devin0116
07-28-2009, 11:23 PM
'Deserter' Says He Was Never in Army
http://news.aol.com/article/army-deserter-chris-parks-mistakenly/593206?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews. aol.com%2Farticle%2Farmy-deserter-chris-parks-mistakenly%2F593206
July 28) - Like most travelers, Chris Parks was just eager to get home on April 8. The 27-year-old construction worker, who lives in Seattle, was waiting in line to change planes in Charlotte, N.C., when he was buttonholed by Homeland Security.
Within hours, ABC News reported Tuesday, Parks was locked up in the nearby Mecklenburg County Jail. And a week later, he found himself in Fort Knox, Ky., where his head was shaved and he was issued Army fatigues.
When he was first detained, Parks said, a Homeland Security official told him he had been identified as an Army deserter. According to military records, he had gone AWOL from a Georgia base in 2002.
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"I thought it had to be a joke or a big mix-up," Parks told ABC News. He claims he never served in the military.
Then another explanation occurred to him. In 2000, just as he graduated from high school, Parks had flirted with enlistment. The 18-year-old soon got cold feet and informed the recruiter in Spokane, Wash., that he no longer wanted to serve.
Parks told ABC News he was scolded and asked to write a two-page summary of why he had changed his mind about a military career. That was the last he heard of it -- until his stint in the "personnel control facility" at Fort Knox.
Fort Knox spokesman Kyle Hodges confirmed Parks was held at Fort Knox for a week. The deserters in the base's PCF "come from all over the country," Hodges told AOL News.
Parks said he spent a week picking up trash, weeding and obeying orders until he was finally allowed to talk to a military attorney.
"I told the investigator the whole story, and he wasn't apologetic," Parks told ABC. "He didn't really care."
Within a day, he was sent home. At this point, his status becomes a little blurry. ABC News said he is on "indefinite leave." The Stranger, a Seattle alternative newspaper, said Parks was issued an "erroneous-enlistment discharge."
That was news to George Wright, a Pentagon spokesman who still refers to him as "Private Parks." In an interview with AOL News, he confirmed that Parks had enlisted in the Army in October 2000.
"He signed an enlistment contract," said Wright, "but did not report for his ship date." In other words, Parks failed to show up for basic training.
In such cases, Wright said, the enlistee is officially AWOL. "And after 30 days," he added, "that individual is considered a deserter."
Wright was unable to comment further on the status of the case.
Parks, meanwhile, is hoping for some admission of error from the military. "An apology and some money would be enough to make it all go away," he told ABC News.
Interesting, but apparently he signed a contract, and according to this story ( I don't know personally) it constitutes as deserting if you don't show up for your ship date in 30 days.
http://news.aol.com/article/army-deserter-chris-parks-mistakenly/593206?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews. aol.com%2Farticle%2Farmy-deserter-chris-parks-mistakenly%2F593206
July 28) - Like most travelers, Chris Parks was just eager to get home on April 8. The 27-year-old construction worker, who lives in Seattle, was waiting in line to change planes in Charlotte, N.C., when he was buttonholed by Homeland Security.
Within hours, ABC News reported Tuesday, Parks was locked up in the nearby Mecklenburg County Jail. And a week later, he found himself in Fort Knox, Ky., where his head was shaved and he was issued Army fatigues.
When he was first detained, Parks said, a Homeland Security official told him he had been identified as an Army deserter. According to military records, he had gone AWOL from a Georgia base in 2002.
Skip over this content
"I thought it had to be a joke or a big mix-up," Parks told ABC News. He claims he never served in the military.
Then another explanation occurred to him. In 2000, just as he graduated from high school, Parks had flirted with enlistment. The 18-year-old soon got cold feet and informed the recruiter in Spokane, Wash., that he no longer wanted to serve.
Parks told ABC News he was scolded and asked to write a two-page summary of why he had changed his mind about a military career. That was the last he heard of it -- until his stint in the "personnel control facility" at Fort Knox.
Fort Knox spokesman Kyle Hodges confirmed Parks was held at Fort Knox for a week. The deserters in the base's PCF "come from all over the country," Hodges told AOL News.
Parks said he spent a week picking up trash, weeding and obeying orders until he was finally allowed to talk to a military attorney.
"I told the investigator the whole story, and he wasn't apologetic," Parks told ABC. "He didn't really care."
Within a day, he was sent home. At this point, his status becomes a little blurry. ABC News said he is on "indefinite leave." The Stranger, a Seattle alternative newspaper, said Parks was issued an "erroneous-enlistment discharge."
That was news to George Wright, a Pentagon spokesman who still refers to him as "Private Parks." In an interview with AOL News, he confirmed that Parks had enlisted in the Army in October 2000.
"He signed an enlistment contract," said Wright, "but did not report for his ship date." In other words, Parks failed to show up for basic training.
In such cases, Wright said, the enlistee is officially AWOL. "And after 30 days," he added, "that individual is considered a deserter."
Wright was unable to comment further on the status of the case.
Parks, meanwhile, is hoping for some admission of error from the military. "An apology and some money would be enough to make it all go away," he told ABC News.
Interesting, but apparently he signed a contract, and according to this story ( I don't know personally) it constitutes as deserting if you don't show up for your ship date in 30 days.