San Jose Mercury News - Court orders S.J. marine's honorable discharge

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MercuryNews.com

San Jose Mercury News


Court orders S.J. marine's honorable discharge

By Sandra Gonzales
Mercury News
Article Launched: 04/03/2007 06:15:25 AM PDT

As the "motivational" film clip flashed a montage of Iraqi corpses, explosions and gunfights while his peers nodded and smiled, Marine reservist Robert Zabala instinctively knew he was out of sync.

"They were really enjoying it, but for me, it was a complete slap in the face," said the 23-year-old San Jose resident, recalling his boot camp training at Camp Pendleton.

After graduating in September 2003 and later witnessing more of the same at monthly drills - such as a Marine proudly showing off a picture of a dead Iraqi he had taken - Zabala knew he had to get out.

And, in 2004, he asked to be relieved from the military as a conscientious objector - a petition that was finally granted Thursday after a legal odyssey through the quagmire of the federal courts.

U.S. District Judge James Ware ordered that Zabala be honorably discharged in 15 days.

"I'm excited," said Zabala, an assistant paralegal in Santa Clara, who recently graduated as a literature major from University of California-Santa Cruz.

So what had begun as a quest to give back to the country - he was raised on welfare and other state aid programs - ended with much soul searching by Zabala.

"I became more and more concerned with my role in the military and began asking myself am I a Marine first, or am I a human being?" said Zabala, who was raised Catholic but does not consider himself particularly religious.

But the decision was not easy, nor was the path to an honorable discharge. Zabala said he became physically ill, suffering from migraines and losing his appetite.

He petitioned the Marines for a discharge as a conscientious objector and was evaluated by a psychologist and chaplains who believed he qualified. But he said he was later met with resistance by the commandant of the Marine Corps, which led to the legal wrangling that ended last week.

It is not known whether the Marines will appeal the decision.

Contact Sandra Gonzales at sgonzales@mercurynews.com or (408)920-5778.