[color=dark-blue]Marine reservist says he can't kill[/color] By Brandon Bailey Mercury News Posted on Sun, Mar. 30, 2003 After joining the Marines and going through boot camp last year, Lance Cpl. Stephen Funk realized he was an expert marksman who didn't want to kill. And when his San Jose-based Marine reserve company received orders to deploy for possible war last month, Funk decided he wasn't going to go. The soft-spoken 20-year-old, who has been AWOL since mid-February, plans to turn himself in and apply for conscientious objector status Tuesday -- one of the first members of the U.S. armed forces to seek a discharge on those grounds since the war with Iraq began. <img src=http://www.bayarea.com/images/bayarea/mercurynews/5533/thumb_30615438052.jpg> ``I don't want people to be making the same mistakes I did,'' said Funk, who is working with Bay Area anti-war activists to publicize his decision. ``If everyone was a conscientious objector, there wouldn't be any war.'' Many people think of conscientious objection as a relic from the days of a mandatory draft. But the law allows those who voluntarily join the armed forces to seek a discharge if they have developed a deeply held moral or ethical objection to war. Military officials say the procedure is little used: Only 28 people were declared conscientious objectors last year. ``We don't really expect to see a lot of applications,'' said Capt. Shawn Turner, a Marine Corps spokesman at the Pentagon who added that he believes most Marines have only become more dedicated to their jobs since Sept. 11, 2001. But pacifist groups say they've had an increase in requests for information in recent months, as the U.S. began mobilizing for war with Iraq. ``Our call volume has doubled,'' said Teresa Panepinto of the Oakland-based Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, which runs a program called the GI Rights Hotline. Applications for conscientious discharges always increase during wartime. There were 111 granted during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Thorough process The procedures are rigorous: An applicant must submit a detailed letter explaining how his or her feelings have changed since joining the armed forces. Then there are interviews with a military chaplain, a psychiatrist and an investigating officer, with a final decision made by top military commanders. ``They don't make it easy,'' said Aimee Allison, a former Army combat medic who received a conscientious objector discharge in 1992. Allison, who lives in Oakland, is advising Funk on his application. Because he refused to report for duty with the rest of his Marine unit, Funk said, he is prepared to serve time in a military prison before being discharged -- although another adviser, San Francisco public interest lawyer Stephen Collier, said they are hoping Funk will get some kind of desk duty instead. When his activation orders came in mid-February, Funk said he had only recently learned about the conscientious objector process, and he needed more time to complete his application. Other members of the San Jose-based 1st Beach & Terminal Operations Company were sent to San Diego and were scheduled to go overseas from there. But Funk didn't go. ``I didn't expect to be deployed so soon,'' he said. Funk, who was raised Catholic but doesn't practice regularly, said his mother raised him and his two sisters in Seattle, with help from his immigrant Filipino grandparents. Although he was never violent as a youth, he said, his opposition to war crystallized after he enlisted last year. At the time he joined, Funk had dropped out of college and was working at an East Bay pet store. He didn't know many people here, he said. ``I didn't have a lot of direction or a sense of connection.'' When a recruiter approached him -- ``I'm not sure how he got my number in the first place'' -- Funk said he thought the military might be like an adult version of the Boy Scouts. ``I thought I'd be learning new stuff, getting exercise, learning leadership and teamwork.'' Turning point But he grew uncomfortable after he entered boot camp and began combat training. A turning point came when he got a high score in marksmanship, but an instructor told him he wouldn't do as well in real combat. ``I heard that, and I knew he was right,'' Funk said. ``I said: `You're right. I think killing is wrong.' '' But when he spoke with a chaplain and other officers, he said, they never told him about the conscientious objector law, which he eventually found on the Internet. Funk said he is going public in part to spread the word for others in the military who may be regretting their decision to enlist. Funk said he knows some people will accuse him of cowardice or of making a political statement against U.S. policy toward Iraq. The law requires conscientious objectors to sincerely oppose all wars, not just those that are unpopular. While he does object to current U.S. policy, Funk said, he would not support any war. ``I think that, deep down, everybody knows that killing is wrong,'' he said. Of the current war, he said, ``I just hope other people examine their feelings about it, and not just politically, because war is a real moral issue.''
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[color=bark blue]Marine Asking for Conscientious Objector Discharge is Gay[/color] A Marine reservist seeking a conscientious objector discharge has revealed that he's gay. Lance Corporal Stephen Funk turned himself into the Marines Tuesday in San Jose, telling the media that he had been surprised by the violent nature of the military. But Funk wrote in his discharge letter that he's upset by the anti-gay sentiment he found in the Marines. His lawyer says Funk will likely be discharged for violating the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
Well it's his right to do this, but.... Why join the Marines if you won't kill? He joined a freaking army not the Boy Scouts. And why is he still parading around in his uniform with a parade behind him (in the picture) if he wants out and doesn't want to make a political statement?
This is a little stupid. Of course the military is violent...dumba$$. If you didn't want to kill anybody and be in the military, join the Air Force and be a mechanic or something, but the marines???
I know this may ruffle some feathers but he is shocked by the anti-gay sentiment he found in the Marines and surprised by the violent nature of the military? The military is not a freaking tea party. They dont teach you to field strip an M-16 and hang curtains. I dont care if people are gay or not, it doesnt really bother me one way or the other but you have to be realistic about what is going to take place in the military. If you think that you are going to join and your fellow shipmates (sorry I was in the Navy) are going to be happy happy about you acting gay, you have another thing coming. The personalities of people in the military are generally strong willed, aggressive, and overly male. Anyway, I just think that guy should sack up and do what he said he would do. You made the oath, stick to it. It sickened me to see people join just to get college paid for or whatever other benefits you want and then stick your tail between your legs and runaway when you have to do what your country asks of you. Fighting.
Im with you on this. Im going to get bashed for saying this, but I think there are a fair number of people that join the military for the GI Bill and nothing else. They dont want to really serve their country or are prepared to fight in a war if need be. Its like you said: Why even join the military if you arent prepared to fight for your country?
I don't think it's a bad thing to say that a vast majority of people who join the armed forces, especially before 9/11, do so for financial reasons.
This guy's got me so incensed I can't see straight. Rocketman, the financial incentives are exactly that: INCENTIVES. This guy should spend time in Leavenworth, without a doubt. Before you even take the oath to protect and serve the Constitution, in your paperwork it asks plain as day if you are or have ever been a conscientious objector. You are asked whether or not you are willing to kill or be killed if ordered to do so for your country. This guy is either a p***y or a liar, and lying on your paperwork is an offense punishable by prison time. When I was getting out of the Army for I saw all kinds of people exactly like him; people that wanted to go home to mommy and made up all kinds of sh*t to get out. I heard "I'm suicidal," "I'm gay," "I'm crazy," the list goes on and on what these people will do to get out. WHAT THE HELL DID THEY THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN THEY JOINED THE ARMED FORCES???? One guy said to me, "Why are they so mean to us?" as he sobbed while the rest of us did push ups. Christ. Stay at home. People like me who want nothing more than to be over there but were TOLD to go home should each get to kick this guy right in the godd*mn teeth.
Oh no, I'm not defending the guy in any possible way...sorry you got that impression. I was just defending the assumption that many go into the armed forces for financial reasons. Of course they assume the responsibilities of being a soldier, marine, etc., when they join up-the possibility of killing another human being is definitely on that list.
I think he needs to hone his killer instincts a bit more: "If your killer instincts are not clean and strong you will hesitate at the moment of truth. You will not kill. You will become dead Marines. And then you will be in a world of ****. Because Marines are not allowed to die without permission! Do you maggots understand?"
I'm not up for killin' either. That's why I didn't join the armed forces. That's also why I have been thanking everybody I see in uniform lately for doing something I'm not willing to do; risk their very lives so that I can chill at home with my family and not worry that we are going to get bombed or invaded.
Oh, I didn't think you were defending him. Don't think I was jumping on you....I literally have trouble seeing straight when I think about this guy.
I'm not trying to get off the subject of this waste of tax-payer money, but I've got to say that Full Metal Jacket is easily one of my favorite movies. Your heart may belong to Jesus, but your ass belongs to ME! --Master Gunnery Sergeant R. Lee Ermey
"Your the kind of guy who would F&$# a guy in the a$$ and not give him the courtesy of a reach around !" Classic film. DD
He has a right to "Wuss Out" if he wants to... I know there are some people that do it for financial reasons, but its not like they get paid a lot of $$$...That's BS... I agree, why join if your not going to fight...It doesn't matter that he's gay, its the point of him wearing his uniform along side the hippies as a symbol...
I say that it's ok to get out, but pay me all the money of mine you spent. Pay me all the years of housing I gave you, pay me for the education I gave you, and pay for any other service you got free for being in the military. This is not a free ride. He got these benefits for a reason.
If he doesn't want to kill anybody, perhaps the Marines could solve the problem by re-tasking him as designated enemy bait. They could have him walk the streets of Basra naked, and when he gets shot, the marines could fix their position to take them out. That way he woun't be his suddently discovered "principals" without violating the commitment he made.
No, you don't have the right to wuss out. You can't just go and essentially say, "I'm a big chicken and I want to go home." You sign up with a legally binding contract for x-number of years. Yes, there are ways to get out, but you do not have the right to wuss out.
