So a few weeks ago Army Sergeant mentioned that Camilo Mejia and Pete Hegseth were going to debate. Pete is the ED for Vets For Freedom, and Camilo holds a similiar sort of position within IVAW. Anyway, because I am a total dork, I decided to read up on Camilo. Obviously (as always) I started with Obiter Dictum. Then I just used Teh Google, and lastly I purchased his book at an Uber-discount from Amazon.com. This book is entitled Road From Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia.
If I were to write a book entitled Sex, Fame and Wealth: The life story of Bhutanease Generalisimo TSO, I would hope someone would ask the obvious. Do you really have sex, fame and wealth? I have more sex that your average monk, about the same fame as Eric Gagne’s pool boy, and the vast financial resources like those of the man who sleeps on a 14th street heating grate. Also, shockingly, I am not a Generalisimo of either the Bhutanease military, nor any other military, although I did achieve the rank of Sergeant in Azeroth for doing a few battlegrounds in World of Warcraft.
The Rebellion in question here wasn’t quiet, and this guy is not a staff sergeant. If he didn’t know that, he ought to have looked at his DD214. Or, he could have read his book, you know the end where it discusses him being demoted to E1. (So, “private” is right, but in the sense of rank, not in the sense of not being public.)
Anyhoo-
BIO:
Camilo Ernesto Mejía was born in Managua, Nicaragua on August 28, 1975. He is named after Camillo Torres and Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Camilo is the son of famous Sandinista song-writer (according to Camilo, the “official singer of the Sandinista Revolution”) Carlos Mejia Godoy and a Costa-Rican born mother, Maritza Castillo. At five months old, Maritza and Carlos seperated, and Camilo and his brother moved initially to New York before returing to Costa Rica. At two and a half years old, Camilo’s family again moved back to Nicaragua where his mother began dating Camilo Ortega, brother of Daniel Ortega. In Managua, Camilo’s family lived in a posh neighborhood and had a maid and gardener. The children attended a school with the children of Nicaraguan givernment officials, including those of Daniel Ortega. In 1991, the Sandinistas were overthrown, and the family relocated back to Costa Rica again. In 1994 they moved to Florida. Camilo went to American Senior High School in Miami Lakes, while working a series of jobs.
I would leave the stuff about the Sandinistas out and stuff since it was his family and not him, but since he’s the head of the Miami, Florida International Socialist Organization, and he’s pointed to their involvement as the genesis of his current path…..it remains.
Again, anyhoo-
In 1995, Camilo enlisted in the Army as an Infantryman, and attended One Station Unit Training (Infantry Basic) at Ft. Benning. His mother claims that “The recruiter filled his head with pajaritos [Not speaking Spanish, I assume this refers to those pajamas with the little plastic feet] that he would see the world and make a lot of friends.” According to the article in the Miami News:
Camilo says he joined the army to become independent of his parents. “My father was the official singer for the Sandinista Revolution,” Camilo says. “I guess I wanted to escape it, find my own way, do my own things, and I found the military. I never really thought I would end up in a real war.”
Regardless, after OSUT, Camilo was assigned to Ft. Hood, Texas. “So I was assigned to a Bradley personnel carrier. My unit used to test all the new weapons systems that the army was buying from government contractors.” After three years, his initial Regular Army enlistment up, Camilo went to the Florida National Guard.
Camilo contends he never realized the full implication of his enlistment until he was about to complete three years of active duty. Every recruit who signs a military contract commits to at least eight years. The armed forces give enlistees the option of two to four years of active duty, then the balance in the reserves or National Guard. It’s all laid out in black and white, according to Naugle. [Naugle is his 1SG who referred to Camilo hilariously as a "Momma's Boy".] That he didn’t realize the commitment “is a crock,” he says. “When I signed my paperwork, it was perfectly clear what my commitment was.”
Camilo claims he was preoccupied with salary and tuition benefits. “I was nineteen years old,” Camilo says. “I was naive. Had I read the contract more carefully, would I have changed my mind? I don’t really know.”
Camilo was not a United States Citizen as of atleast 2005, but rather a dual citizen of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. When asked, Camilo stated that:
Well, the issue of being an American citizen, before we go into that, how do you define an American citizen? I came here when I was a baby. I learned to walk in New York City. I graduated from high school here. I have lived here longer than in any other place. I went to college. My daughter was born here. I went to war with the U.S. Army. I made a public stand because I believed in the law, and because I believe in dissent. So, the issue of being an American citizen, I guess, is the issue of how far you are willing to go for this country. In whatever way you choose to find. I believe that this is my home. So, fighting for this country was not a problem, you know, whether you are a resident or a citizen.
The immigration status issue is only pertinent for this reason, Camilo tried to use it as a defense to his desertion charge:
A second basis for reversal of Mejia’s conviction is the trial judge’s refusal to dismiss the prosecution because of an bilateral treaty between the U.S. and Costa Rican which bars either country from forcing the citizens of the other into “involuntary military service.” Since Mejia is a citizen of Costa Rica, he could not be kept involuntarily on active duty past his April 2003 discharge date (the “stop loss program”) under the terms of this treaty. International law expert, Prof Jules Lubel testified that GIs protected by these treaties have been set free by court rulings in the past.
While in the Florida National Guard, Camilo attended a community college, then transferred to University of Miami where he had a 2 month relationship with a woman that resulted in the birth of a daughter. On January 14, 2003, at a National Guard training assembly, his Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Hector Mirabile informed the troops they would be activated in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Anyway, that’s the basic background.
So, I have his book. And in a display of courage, of temerity, of tenacity, frankly, of balls the likes of which have been unseen since Brian Boitano saved us from the Evil Robot King, I made it exactly 68 pages in before collapsing in a sobbing heap of sweat and frustration. I challenge you to do the same!
Honestly, I may try to read more, but, in the words of Casey Kassim, it was ponderous man, f’n ponderous.
Anyway, book report will follow later. Maybe tomorrow, maybe Monday. I don’t know, but stay tuned for GOOD TIMES!
It’ll be Die-No-Mite!
Tags: Camilo Mejia, IVAW
Required service in the Guard? Really? My impression of the commitment…you know, from when I read my contract before signing it, being that I was signing (literally) my life away to my Government I thought it might be prudent…was that you served a certain portion in the componant with which you signed your enlistment papers (be it Active Duty Army, National Guard, Illinois Public Library Book Patrol, etc…), and the remainder of said 8 years is spent on the Inactive Ready Reserve. This entails sitting on your ass in front of the couch playing Halo IV and eating Fritos, or however you want to spend it…but it’s not a Reserve Componant commitment.
Perhaps the honey voiced recruiter for the Florida Guard may have implied otherwise when he was mustering out of his blisteringly rough 2 year commitment?
You sure on that? I thought it was 8, with remainder in the Guard or Active.
Not Active, meant Active Reserve.
Your post raises at least one question?
Would Pete be demeaning himself to agree to such a debate?
That’s a serious question, BTW. I doubt the efficacy of a debate between to two people are speaking different languages even when both speak English?
Sounds to me like two folks giving speeches and ignoring what each says. That ain’t a debate. Of course I’m old, maybe the rules have changed.
If Pete debated AS I’d be interested… this thing, not so much.
I’ve tried to debate AS and can’t do it. A) I actually like her. and B) her world really does have unicorns and rainbows. She’s such a good person that she tries to take mutually exclusive statements and make them both accurate. It is infuriating, more so since I like her.
But a debate with Camilo would be fun. As Part III, I will post several questions I would ask him if ever given the opportunity to do.
It might be different in the Marines, but my good friend served 4 yrs active duty and 2 inactive ready reserve to complete his contract.
How loud do you think he would have been complaining if the government hadn’t held up their end of the GI Bill? He on the other hand shouldn’t be held to the same standard simply because he was blinded by the dollar signs on the contract?
Looks like the libbers need to get into office and fix this one; obviously 19 year olds are not capable of entering into contracts.
C: “obviously 19 year olds are not capable of entering into contracts.”
That is an interesting and provocative issue. I did the deed at 17.
I’ll need to puzzle on it and do some history research.
thanks
Note: I haven’t read part II yet.
1) S6R is correct, he could have spent the next 5 years (remainder of his 8) on a list (IRR). He chose to pony up more time.
Accoring to Uncle Sugar:
“When you entered the Service, you incurred a military service obligation of eight years. If
you are separating prior to fulfilling eight years of active service, then some of that obligation probably remains even though you are returning to civilian life. You must satisfy that obligation by becoming a Ready Reserve member in one of the following categories:
· Selected Reserve: You may voluntarily affiliate with the Selected Reserve, either with a
National Guard or Reserve unit, or a Reserve individual program.
· Inactive National Guard: If you served in the Army, you may become a member of the Army National Guard and request transfer to the Inactive National Guard if unable to participate in regular unit training.
· Individual Ready Reserve (IRR): If you do not affiliate with one of the above programs, your Service will automatically or involuntarily assign you to the Individual Ready Reserve.
2) Caroline, my first contract (NG) was a 6 year total commitment. My second one a year later (Active) was 8 years.
I think his nationality is open for discussion if he authorized his lawyers to make his nationality an issue.
“Pajaritos” are parakeets and it’s pronounced “pa-har-eetos”. See, all of those years in Central America are starting to pay off.
ok, well, parakeets makes slightly more sense. Not a lot mind you, but, slightly more.
Sadly, the debate has not yet taken place and I believe is being rescheduled.
For anyone who wants to debate me or my ideas, and doesn’t want to travel out of the country, I would recommend debating Jabbar Magruder, the other co-chair of IVAW. He’s a National Guardsman, and like me, a sergeant who believes in his service, his Army, and his country.
He is not, however, as optimistic, nor does he have as much faith in human nature.
I haven’t read Camilo’s book yet, I’ll pick it up as soon as I can though.
I will state though that if all of you were well aware of your 8 year service commitment when you signed up, you were much, much smarter than I was. Even though my voluntary reenlistments now put me at longer than 8 years so I suppose you could argue it’s not relevant, I had no idea about the IRR when I came in. Then again, there wasn’t a war on, and nobody was getting called up-I signed the contract in 2000.
[I haven't read Camilo's book yet, I'll pick it up as soon as I can though.]
Since he’s your leader, I suggest you make that a priority.
In the mantime, he was on Democracy Now! back in August. There’s a transcript and a an MP3.
He joy at the “triumph of the revolution” is distrubing, but hey, that’s just me I guess.
“I haven’t read Camilo’s book yet, I’ll pick it up as soon as I can though.”
Save the $$ and give me your mailing address hon, I’ll ship it first class. Ignore the angry notes in the margin.
ortner,
Tod Ensign, repired his role from the 60′s with the Citizen Committee of Inquiry and provided the the IVAW with “Legal Exposure of Veterans Who Testify at Public Forums to Expose War Crimes Activity in Iraq and Afghanistan”.
It’s the same service that Ensign and Jeremey Rifkin provided to the VVAW. BTW, the “phony soldiers” everyone likes to talk about were at Ensign’s CCI show trial. It was so bad that an NYT book reviewer was the one to find and document the phonies.
CCI took place Dec 70 with WS and the Dullems hearings just months after, so people get things confused.
The big thing about Winter Soldier was that inreality there was no there “there” with regard to the allegations the VVAW made. Unfortunately the hippies and the media made the charges “stick”.
Any idea who the 7 original Winter Soldier pukes were that attended this VVAW reunion? So far I have Bill “Bugout” Perry, Scott “Kill ‘em All” Camil, Joe “Ho is my Copilot” Bangert and John “Shortcake” Beitzel.
Este caballero es un maricon.. That’s pronounced “MERRY – CONE”, gay in latino.
Chad a speakie Spanish.