AWOL soldier cites lack of training for possible assignment in Iraq

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MINNEAPOLIS - The day before she was to fly to Kuwait for military assignment in Iraq, Specialist Melanie McPherson walked away from Fort Bliss, Texas, and hitchhiked home to Minnesota.

"Please fly without me," said the note she left behind in her barracks locker. "I love my country. I was hoping to use my God-given talent, not just be a bullet catcher."

In September, a little more than 40 days later, McPherson, 28, turned herself in and was charged with desertion. She said her act could land her in military prison for up to eight years.

McPherson went AWOL in July, she said, because she believed she would probably be assigned as a military policewoman in Iraq, rather than as a photojournalist, the job for which the Army trained her.

SLO Tribune

[babylonsister]

1. "A bullet catcher". I don't blame her one bit. nt

[FREEWILL56]

2. The U.S. military is not a job.

That is a misnomer of our kids today that think of it like a take it or leave it job. Many joined for a free education. I got news for you, it ain't free. When you join you pretty much give up your rights and you do what it is they tell you to do, trained for it or not. If they tell you you'll be a bullet catcher, then that is what you will be. If they tell you to jump off of a bridge without a parachute, then that's what you'll do. To just say I love my country and walk away saying I won't do this because I've been trained in something and I don't want to be put in harm's way is desertion. I am glad those that went to Normandy or Iwo Jima didn't have that attitude.

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