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05/30/2010 5:33:00 AM
He's a coward and a crook. When he was getting free college he was all for it, but when it came time to fulfill his end of his contract he claimed a politically convenient stance. And I'm not armchair pundit, I spent time in Afghanistan in the US Marine Corps as an Infantryman (Rifleman to be exact).
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Jess 07/26/2007 10:10:00 PM
For videos on Camilo's new book, "The Road From Ar Ramadi," go to uVu.channel2.org KEYWORD: Camilo.
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Muriel M. 06/26/2007 11:23:00 AM
I am a Nicaraguan-American, and all I can said is that Mr. Mejia knew pretty much what he was getting into. My brother-in law Sargent Montenegro from Fayeteville, NC served 13 months in Iraq and we are very proud of him. He served his country despite all the danger he faced while in duty. I believe Mr. Mejia should be deported back to Nicaragua, for being a dishonest coward, and I hope that Nicaragua will offer him the same opportunities he has here. I believe he was looking for an easy way to pay for his college and that's why he joined the forces. If he knew that enlisting in the sevice meant going to war he should have stay as a civilian, and do what everybody does: work and study hard. You are a disgrace to call yourself a Nicaraguan, you are an embarrasment to our country. People in Nicaragua are known to fight for any adversities at any cost, I guess you don't even know you birth coutry history. I will finish this posting by writing this old Nicaragua saying: "Ponete los huevos en el hombro", translated to English: "Carry your balls on top of your shoulders."
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C26 06/09/2007 2:40:00 AM
Oh, C16R, you are a good man and we need more Soldiers like you.
C26
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C26 06/09/2007 2:38:00 AM
I didn�t know Camilo as well as some of the other writers, but I am familiar with the contract he signed. Look, this guy pretty much joined the army to leave a job flopping burgers, took advantage of the educational benefits that were offered to him and not is going to make a good amount of money on the book we wrote (that was written for him seeings how he�s a dumass).
Camilo, your mother is a commie whore and your dad is a commie pimp. And I don�t know how you were ever accepted into the army. If you ask me, you should be rotting in jail in Gitmo along with your brothers. Up yours and I hope you choke on a big black�
C26
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7 05/18/2007 11:15:00 AM
This story is just full of misrepresentation and a lack of research, "I don't remember squeezing the trigger", �Ten days after his sentencing, the 126 men from Charlie Company came home�, �Yes, there was sleep deprivation used�, �Col. Hector Mirabile's order that the platoon squads follow the same procedure for three consecutive nights� etc. etc. Mejia has claimed he was reprimanded for celebrating the unit�s escape from an ambush, �I told them what happened they asked me why we had fled rather than staying and fighting. I told them that it was SOP to try and drive out of an ambush. They agreed, but added that we had just sent the wrong message to our attackers because our mission is not to run from the enemy-but to kill them� (Regaining my humanity, February 17, 2005). ARTEP 7-8-DRILL React to Ambush states that the unit moves out of the kill zone, forces the enemy to withdraw, or destroys the ambush. This is what he was reminded of not reprimanded for yet he wants you to believe he was punished, another misrepresentation. How do you spend eight years as an infantryman and not know your job is to close with and destroy the enemy? He knew he was going to war and had several opportunities to declare himself a conscientious objector during his deployment. He could have even declared himself while on leave instead of going into hiding, but he didn�t. In the end it is all nothing more than an attempt to justify his cowardice act of deserting his men and his unit.
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Gonzo C Co 1/124 inf 05/14/2007 4:36:00 AM
I also served with SSG Mejia, Camilo. I knew Mejia for many years and never thought he would do anything like this. When i signed up for the National Guard i really never expected to see combat, and i'm pretty sure nobody did either, but things changed in jan 2003. Alot of guys didnt deploy with us due to many reasons, health,being an only parent, getting wrong tooth pulled out, etc. We all went to Ft. Stewart for traing, but on March 4 we got on a plane and flew to jordan, then on april 29 flew into baghdad. i will admit being in a combat zone was scary, but i was trained to do this. Nobody puts a gun to your head to sign the contract, you sign on your own free will. I was one of the lucky guys to come home on leave, and the thought of going AWOL never crossed my mind, it was hard flying back into combat after being in Miami for two weeks, but i felt like my family was over there, wile i was home a dear friend of mine, a brother actually, Combat 16 Romeo, was injured, i heard the news and it hurt me alot. So if i, and many others, who go home on leave and come back, can do it then why the hell cant he do it. He left a squad over there, waiting for his return, then has the nerve to say that we were commiting war crimes. I hope you read this Mejia, you really let down a bunch of guys, i see you have the CIB on your uniform, you dont deserve that award, thats for men who fought and risked their lives in a combat zone, not for flying home and staying like a pussy. Wash the sand out of your clit, suck it up and drive on Hooah.
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same as before 05/11/2007 8:14:00 PM
And also all the inconsistent quotes in this article is the one in question and his truth. Like the previous before me said the reporter should have looked into and researched this before he put it out.
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1st Platoon acting platoon sgt 05/11/2007 8:02:00 PM
First of all, yes he is a coward because he left his men while he was not in harms way. He contradicts himself in here. I was next to him but from another platoon and would talk to him all the time. He saw the same thing I saw and for him to go AWOL on his men is just cowardly of himself. Yes we killed people but they were going to kill us if we did not. He should have never gone if he was a concisions objector. I was injured over there and I did not see any crimes committed over there. He is just using that as an excuses for himself. There was a lot of people that was in the same boat as him with their residence card and they did not use that to back down. No matter what he killed to and that makes him a killer to if we want to put it that way. I did not see no abuse or deprived sleep on prisoners and they were terrorists that train their kids to grow up like them to kill. So again yes he is a coward and not a hero. People like me and my wife we support our troops and my wife supported me. His mother wanted me to die if my wife did not support her but I am here to tell you this. So they both should be sent back if they do not like it here being from a family that has been surrounded always by revolution unfurl they are doing good here and they have the guts to speak bad about this contry. And again he is and will be always a coward.
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Combat 37 05/11/2007 7:25:00 PM
There are several facts that are not exactly correct with this article, and I feel they need to be straightened out.
ANY Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) who deserts the Soldiers put under his guidance, mentoring and leadership while combat operations are being conducted is a COWARD; there is no splicing, mincing or softening this fact.
During our time at the mobilization site, when Mejia was selected as a Squad Leader, he had the option to declare himself a conscientious objector. We had one Soldier do just that and he was processed for separation. Mejia accepted his charge knowing we were going to war.
Mejia states that on 14 January, 2003 he was at the armory cleaning weapons �there was a lot of chatter that our battalion was being activated�. The fact is, we knew about the activation several days before and we were already completing the necessary paperwork, inventories, deployment rosters, etc in order to deploy. We were given a couple of days to take care of personal business and left for the mobilization site on 16 January, 2003. It was fast, but we had a very good idea a few of weeks in advance due to a sister battalion already having been activated. So there were no surprises.
The article states �Late one night, six months before the Abu Ghraib scandal broke ��� Fact: The scandal broke to public attention in April, 2004. 6 months before would have been November 2003, Mejia�s paperwork for being AWOL was being processed during that month, so he was not even in theater.
�The battalion earned 24 Purple Hearts�. Fact: The Battalion received in excess of 54 Purple Heart Medals. Charlie Company received 25 of those.
�On March 15, 2004, on the first anniversary of the Iraq War�..� The Iraq war kicked off on 19 March, 2003.
�Ten days after his sentencing, the 126 men from Charlie Company came home�. This statement gives the impression that Mejia had the personal courage to turn himself in while the Company was still deployed. The fact is, Charlie Company was De-mobilized and sent home on 05 March, 2004. We only came home with 99 Soldier out of 129 that deployed. Various issues such as wounds received in combat, medical problems, family problems and one deserter contributed to these numbers.
These are some of the inconsistencies I have found with this article. This puts into serious doubt the CREDIBILITY and INTEGRITY of both Mejia and the Author. Reporters are supposed to research facts, interview sources and maintain an objective view while at the same time telling the story. Quotes are supposed to be accurate and within context, not misconstrued or misused. This gives the reader an opportunity to form his or her own opinion and not that of the writer or the subject person.
Mejia was tried and convicted by military courts-martial (this is a trial not a tribunal) for desertion. His one year sentence by the military court means that Mejia is now a convicted felon. His current immigration/ citizenship status should be in question.
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Nicarao 05/10/2007 11:31:00 PM
Camilo is no hero but a "mama's boy". He was born a pampered child of two well-known communists. His father detests the U.S., his mother played a Mata-Hari role to discredit a Catholic priest in Nicaragua. I wonder what they are doing living in this country, taking advantage of our freedoms to discredit our government pretending to be against the war. I don't recall him nor his parents speaking against the atrocities committed by the Sandinistas while Ortega held power in Nicaragua.
When he was AWOL, he called a Nicaraguan newspaper giving another version to justify his cowardice, saying he "was being persecuted by the Army". At first I thought he was a high-ranking officer as the newspaper didn't immediately disclose his identity. During a follow-up interview he admitted being somewhere in NY in the company of a young lady. So, Camilo, make up your mind -are you a conscientious objector or were you simply enjoying time off while your fellow soldiers remained in Iraq confronting the war? Now you are displaying a "hollier than thou" attitude. You are nothing but a coward and a hypocrite!
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robert dollar 05/10/2007 6:11:00 AM
New Times misses the point when it asks if Camilo Mejia is a "...coward or a hero?" Was it cowardly of Camilo to test Army weapons of death and mayhem for three years then spend a tour in Iraq using them on strangers before staying in bed instead of returning to his unit? Anyone who waddles through basic without noting the weapon they hold or imagining the exit wound its tumbling bullet will make coming out the other side of an Iraqi mommy's head is not a conscientious objector. Those of us who resisted and led others to object inside the military upon such realizations simply complied with our "moral duty." Those who choose to support the compulsory and random murder of warfare do so in accord with their own "morals" or lack thereof. Lets welcome all resistors to pre-empitve warfare cowardly or heroic. To do otherwise is as redundant as asking why the New Times prints "GET YOUR WAR ON" in the Miami edition but doesn't in the Broward edition -- Hero or Coward?
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d 05/09/2007 8:06:00 PM
Well, he's in a very tough situation that only he can answer to. I applaud his effort at the same time I understand his retreating. However; there are fellow soldiers who will never forgive him nor understand. His shoes only fit his feet and he should not be judged for his actions. But that only applies if we lived in a perfect world. So, young man you have a plethora of challenges ahead of you in life and I wish you well.
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Jose M. Valdes 05/09/2007 2:31:00 AM
I am ex US Army SSG that just finished serving six years in the Army and also served in combat with the 82nd Airborne Division. I do not agree with the wars that are going in Afghanistan and also Iraq but as NCO what Mr. Mejia is did is wrong to his unit and his soldiers. I can under stand how he felt about the war and the horrible things he saw and experienced, but he joined the military knowing that if the time came to go to war you must go and with going to war that includes killing. I think he is coward for abandoning his unit and especially his soldiers. Being a soldier is not an easy job physically and especially mentally that is what separates us form the rest of the civilians.
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Combat 16 Romeo 05/06/2007 7:25:00 AM
I served with Camilo Mejia and he had no problem being a soldier and training for war when he was collecting educational benefits. He was asked three times before leaving overseas on wether or not he objects to serving overseas. He was told to sign after he bubbled in yes or no and he did three times sign and bubble no. There are about 124 men who served with him, and I can tell you that 123, know the real truth and not the journalistic propaganda that is being portrayed in this article. What credability does a convicted felon and deserter of the United States has in matters of war and what is moral and imoral. Try interviewing other soldiers in his unite who live, work, and rasie their children in South Florida. These men are the real soldiers who were first in the sand and last to be asked,"So How was it really like". For any further information, look at the 24 purple hearts and 124 CIB's, of which Camilo Mejia was not part of or witnessed becasue he was busy defying orders and living without fear of death at home, with the lives of 19, 20, 21, 34, 45, year old father, brothers, sons, uncles. Camilo Mejia, you sir use americas freedom of speech to erase your cowardness and the truth will surface eventually of how you and others use the freedoms given for your personal agenda and gain.
