Soldier who missed duty is arrested (caring for mother)

[Newsjock]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/171348_soldier30.html

Soldier who missed duty is arrested
His ailing mother says Fort Lewis engineer was caring for her

By MIKE BARBER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The mother of a 19-year-old Fort Lewis soldier who was arrested in Salinas, Calif., after being away from the Army for at least four months said he was not avoiding war in Iraq but was caring for her because she has cancer.

A Fort Lewis spokeswoman said last night that Omar Garcia-Sanchez, who serves with the 73rd Engineer Company, was returned to the base from California yesterday after being "away without leave," or AWOL.

... The soldier's mother, Esperanza Garcia, 41, told the newspaper The Salinas Californian that her son's unit was Iraq-bound but that that was not the reason he stayed away.

Garcia said her son originally had a 10-day leave to visit her but stayed more than four months to help because she has breast cancer and a brain tumor. She said her son was not shirking his military commitment and intended to return and do his duty.

... Salinas police said the Army asked them to arrest Garcia-Sanchez. Garcia said her son was home with her when officers knocked on her door about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday and took him to the Monterey County Jail. Military police from the Presidio of Monterey took custody and returned him to Fort Lewis.

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[truthisfreedom]

1. another perfect day for bushco. all good news, all the time! oh, roo-ove!

junior needs you!

[Failure]

2. yeah...and...uh...where was bush in 1972? n/t

[Mistress Quickly]

3. aren't there hardship regs?

Couldn't he talk to his CO?

I see in the story where his mother sent in letters, but shouldn't he had followed up on his situation, talked to his CO? A note from Mom isn't good enough for the Army.

[mouse7]

9. Brain and breast cancer not good enough, but boil on ass is?

There's always the "I had other priorities" hardship.

[TX-RAT]

4. No sympathy for him

He could have made arrangements with his superiors to spend more time with his mother, the military looks a hard ship cases.

[mouse7]

8. You mean like Rush Limbaugh's "boil on the ass" hardship case?

How about Dick Cheney's "I had other priorities" hardship case?

[TX-RAT]

12. Whats that got to do with this?

[mouse7]

16. White kids get off for boil, Hispanic kid busted helping mother w/ cancer

It's got everything to do with it.

[TX-RAT]

21. Did he even apply for a hardship discharge?

NO
He just didn't show up for 4 months.

[Occulus]

23. I would submit

that comforting another human being who has a terminal disease trumps filing paperwork every day.

But that's because I have a heart.

[mouse7]

24. Knew I was going to bust you for not even reading the damn article.

"...Garcia's 16-year-old sister, Mayra Rosales, last night said from the family's mobile home that her mother had sent letters to the Army asking that her son be allowed to stay because her condition has worsened in recent months.

Rosales said her mother thought that the Army's responses to her letters meant that her son had permission to remain and was surprised when police arrived...."

So, the Army had apparently goven permission, and still arrested and cuffed him.

Please... continue to rant on and look stupid.

[TX-RAT]

26. Rant on and look stupid?

I believe he was the one who enlisted , not her. It was his responsibility to communicate, not hers. Had he handled this properly he would be at her side instead of locked up.

[mouse7]

30. Wrong. It's the family member's responsibilty.

The familiy member must communicate with the Red Cross and service branch in hardship cases. The service member is almost completely out of the loop processing hardship leave and hardship discharges. The Red Cross determines with medical personnel whether the need is genuine.

[leanings]

27. again...umm.

Nowhere in the article does it say the kid applied for a hardship. It says his Mom wrote letters to the Army. The Army doesn't deal with soldier's mothers. Soldiers are not children.

[TX-RAT]

28. I suspect theres more to this story, than is being told.

[mouse7]

33. No, there's just more to it than you bothered to read

The soldier got a hardship leave to help his mom. His mother followed up on the paperwork and the Army corresponded with the mother saying the continued leave was justified.

The Army in such cases has the ability to just not count hardship days as a part of the service committment. He still has to fulfill his committment, they just move the discharge date back.

[TX-RAT]

39. You must be reading a different story

No where is hardship leave mentioned in the story posted.

[mouse7]

43. The Army is to blame if the situation wasn't handled by Red Cross

Every soldier who has ever done CQ duty (including me when I was waiting for my knee to heal, and then during outprocessing) has the Red Cross number in the CQ book right in front of them. Everybody that's ever had CQ duty knows that all calls about family medical emergencies are immediately refered to the Red Cross, then the commander of the unit damn well should have known it.

If anyone in the Army corresponded with the woman about ANY and ALL family medical situations, the Army fucked up.

[mouse7]

31. Again... umm.. you don't know what the hell you're talking about

The family member is responsible for filing paperwork with the Red Cross and Army for cases of hardship, both leave and discharges.

[TX-RAT]

37. So all he has to do is not show up for 4 months?

Sounds like standard military SOP---yea right

[mouse7]

40. If he had hardship leave, exactly.

The Red Cross decides to give permission in hardship cases like hardship leave. The Army must abide by Red Cross decision in such cases. If it's a long term hardship leave, they just add the time he was gone to the end of the soldier's enlistment, extending the discharge date appropriately.

[TX-RAT]

42. He didn't have a hardship leave .

He didn't contact the Red Cross
He didn't contact his commander.
He didn't show up until they came and got him.

[mouse7]

44. The soldier DOES NOT contact the Red Cross. The family member does.

The family member contacts the Red Cross. The Army refers all calls regarding family medical emergencies to the Red Cross. The Red Cross handles all correspondence regarding family medical emergencies. If the Army corresponded with this woman about any subject regarding family medical emergencies without immediate referal to the Red Cross, then the Army fucked up.

[leanings]

25. Umm.

Rush slimed past the draftboard. This kid was a serving soldier who'd taken an oath of enlistment. The two aren't even close. And white kids that went AWOL for four months still get busted.

(Insert standard * AWOL jab here)

[mouse7]

36. The mother met her requirements for corresponding.

The family member corresponded as is required in hardship cases. The soldier is out of the loop in these cases. It's the service brance, the family member, the Red Cross, and medical personnel that decide.

[RummyTheDummy]

41. That;'s a bunch of horse shit

I have a friend whose brother attends the Naval Academy. When his MOTHER died, it took an act of congress to get him out of Annapolis and back home. She died before all the "paperwork" was completed. The Red Cross finally got involved and got him home. The military talks a big game about 'hardship cases' but there is no uniform policy.

Bottom line, this soldier was needed for BushCo's Iraqi meat grinder. They wouldn't have cared one iota about his family situation.

[mouse7]

48. Right. The Red Cross handled it.

There's no excuse for commanders not to know the Red Cross handles all military family emergencies. The Red Cross makes the decisions for hardship leaves and discharges, not the military. The military can't approve a hardship leave or discharge. Only the Red Cross can.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

51. What dreamworld are you living in? During the five years I was in the...

...military, I don't recall a single instance of the military looking kindly at hardship cases.

[Tim4319]

5. Priorities!

This just proves that the "Powers That Be", don't care nothing about human life. Whether you are Iraqi or American, your life means nothing!

[Muddleoftheroad]

6. No it means this soldier was an idiot

And decided his way of doing things was more important than the military he agreed to obey.

[mouse7]

10. If soldier was an "idiot", we need more "idiots" in this country.

You make this so easy, muddle.

The woman's cancer has gone throughout here whole body. She needed help. Her son came to her rescue. That soldier is a REAL hero.

[Muddleoftheroad]

29. No, he is no hero

The right thing to do was notify his superiors. That is the obligation he accepted when he joined the military. They make exceptions for hardship cases and it was his obligation to try for that.

[SiliconMethod]

32. Do you know what this guy's circumstances were?

This should be looked at as a special case. Protocol should be followed but in extreme cases that can't be followed....

[Muddleoftheroad]

34. The military can't operate that way

Nor should it. Everyone has special cases in their lives. Yes, this one is especially bad. It is a hardship case. It should have been taken immediately to his CO. He is NOT empowered to act on his own in this matter. When soldiers do that, there is chaos. His act, although well intentioned, is dessertion.

[mouse7]

46. You don't know what the fuck you are talking about.

The commander DOES NOT handle family medical emergencies. the Red Cross does. The commander is supposed to know that. If the Army corresponded with this woman, and gave her any reason to believe the Army makes these decisions, the Army fucked up. The only thing that the Army should have told this woman was the number for either the Post Red Cross office or her local Red Cross so the Red Cross could process the hardship paperwork.

[rocktivity]

13. Maybe he had no other way of doing things

Maybe there wasn't anyone who could care for his mother--we don't have much of social safety net these days. And what IS going to happen to his mother now? Where is she--in a home or homeless?

:headbang:
rockanation

[TX-RAT]

15. Good points

All of these should have been discussed with his CO before he decided to just not show up.

[mouse7]

17. Nope...ethical imperative for soldier to help Mom

The soldier had an ethical imperative to help his Mom. The officer in charge had the same ethical imperative to investigate if the soldier was honest, and if he was, immediately dismiss charges and get whatever needed to be processed to ensure the soldier stayed where he was needed.

[TX-RAT]

19. Do you have any prior military service?

[mouse7]

20. "Kind of" prior service and disabled

I blew out a knee on a road march in basic. Foot went into a tank rut on dirt road. Blew out ACL. Honorable medical discharge.

Disability is unrelated to service. I was a victim of random violence almost a decade later.

[TX-RAT]

22. Sorry to hear that.

[Muddleoftheroad]

35. No, ethical imperitive to ask permission

He gave over that authority to the military when he VOLUNTEERED.

[mouse7]

38. Another subject you rant about with no knowledge

The family member, the Red Cross, and the service branch are the people who correspond in hardship cases. The soldier is out of the loop. The Red Cross makes the decision regarding harship leaves and discharges. The service branch only processes the Red Cross decision. The Red Cross has authority in these cases. Any soldier learns this in the first couple of weeks of basic training.

IF the Army corresponded with the mother without IMMEDIATE referal to the Red Cross, it's the Army who's at fault here.

[Canuckistanian]

7. He should have said

That he was working on a Republican's campaign team. He would have been forgiven.

[Barkley]

11. Ouch!

That's a good response and its so true...
You've got me rolling in laughter out here in California!

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Ok he is caring for his mother, hell

he shoudl get a hardship discharge, but Bush was missing for over a year in '72 and NOBODY arrested him for desertion.

I forgot the soldier is poor, Bush is extremely well connected

[ninkasi]

49. They wouldn't go looking

for a rich, connected guy like Bush. Ironic, isn't it, that one person can go AWOL, suffer no consequensces, and get appointed President; while another, a teen-ager, is hauled off for caring for his cancer stricken mother.

This country has some screwed up values, doesn't it?

[oneighty]

18. Perhaps

his mother lay alone in her own waste crying out in pain "Oh God please help me." and God did not come and the only one to hear is a nineteen year old son full of compassion and love for his mother.

Who are we to judge? Sigh.

180

[Ilsa]

45. He's 19. He f*#ked up.

Maybe he isn't very good with paperwork. Yeah, he should have taken care of business first. But I do feel bad for them. My goodness, the mother has a brain tumor now.

[mouse7]

47. No. The Army fucked up if it didn't refer to Red Cross.

The Army does not process family emergency papaerwork. The Red Cross does. The soldier does not fill out paperwork. The family memeber does.

[hunter]

50. This is one nineteen year old kid...

...Nineteen year old kids get in this kind of trouble all of the time. He blew it, but so did the Army, in a much bigger way.

The Army could have avoided all this mess with just a few phone calls a few days after the kid didn't report back, and saved a lot of people a lot of trouble and grief.

Shit, these fuck ups on the small scale only reflect the fuckups on the larger scale -- such as the very biggest one, which was invading Iraq.

Gee, if George W. Bush had had his ass handed to him on a plate in the National Guard, maybe he wouldn't be getting his ass handed to him on a plate in Iraq.


GRRRRRRRRRR!

[Ilsa]

53. Thanks. That's more along my line of thinking. n/t

[Liberal Gramma]

52. Too bad his father wasn't vice-president

because then he could just have said he was working on somebody's campaign in another state and no one would ever have questioned his absence.