Letters From Fort Lewis Brig

Forty-year-old Sergeant Kevin Benderman was court- martialed by the U.S. Army for desertion. Haunted by his year of combat duty in Iraq, remembering his encounters with maimed children, dead civilians being ravaged by dogs, young soldiers turned into soulless killing machines, the nine-year veteran declared himself a conscientious objector and declined to return to Iraq for a second tour. When his unit was deployed again to Iraq, he stayed home in Georgia. Imprisoned for 13 months after being convicted of "missing movement" in 2005, Benderman is still appealing, and requesting an honorable discharge. "I'm being singled out and punished for speaking the truth about the army," he said. He and his wife Monica continued to speak publicly in spite of his imprisonment. Their ongoing story is told in between fragments of the battles Kevin fought in Iraq, his growing awareness that the war in Iraq is wrong and their struggle to see that justice is served. His is the public face of those against the war in Iraq, the only one in a uniform who served there. Kevin and Monica share a passionate, superbly written memoir which will get major national attention in the news media, as will his continued struggle against the US Army.