Alleged Wartime Deserter Seeks Objector Status

A pacifist Marine reservist, who could face execution for desertion during the Persian Gulf War, asked a federal judge on Friday to grant him conscientious objector status.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker, his courtroom packed by clerics and peace activists, declined to rule on the request by Lance Cpl. Erik Larsen, 23. But the judge suggested he was leaning toward affirming the Marine position that Larsen is not a conscientious objector.

In papers filed on Wednesday, the U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco acknowledged that Larsen, who is attached to an antiaircraft missile battalion in Hayward, faces a maximum penalty of death for his alleged crime--desertion during time of war.

“If found guilty of these alleged charges, he faces the possibility of the maximum punishment authorized, which is death,” according to the legal brief, which was signed by Patricia M. Lynch-Epps, a Navy attorney.

However, Stephen Schirle, chief of the U.S. attorney’s civil division, declined to comment after the hearing on Friday on whether the military was seriously contemplating executing Larsen. “I don’t want to speculate on that,” he said.

Larsen’s unit was not sent to the Persian Gulf. But he refused orders to go to Arizona for training in February. He was absent for 32 days before he surrendered on March 20 at the Treasure Island naval base.

Larsen was handcuffed and flown to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where he awaits formal charges. At least 22 other Marine reservists who were absent without authorization during the Gulf War are being held at Camp Lejeune.

The Marines refused Larsen’s petition that he be declared a conscientious objector, saying his plea was based “solely on political grounds” and not religious or other deeply held beliefs.

In court, Walker suggested the Marine’s decision should have been based on broader grounds. He said he would do legal research to determine whether he could analyze “the entire record” to justify affirming the Marine conclusion.

Among Walker’s options are that he could return the matter to the Marines for reconsideration of Larsen’s petition. In a separate matter, Robert Rivkin, Larsen’s lawyer, is asking Walker to direct that Larsen be returned to the San Francisco area.

After speaking to Larsen after the hearing, Rivkin said the Marine told him that “there’s one part of his Marine training that he’ll adhere to--and that is ‘Death before Dishonor.’ He’s not going to be intimidated into renouncing his C.O. claim.”

The last soldier executed for desertion during time of war was Pvt. Eddie Slovik, who was killed by a firing squad in 1945 in France. The last military execution was of Army Pvt. John Bennett who was hanged in April, 1961, after being found guilty of rape and attempted murder.

Larsen joined the Marine reserves in 1985, and over time became active in various anti-war church groups in the Bay Area. He emerged as a prominent opponent of U.S. involvement in the Persian Gulf after U.S. troops were sent to Saudi Arabia last year in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

According to Rivkin, Larsen firmed up his pacifist beliefs during a two-week tour last July and August at the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah. The lawyer would not specify what prompted the conversion, except to say Larsen witnessed a “chemical incident.”