Marine Who Fled Gulf War Duties to Be Discharged

A Camp Pendleton Marine who jumped ship in Hawaii just a month before the start of Operation Desert Storm will receive a suspended prison sentence, a reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge, according to a pretrial agreement disclosed at a special court-martial Friday.

Cpl. Kenneth R. Turner, a 22-year-old Michigan native who says his religious beliefs are incompatible with military service, pleaded guilty to two charges--unauthorized absence and missing a movement. A military prosecutor withdrew the more serious charge of desertion.

“I’m free,” Turner said later.

The only Southern California-based Marine to make public his bid for conscientious objector--or CO--status during the Gulf War buildup, Turner had filed his CO application last October.

In December, in order to avoid disobeying an order, he deployed--under moral protest--with the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade when it shipped out for the Persian Gulf, he said. But one week later, when the ship docked in Pearl Harbor, Turner bought an airplane ticket and flew to Los Angeles. It was five weeks before the ground war would begin.

“He let down his fellow Marines and let down his country,” Capt. James C. Mallon, the prosecutor, said Friday, noting that 90,000 other Marines were deployed to the Persian Gulf region during the U.S. military buildup and the war.

“They endured arduous conditions, roller-coaster emotions . . . the ordeal of war,” he said. “These 90,000 overcame their anxieties, their longing for home, and their feelings for family and friends. They did what they had to do.”

Capt. David P. Ingold, Turner’s military defense counsel, countered that during Turner’s more than four years in the Marine Corps he had received a good conduct medal and other accolades.

Turner was an infantry squad leader before he articulated his growing uneasiness about killing, and in March, 1990, he was chosen to represent his company at a special competition.

“This is a fine young Marine,” Ingold said, noting that Turner had turned himself in at Camp Pendleton after he returned from Hawaii. “He has served his country and served it well.”

Compared to the maximum possible penalty--six months’ confinement, forfeiture of two-thirds pay for six months, a reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge--Turner’s sentence was light.

Still, Friday’s hearing appears to end Turner’s bid for CO status; once a Marine has been discharged, the Corps no longer processes his CO application. Turner said that saddened him.

“I wanted them to recognize me as a conscientious objector, so I’m disappointed,” said Turner, who was raised a Christian Scientist but has become a Methodist. “Since they didn’t want to make that decision, I’ve made it for myself. I’m a conscientious objector, whether they want to recognize it or not.”

In Turner’s 15-page CO application, he asserted that he first confronted his moral objections to war during training exercises last year. During one “seek and murder” patrol in May, he wrote, he and his small squad successfully ambushed a patrol of 40 men.

“They never knew we were there. . . . I had just caused the death of several people,” Turner wrote. While he had completed similar drills before, this one was more realistic and upsetting, he said, because the “enemy” was a group of strangers from another company.

“I have dreams of people that I work with dying in battles. In those dreams, I am the one responsible,” he wrote. “Until I remove myself from sworn allegiance to an organization that uses killing as its primary means of achieving its goals, I cannot reconcile my life in the eyes of my God and not expect to perish in Hell.”

In another section of the CO package, Turner wrote: “I was a good Marine because I depended upon my conscience for insight into what the proper military action would be. Now my Lord and Savior is talking to me through my conscience.”

In light of these feelings, Turner said Friday that one emotion outweighed all others: relief.

“Basically, I’m just glad it’s over with,” he said, adding later: “It hasn’t really hit me yet. Once I get my leave papers, I’ll probably be bouncing off the wall.”

Within about a week, Ingold said, Turner will go on appellate leave without pay. His sentence will be deferred until the military convening authority acts on the recommendations of the military judge, Maj. J.L. Newton. When that happens, probably within two months, the convening authority will suspend Turner’s sentence for another six months--essentially a probationary period.

Provided that Turner doesn’t violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice during that time, his pretrial agreement will be honored and he will not serve any jail time. And because he will not be receiving a paycheck, Newton’s recommendation that Turner forfeit $500 of his monthly wages for five months will be moot.

Turner said he plans to go back to school to study the music recording business. He also plans eventually to work with young people as a military counselor.

“Some people, the military is right for,” he said. “If that’s what they want, they should do it. But I think they should know what they’re getting into.”