By Steve Yoczk. June 5, 2009

I am a former military servicemember who went AWOL rather than deploy to Iraq. This is the story of why I refused to fight.

I joined the Coast Guard Reserve at age 17 in May 2002 and served uneventfully until June 2005. I decided to switch to the Regular Army for the handful of obvious and universal reasons: money, lack of education, desire for good working skill. More than that, though, I wanted to be a part of something I felt was just and right, with the spirit of the Second World War and the beginning months of the Vietnam conflict in my head. I believed the Army to be an institution that stressed “think before you shoot”. I was told I would be training for communications with the 25 Foxtrot program, or Network Switching Systems Operator/Maintainer.

Also: Audio interview by Courage to Resist. 23:19 min. June 5, 2009

By Courage to Resist. 20:12 min. May 14, 2009

After five months in the Army, Dustin Che Stevens sat down during Airborne graduation in order to refuse graduation. He was told to go home and wait for his discharge. Seven years later, he was arrested for desertion. "I started reading [literature on conscientious objection] and started thinking for myself. I knew that in my heart and in my mind that I could not kill anyone... I went back and told them that." Today Dustin awaits a court martial, unless he "volunteers" to deploy to Afghanistan.

Help support Dustin! Donate to his defense fund at www.couragetoresist.org/dustin

By Courage to Resist. 17:00 min. May 10, 2009

Middle East scholar Dr. Stephen Zunes talks about how U.S. imperial hubris helped create, and continues to deepen and intensify the deadly chaos in Afghanistan. "The war not only was raised some moral and legal questions, but it has not resolved the situation… it has made matters worse. The problem is that there has been a gross oversight on the military side of the equation. The really important issues… have been overlooked."

Courage to Resist. 17:50 min. February 14, 2009

When military police officer Suzanne Swift was in Iraq, she was sexually coerced by a superior, then harassed by him after she ended the unwanted relationship. Back in the States, she went AWOL rather than return to Iraq when her unit was ordered back. Swift was recently discharged from the Army and tells the story about what she had to endure.

By Military Counseling Network, Connection e.V., and Courage to Resist. December 3, 2008

FRANKFURT, Germany - U.S. Army Specialist Andre' Shepherd applied for asylum in Germany Nov. 26, becoming the first Iraq War veteran to pursue refugee status in Europe.

After attending college and failing to find meaningful employment, Shepherd enlisted in the military early in 2004. The promises of financial security and international adventure easily trumped working at a fast food chain. He became an Apache airframe mechanic, hoping to someday qualify up to the role of helicopter pilot.

Audio interview by Courage to Resist. 23:30 min. December 8, 2008

By Courage to Resist. October 27, 2008

Marine Benjamin "Benji" Lewis served two tours in Iraq and was honorably discharged in 2007. Recently, he received notification that he was a candidate to be recalled to active duty. Last week at a Winter Soldier event in Portland, Oregon, Lewis publicly announced his intention to refuse reactivation from the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR). Ten days before that event, Lewis spoke with Courage to Resist.

Part one. 18:20 min. (above). Part two. 12:01 min. (below)

By Courage to Resist. October 8, 2008

When the Army recalled Iraq vet Brandon Neely from his Inactive Ready Reserve status to active duty, Bradon did not answer the call. Today he is president of the Houston chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Brandon declares, “I looked at my dad and told him right there I’m not going back.... I never thought in a million years that the government and the President would send troops into harms way for nothing.... I got on the Internet and came across the Courage to Resist website.”

Part one. 16:14 min. (above). Part two. 10:44 min. (below)

By Courage to Resist. September 29, 2008

Benjamin “Hart” Viges joined to defend America in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Hart quickly found himself as a mortar man attached with the 82nd Airborne. Later he participated in the initial invasion of Iraq. “After we killed enough people (with artillery), we moved into the town… I saw dogs fighting, donkeys fighting, birds fighting in the sky. It seemed like the violence from humans fighting spread out to the rest of life that lived there....I came head on with the question of how can I be a Christian and live the teaching of Jesus, and be a soldier at the same time?”

Part one. 19:06 min. (above). Part two. 8:12 min. (below)

By Courage to Resist. 10:33 min. August 18, 2008

Skyler James, an out lesbian, joined the Army in 2006 at her parents strong urging. After a year of anti-homosexual harassment, and before she was to be deployed, Skylar went AWOL and lived since in Canada. She spoke to Courage to Resist from her home in Ontario.

“Someone ran up behind me, screamed ‘dyke!’ and punched me in the back of the head… I was the only female in the motor pool… They would claim me as one of the guys, but after they found out I was gay they completely turned their back on me…. I was receiving hate letters on my door, threatening to injure me and kill me.”

By Courage to Resist. 15:44 min. August 18, 2008

Tim Richard enlisted in the Iowa National Guard for six years in 1999. Just before his enlistment was up, he was notified that his new release date would be 2031! In November 2005, when he was training for deployment to Iraq, Richard went AWOL and made his way to Canada where he was able to become a citizen, since his father was a citizen of that country.

“It was the National Guard; I thought we would be doing disaster relief and that sort of thing…. After 9/11 I wanted to go get whoever did this to America…. But after the Iraq War dragged on for a bit I realized that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, just a lot of poor people and a lot of dead bodies.”

September 25, 2008 UPDATE. Army PCF Jose Crespo won a protracted battle for a hardship discharge from the Army this week, avoiding court martial for refusing to return to Iraq. We're looking forward to posting a follow up interview with Jose soon.

By Courage to Resist, 8:30 min. Update June 13, 2008

At 5:00 am this morning, Army PCF Jose Crespo at Fort Carson, Colorado did not return to Iraq as scheduled. Jose told his sergeant that he was not "refusing" to deploy, but that he "could not" do so due to the circumstances in his family. "Well if you won't get on [the bus], then you're refusing." Jose replied, "Whatever you say." He is was placed on restriction and prepared to face court martial.

By Courage to Resist. 14:21 min. July 29, 2008

During basic training, Air Force recruit Michael Thurman began to have misgivings about the war in Iraq -- and all war. By the time he was assigned to his first duty station, he realized that he could not continue working for the war machine. He applied for conscientious objector status, and after working with Courage to Resist, he was discharged from the Air Force eight months later.