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James Circello
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By Sarah Olson, AlterNet. November 20, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/68192/
Courage to Resist update: James Circello was released from the Army last week after turning himself in at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
James Circello sat on the edge of his bed staring at the floral pattern on a generic hotel comforter, contemplating what life would be like in prison. It was early August, and his parents had given him a one-way bus ticket to Lawton, Okla., and told him he was welcome home once he got his life together. U.S. Army Sergeant Circello had been AWOL since April, and with just a few dollars left in his wallet and a dying cell phone battery, he saw two options: turn himself in to military authorities at Ft. Sill, or get the next bus out of town and join hundreds of anti-war veterans convening in St. Louis, Mo.
James was a patriot, and after Sept. 11, joined the Army to defend his country. By 2002 James was in Italy, assigned to the 173rd Airborne Infantry Brigade. The 173rd deployed to Iraq between March 2003 and 2004. Facing redeployment last April, this time to Afghanistan, James asked himself if he could tolerate replicating the disaster he'd been part of in Iraq. When he answered no, a friend drove him to the airport, he flew to the United States and has been AWOL ever since. |
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 James Circello, St. Louis 8/19/07. Photo: Jeff Paterson In Solidarity with the People of the Middle East
By James Circello, Courage to Resist and Iraq Veterans Against the War. October 27, 2007. Speech given at New Orleans' Washington Square Park.
I am standing here today on behalf of the men, women and children of the Middle East, who have fallen victim to this Administration and it's complete lack of compassion and total disregard for both U.S. and International laws of war.
I stand with them so that the entire world can take notice, and so that they will know that they are not forgotten. We in New Orleans, and all across the Gulf Coast region, are aware of just what this Administration is capable of doing. Or in some cases what they are capable of not going. |
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James Circello, St. Louis 8/19/07. Photo: Jeff Paterson By James Circello, Courage to Resist and Iraq Vets Against the War. October 25, 2007
My name is James Circello. I am sure some of you already know who I am now that wiretaps and spying on American citizens has been approved. Or maybe you've heard of me when you saw my name on a comprehensive list of Anti-War activists. Or maybe you just know of me because I was a Sergeant in the United States Army and served as an Airborne Infantryman for six years, went to Iraq in March 2003 and served until March 2004, remained in the Army a little longer before refusing to take part in the Occupation of the Middle East and went AWOL. |
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By James Circello Jr. and Courage to Resist. October 2, 2007
Sergeant James Circello is an Army Airborne Infantryman who went AWOL in April 2007 because of his opposition to U.S. military intervention in the Middle East.
James enlisted in the Army in 2001 following the attack on the World Trade Center. He spent a year in the Kirkuk area of northern Iraq with the 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade from March 2003 to March 2004. |
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