Teen who changed his mind about enlistment is discharged

[2 articles]

Teen who changed his mind about enlistment is discharged

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?a=289661&z=2

4/4/200
Associated Press

SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A high school senior who faced down military
recruiters on his front lawn and refused to go to basic training after
earlier signing up for the Minnesota Army National Guard has now been
discharged.

"You are discharged from the Army National Guard and as a reserve of the
Army," said a memo from Minnesota's Office of Adjutant General sent to the
lawyer representing Leo Valle, an 18-year-old student at Simley High School
in Inver Grove Heights.

It was welcome news for Valle, who claims that months earlier a National
Guard sergeant threatened him with arrest and military prison if he didn't
go to basic training.

Valle was 17 years old when he enlisted, which requires the consent of
parents. His attorney, Allen Gibas, argued that Valle's parents, who are
legal immigrants from El Salvador, didn't speak or read English and didn't
understand what they were signing.

Gibas said Valle's parents decided to withdraw their consent because their
son was not "suitable for the Army." Gibas said Valle signed up after a
recruitment pitch that promised a chance to serve the community and earn
lucrative education benefits, but didn't mention weapons training.

Gibas said Valle was not sophisticated enough to understand that signing up
for the military would likely mean training in guns.

Valle said recruiters told him he wouldn't likely have to go to Iraq until
2009, but said he learned after enlisting that he could have been sent
there immediately after basic training.

"I would tell other youth my age not to join," Valle said. "They'll phone
you saying one thing, and the next thing you know, you'll be going to Iraq."

Sam Diener, a founder of the GI Rights Hotline, an information source for
soldiers and enlistees, said the decision to discharge Valle wasn't that
unusual. He said a 2005 study by the Rand Corp. found that 14 percent of
the people who signed up for the Army's delayed enlistment program in 2001
dropped out of the Army before becoming soldiers.

But Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, spokesman for the state National Guard, said he
wasn't aware of any other Minnesota Army National Guard soldiers who
expressed a desire to change their mind on enlistment.

Olson said Guard members told Valle he would be breaking a contractual
obligation if he didn't ship out, but denied that he was threatened with
civil police action or jail time.

"We certainly wish him well," Olson said. "If it is not in the National
Guard, we hope he chooses a way to serve his community, state and nation."

---------

Minnesota Guard releases enlistee

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1096669.html

The Army National Guard and a GI advocacy group disagree on how common it
is to discharge an enlistee who wants out of commitment.

By Randy Furst, Star Tribune
Last update: April 03, 2007

With recruiters standing on his front lawn in South St. Paul nine months
ago, Leo Valle, 18, refused to go to basic training after he'd signed up in
high school for the Minnesota Army National Guard. Ever since, he's been
worried that the Guard would not let him quit and he'd be ordered to Iraq.

"What if I don't get discharged?" he says he asked himself. "What if they
come to my house and drag me over there?"

Monday afternoon, Valle learned that the Guard had released him.

"You are discharged from the Army National Guard and as a reserve of the
Army," said the memo from the Office of the Adjutant General in Minnesota,
a copy of which was sent to Valle's attorney, Allen Gibas.

Valle, who signed up when he was 17 and a junior at Simley High School in
Inver Grove Heights, sounded mildly elated. "I knew I had a good lawyer
with me," said Valle, who is now a senior.

The Guard notification was dated Jan. 10, but Gibas received a copy in the
mail Friday. Valle, who has moved in with his girlfriend in West St. Paul,
was not aware of the Guard decision until he was contacted Monday by the
Star Tribune.

Sam Diener, of Arlington, Mass., one of the founders of the GI Rights
Hotline, an information line for soldiers and enlistees, said the decision
to discharge Valle was not unusual. He said a 2005 study by the Rand Corp.
found that 14 percent of the people who signed up for the Army's delayed
enlistment program in 2001 dropped out of the Army before becoming soldiers.

But Lt. Kevin Olson, the state National Guard spokesman, said, "I am
unaware of any other Minnesota Army National Guard soldiers that have
expressed their desire to change their mind on enlistment."

He said he knew of no similar discharge case.

The dispute

Because Valle was only 17, he needed his parents' permission to join the Guard.

Gibas sent the Guard a copy of a letter signed by Valle's parents, Leonidas
and Elizabeth Valle, who are legal immigrants from El Salvador. They said
they did not speak or read English, did not understand what they'd signed
and were withdrawing their consent because he was not "suitable for the Army."

In the days before he was to leave for basic training, Valle said, he was
threatened by a sergeant who told him if he did not go, an arrest warrant
would be issued and he'd face military prison.

Gibas said such threats by recruiters are illegal.

The dispute boiled over in June, the day Valle was scheduled to go to basic
training, when military representatives turned up at the house and Valle
called Mary Beaudoin, director of Women Against Military Madness, an
antiwar group, seeking support.

Gibas said the recruitment pitch Valle got sold was the chance to serve the
community and earn lucrative education benefits, but didn't mention weapons
training.

Asked if someone should know they'd be trained in the use of guns, Gibas
said a more sophisticated person than Valle would have understood.

"I would tell other youth my age not to join (the military)," Valle said.
"They'll phone you saying one thing, and the next thing you know, you'll be
going to Iraq."

He said recruiters first told him he would not likely go to Iraq until
2009, but he learned after signing that he could go after basic training.

Lt. Olson said last year that Guard members told Valle that if he didn't
ship out, he would be breaking his contractual obligation. But at no time
was he threatened with civil police action or that he would face jail,
Olson said then.

"We certainly wish him well," Olson said Monday. "If it is not in the
National Guard, we hope he chooses a way to serve his community, state and
nation."

Randy Furst • 612-673-7382 • rfurst@startribune.com