funk, who added, "I hope that other soldiers will find the courage
to follow their beliefs. I hope other soldiers will listen to the voice
of their conscience and come, in their own ways, to question the
"logic" of war. I hope other soldiers will come to see that they are
more than cogs in the machinery of war, but free individuals with the
unconquerable power of free will."

It seems that the reservist may not be alone in his concern. Calls to
the G.I. Rights Hotline, a group that counsels soldiers about their
legal rights, have spiked recently, doubling since 2002. 3,582 calls
were recorded in January and 3,118 in February 2003. There were 1,585
calls in September of 2002.

The number for the G.I. Rights Hotline is (800) 394-9544.