Military panel punishes Iraq vet for protesting in uniform
A military panel has recommended that an Iraq war veteran should lose his honorable discharge status because he wore his uniform during an anti-war protest.
Marine Cpl. Adam Kokesh is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and had taken part in protests in Washington and New York. The military began investigating Kokesh after his photograph appeared in the Washington Post. Kokesh has received support from the nation’s largest combat veterans group – the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Marine Cpl. Adam Kokesh, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, argued that he did nothing wrong by participating in the March protest in Washington, D.C., because he removed his name tag and military emblems from his uniform, making it clear he was not representing the military.
On Friday the organization urged the military to “exercise a little common sense” and call off its investigation. Gary Kurpius, national commander of the VFW said
“Trying to hush up and punish fellow Americans for exercising the same Democratic right we’re trying to instill in Iraq is not what we’re all about.”
Adam Kokesh spoke last month in uniform during a Memorial Day protest in New York.
* Marine Cpl. Adam Kokesh:
“When we say bring our brothers and sisters still in Iraq home now, who are we talking to? The electorate said it last November, but we have yet to see and results. We are the weapons of this democracy ruled by the people, but out democracy has failed us. It is time for the people to end this war.”
After a daylong hearing Monday, a three-person Marine board recommended he receive a general discharge under honorable conditions, one step below an honorable discharge. It would let Kokesh keep all of his benefits.
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