Conscientious objector Robert Weiss released from military prison

Conscientious objector Robert Weiss was released Sunday from the U.S. Military Detention Facility Europe in Mannheim, Germany.

Weiss was released roughly one month early due to good behavior and was transported directly to the Frankfurt Airport.

“Everything is exciting to me right now,” said Weiss while waiting for his flight. “I could be sitting in a traffic jam and I’d be thinking, ‘This is awesome, we’re not moving!’

“Somebody could swerve into my lane and cut me off, and it would be incredible,” he said, before immediately adding, “I am aware this euphoria will probably only last a week or so.”

Full of patriotism but lacking in prospects, Weiss joined the Army as a 17-year-old in high school. The abstract motions of killing in basic training did little to disturb him, but when an acquaintance was stabbed in the heart at a party and died on the way to the hospital, he was forced to confront what death actually met head on.

Seeking answers, he returned to a Bible he abandoned soon after joining the Army. Combined with an improbable discovery of Mennonite Theologian John Howard Yoder’s The Politics of Jesus – among other works – Weiss found he simply could not reconcile Jesus’ teachings with the military’s.

As his C.O. application meandered up his chain of command, Weiss was deployed to Iraq and idled the dusty hours away on noncombatant radio observation duty, one 24-hour shift at a time. The application process had long exceeded the maximum 90 days it should last, so he did not request leave, trusting instead he would be discharged at any moment.

“Finally, the day came for me to turn in my weapon and go home on leave,” he said. “About 20 minutes before I left Camp Prosperity, my First Sergeant approached me and gave me the paperwork for my [denied] application.”

He flew to the U.S. on vacation, but as his leave expired and his Dec. 22, 2007, return flight to Iraq drew near, his C.O. beliefs compelled him to miss the flight and avoid the combat patrol duties he would be assigned upon landing. He ultimately turned himself in at Fort Knox the following February and was transported back to his unit in Germany.

Weiss was sentenced to seven months confinement during a court-martial May 13, 2008, at Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany. The sentence also included a Bad Conduct Discharge, reduction to the lowest enlisted rank, and forfeiture of $898 per month for seven months.

An Honorable Discharge is required to receive GI Bill college tuition assistance, meaning the desertion conviction – a felony – disqualifies Weiss from receiving military financial aid. He nevertheless hopes to pursue a college education, preferably at one of the Mennonite institutions spread across the United States.

The Military Counseling Network is a project of the German Mennonite Peace Committee and is supported by Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Mission Network. MCN assists roughly 100 American military service members a year seek discharges and solutions in situations including conscientious objection, proper medical or psychological evaluations, family hardships, and discrimination.

Taken from http://mc-network.blogspot.com/2008/11/conscientious-objector-robert-we…