Marine vows to speak out

Reservist and veteran of Iraq says free speech must be protected.
By STEVE EVERLY
The Kansas City Star
Jun. 06, 2007

A Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq war said Sunday that the threat of an other-than-honorable discharge would not stop him from speaking out against the war.

Marine Cpl. Adam Kokesh, who has received an honorable discharge from active duty but remains part of the inactive military reserve, has been charged with violating Defense Department regulations by wearing fatigues, with military badges removed, during a protest of the Iraq war. He also is accused of disrespect to an officer investigating the incident.

A military panel in Kansas City is scheduled to hold a hearing today on whether Kokesh should be discharged from the service. One possible outcome is an other-than-honorable discharge.

Kokesh, 25, arrived in Kansas City on Sunday and went directly to a rally in support of him near the Country Club Plaza. There he told roughly 100 people that freedom of speech was an important principle that needed to be protected.

“If it is not safe for a combat veteran to come home and speak his mind, then it is not safe for anyone,” he said.

The military’s effort to silence him was political abuse, he said. While he could lose military benefits if he received an other-than-honorable discharge, he intended to continue to speak against the war.

“I’m fulfilling the moral values my mother instilled in me,” he said.

Kokesh recently picked up the support of the Veterans of Foreign Wars when the group’s national commander said the Marine Corps needed to “exercise a little common sense” and put an end to the matter.

Kokesh arrived in Kansas City on the “Yellow Rose of Texas Peace Bus,” which has visited 28 states in the last two years with “Bring Them Home Now” painted on its side.

The rally in Kansas City was sponsored by the Kansas City Iraq Task Force and the American Friends Service Committee, two groups that oppose the Iraq war. Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War also attended.

Among those speaking was Liam Madden, another Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq war who is in the inactive military reserve. He said he has been told that he was being charged with making disloyal statements and wearing a military uniform during a protest of the war. His military hearing is to be scheduled.

It is important for veterans, especially with their experience in Iraq, to speak out, he said.

“The war in Iraq is a war crime,” Madden said.