Posted on: Monday, August 2, 2004

Gulf War resister urges protest at GOP gathering

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

The young Marine corporal who became the first known resister to the first Gulf War when he sat on a tarmac at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i to block the plane that was to take him to Saudi Arabia 14 years ago is back on O'ahu, urging people to object to the Iraq war in their own way.

"Resisting's not just about sitting on a tarmac. Resisting is about speaking out," Jeff Paterson told a gathering of about 75 at the University of Hawai'i's Hawaiian Studies Center on Saturday night.

Paterson, now 36, lives in Oakland, Calif., and works with Not In Our Name, a group that has opposed the U.S. government's actions in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Besides resisting the incursion into Iraq, the group objects to other actions taken by the federal government, including the war on terrorism, passage of the Patriot Act and alleged discrimination against Arabs, South Asians and Muslims. He returns to Oakland today.

The group's immediate goal is to send at least a million protesters from across the country to New York City at the end of this month to coincide with the Republican National Convention. Paterson was in Hawai'i to rally anti-war sentiment and encourage people to join the New York protests.

The group is comparing the gathering to the one that took place outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which symbolized "a juncture when things changed," Paterson said. Organizers want the New York convention to be "where people finally say no to the Bush agenda and end this war of oppression," he said.

Paterson was four years into his enlistment with the U.S. Marine Corps and a week away from ending his tenure when his unit was ordered to ship out to Saudi Arabia in August 1990.

He was denied conscientious objector status, which led to the tarmac incident when he was arrested and charged with violating orders and refusing to board the plane. The case generated national attention, with some accusing him of being a disgrace and a coward, while others praised him as a hero for standing up for his beliefs.

After two months of confinement, he pleaded guilty to being absent without leave (AWOL) for a day. Court martial charges against him were dropped and he was granted an "other than honorable" discharge, which carried no punishment or fine but demoted him from corporal to lance corporal and stripped him of veteran's benefits.

Carolyn Hadfield, a member of Not in Our Name Hawai'i, said about 15 people locally are heading to the New York protests.

Among them is Lucas Wheeler, 40, of Waikiki. He said he objected to the invasion of Iraq because "this is a war to control the world for the benefit of the few. ..."

Wheeler said he was enlisting family and friends to help defray the cost of the trip. "The only way democracy is going to be saved in this country is in the streets," he said.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.