Published on Saturday, November 25, 2006 by the Associated Press
AWOL Soldier Spent Week Helping Out in New Orleans
His group opposes U.S. action in Iraq
by Janet McConnaughey
NEW ORLEANS - A U.S. Army soldier who fled to Canada rather than
return to Iraq spent Thanksgiving week gutting houses flooded more
than a year ago by Hurricane Katrina.
"There are so many engineering units of the U.S. military - they
should be here and not Iraq," Pvt. Kyle Snyder, 23, of Colorado
Springs, Colo., said Friday.
He was among two dozen volunteers from Iraq Veterans Against the War
spending the week in New Orleans, gutting veterans' and musicians'
houses flooded when Hurricane Katrina breached levees on Aug. 29, 2005.
Work here is a continuing project for the 300-member national group,
which arranged for groups to spend two weeks each helping to gut
houses from June through August, executive director Kelly Dougherty
said.
Dougherty, who was in Iraq from March 2003 to February 2004 with a
Colorado National Guard unit, said she thinks it's therapeutic for
veterans who have returned from Iraq to do good works in which they
make visible changes for "a major city that looks in many places
worse than Iraq."
Her 220th Military Police Company, sent some units to New Orleans
immediately after Hurricane Katrina, she said. "Now they're back in
Iraq."
Snyder, a former combat engineer, left the United States in April
2005 while on leave to avoid a second tour in Iraq. He said he worked
as a welder and at a children's health clinic in Canada.
Snyder has said he was put on patrol when sent to Iraq in 2004, which
he said he was not trained to do, and that he began to turn against
the war when he saw an innocent Iraqi man killed by American gunfire.
Equipment, help and general arrangements were provided by the Arabi
Wrecking Krewe, a volunteer group created in the storm's aftermath.
The house being worked on Friday belonged to a Vietnam veteran, said
Armand "Sheik" Richardson, president of the group.
"He was a first lieutenant and had some heavy combat experience,"
Richardson said.
His group isn't political, but he himself is against the Iraq war,
said Richardson, who served in the Marines and Marine Reserves from
1965-69.
"I opposed the Vietnam War, and I'm opposing this one too, for the
same reasons. Which is hard to believe but it's the truth," he said.
Richardson said the Wrecking Krewe can identify 110 houses it has
gutted and helped rebuild. "Probably more than that. That's the ones
we can actually count. I started the day after the storm and pretty
much haven't stopped," he said.
Snyder said he's getting help from Iraq Veterans Against the War and
other groups. "I just travel," he said.
Snyder turned himself in on Oct. 31, after his lawyer said he had
reached a deal to have Snyder processed back into the Army at Fort
Knox and be discharged without a court-martial. However, he went AWOL
again a day later. Attorney James Fennerty of Chicago said the Army
wanted to send Snyder back to his original unit at Fort Leonard Wood,
Mo., where commanders would determine his future.
"Legally, I'm AWOL again. My lawyer has tried to contact Fort Leonard
Wood like 75 times - it's documented, 75 times - and tried to get in
touch with the military. They've avoided this entire subject," Snyder
said.
Mike Alley, a public affairs officer at Fort Leonard Wood, said
Snyder never arrived at Fort Leonard Wood. He directed calls to the
public affairs office at Fort Knox, where nobody answered the phone
Friday.
Snyder said the military doesn't chase down people who are absent
without leave. "I'm not a rapist, not a murderer, not a child
molester. I'm not doing anything negative," Snyder said. "I'm doing
what I feel I have to do as a human being."
Associated Press reporter Brett Barroquere in Louisville contributed
to this report.
Copyright © 2006 Associated Press
###
AWOL Soldier Spent Week Helping Out in New Orleans
His group opposes U.S. action in Iraq
by Janet McConnaughey
NEW ORLEANS - A U.S. Army soldier who fled to Canada rather than
return to Iraq spent Thanksgiving week gutting houses flooded more
than a year ago by Hurricane Katrina.
"There are so many engineering units of the U.S. military - they
should be here and not Iraq," Pvt. Kyle Snyder, 23, of Colorado
Springs, Colo., said Friday.
He was among two dozen volunteers from Iraq Veterans Against the War
spending the week in New Orleans, gutting veterans' and musicians'
houses flooded when Hurricane Katrina breached levees on Aug. 29, 2005.
Work here is a continuing project for the 300-member national group,
which arranged for groups to spend two weeks each helping to gut
houses from June through August, executive director Kelly Dougherty
said.
Dougherty, who was in Iraq from March 2003 to February 2004 with a
Colorado National Guard unit, said she thinks it's therapeutic for
veterans who have returned from Iraq to do good works in which they
make visible changes for "a major city that looks in many places
worse than Iraq."
Her 220th Military Police Company, sent some units to New Orleans
immediately after Hurricane Katrina, she said. "Now they're back in
Iraq."
Snyder, a former combat engineer, left the United States in April
2005 while on leave to avoid a second tour in Iraq. He said he worked
as a welder and at a children's health clinic in Canada.
Snyder has said he was put on patrol when sent to Iraq in 2004, which
he said he was not trained to do, and that he began to turn against
the war when he saw an innocent Iraqi man killed by American gunfire.
Equipment, help and general arrangements were provided by the Arabi
Wrecking Krewe, a volunteer group created in the storm's aftermath.
The house being worked on Friday belonged to a Vietnam veteran, said
Armand "Sheik" Richardson, president of the group.
"He was a first lieutenant and had some heavy combat experience,"
Richardson said.
His group isn't political, but he himself is against the Iraq war,
said Richardson, who served in the Marines and Marine Reserves from
1965-69.
"I opposed the Vietnam War, and I'm opposing this one too, for the
same reasons. Which is hard to believe but it's the truth," he said.
Richardson said the Wrecking Krewe can identify 110 houses it has
gutted and helped rebuild. "Probably more than that. That's the ones
we can actually count. I started the day after the storm and pretty
much haven't stopped," he said.
Snyder said he's getting help from Iraq Veterans Against the War and
other groups. "I just travel," he said.
Snyder turned himself in on Oct. 31, after his lawyer said he had
reached a deal to have Snyder processed back into the Army at Fort
Knox and be discharged without a court-martial. However, he went AWOL
again a day later. Attorney James Fennerty of Chicago said the Army
wanted to send Snyder back to his original unit at Fort Leonard Wood,
Mo., where commanders would determine his future.
"Legally, I'm AWOL again. My lawyer has tried to contact Fort Leonard
Wood like 75 times - it's documented, 75 times - and tried to get in
touch with the military. They've avoided this entire subject," Snyder
said.
Mike Alley, a public affairs officer at Fort Leonard Wood, said
Snyder never arrived at Fort Leonard Wood. He directed calls to the
public affairs office at Fort Knox, where nobody answered the phone
Friday.
Snyder said the military doesn't chase down people who are absent
without leave. "I'm not a rapist, not a murderer, not a child
molester. I'm not doing anything negative," Snyder said. "I'm doing
what I feel I have to do as a human being."
Associated Press reporter Brett Barroquere in Louisville contributed
to this report.
Copyright © 2006 Associated Press
###
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