Brave Adventist Convert Goes to the Brig for The Truth

Now here is a converted man!
Here is a man who will not break the 6th Commandment!
Here is a man that will not compromise for love nor money!
"I will not kill"

Wow -- I've read about that previously, but this particular article from the N&O was written by a friend of mine! Haven't seen him in some years, but he lives right here in the same town, covers eastern NC. Good for him, for writing an objective piece, just the facts. I ought to e-mail him about this; haven't seen him since returning to the church. (We used to drink beer together in bars downtown.)

I admire this man for standing up for his convictions but there is a problem!

1. He joined the armed forces AFTER he was convicted about using a gun, and after he was converted. That was his mistake.

It was because of this fact that he was sent to the brig and stripped down in his rank.

Our Church represented him in Court but did not win simply because of the above fact. Seems like I read about some other thing too but can't remember what it was right now.

I find this very sad.

Debbie, he was already in the Marines when he became an SDA. He did know about his obligations when he re-enlisted, of course. But he didn't realize the SDA church's stand on carrying weapons until after he re-enlisted, according to his attorneys. That's when he notified the Marines that he didn't want to carry a gun any more, and sought conscientious objector status.

There's some explanation of all this at

http://www.freep.com/news/metro/dickerson7e_20050107.htm

Even a secular author sees the lack of logic in the Marine Corps' actions.

I do agree that it would be better for SDAs not to be in the military at all if they can help it.

NARLA has sent out an address where people can send donations to help his family while he's incarcerated:

Klimkewicz Fund
c/o Karen Park, Treasurer
104 Ocean Spray Drive
Swansboro, NC 28584

While Cpl. Klimkewicz (now demoted to Pvt.) is locked up, he won't be getting any pay, so his family won't be getting any income from him either.

quote:

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[SDA General Counsel Mitchell Tyner] says he believes that Klimkewicz should be released from prison and given a general discharge so that he can return to his wife - a Japanese native who speaks limited English - and 3-year-old child, who no longer have his salary to support them.

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link to story at Winston-Salem Journal