It is a crying shame that such glaring cowardice is seen as "courageous". This man is a "conscientious objector", which is merely a politically correct way of saying COWARD. As a proud veteran of the U.S. Army, I am deeply offended by this man's lack of honor. In my eyes, and in the eyes of many other veterans, refusal to fight is a gross betrayal of his fellow soldiers' trust.

 

  Soldiers depend upon one another in a combat zone, trusting in his brothers in arms. A military unit is a team, many people working together to achieve a common goal. Think of it like a clock. All the pieces work together to make it function properly. If you remove a cog, the clock does not function. In a time of war, a unit MUST work together if they are to survive. This man not only dishonors himself, but also dishonors his chain of command and endangers the lives of his unit and damages their morale.

 

  Cowards such as this man should not be seen as "courageous", but instead seen as what they are. Lets stop with all this false acclaim for his treasonous  act, and stop honoring those who have no honor. Brave men are fighting and dying every day out there, and they deserve our praise.

this soilder is a discrace. he signed up for the military, it was completely voluntary. and dont tell me "maybe he couldnt afford college so i joined the military to cover it" my girlfriend has no help from her family to go to college and is working full time at a gas station but she still has enough money to go to college thanks to scholarships and government loans and she doesnt have to join the military, this is besides the point though. my point is, he joined voluntarily and he should be proud to serve. there are many who cannot serve and want to but have medical issues that keep them from doing so. there are 160000 americans who are over there and he isnt the only one so i do not pity him. he as well as all the soilders represent this country and what he is doing is shameful.