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Memorandum
from Monica Benderman
August 7,
2005
MEMORANDUM TO:
George W. Bush – President, United States of America
Donald Rumsfeld – Secretary of Defense, United States of
America
RE: Sgt. Kevin Benderman
Dear Sirs:
As I am certain you are all aware, my husband, Sgt. Kevin Benderman,
was sentenced to 15 months confinement, loss of rank, forfeiture
of pay and a dishonorable discharge last week, the charge being
“Missing Movement” or failure to get on a plane. In
actuality, the charge was “filing a Conscientious Objector
packet against the recommendation of his commander, who had no
intention of allowing my husband to follow his conscience, and
therefore serving notice to the rest of our military that they
should not follow suit.” I need to assure you that I do not
make this statement out of anger, but rather by simply pointing
to the facts. Not only did my husband’s commander address
this in a public comment to the media, the prosecutor used this
in his closing statements, and the military representative was
adamant about this in his public comments to the media immediately
following my husband’s court martial.
I am not writing out of anger. I am writing to request the opportunity
to meet with one of you to discuss my husband’s case from
our point of view, as this had not been allowed to this point.
Even in my husband’s court martial, he was not allowed to
discuss his beliefs, his reasons, or the fact that he has given
10 years of honorable service to his country, including a combat
tour in Iraq, for which he received two Army commendation medals
for meritorious service. My husband’s case for Conscientious
Objection was brushed aside and mishandled so that his entire
career of service came down to a meeting with his Command Sgt.
Major that lasted less than one hour. My husband’s testimony
regarding this meeting has remained unchanged, as has my witness
to that meeting. The Command Sgt. Major’s testimony was re-written
and sworn to on at least 5 separate occasions, each testimony
contradicting another, even as they were presented in my husband’s
court martial. In fairness to each of you, to the US Army, to
the people of this country and mostly to my husband, who is paying
the price for being falsely charged, I am respectfully requesting
that the appeal process for his case be allowed to proceed without
delay, and that he be given fair treatment not only in a re-presentation
of the facts surrounding his court martial, but that he also be
given the opportunity to have his application for Conscientious
Objector status reconsidered as well.
We are all living in difficult times. My husband served in this
war, and the effects it had on him will live with him for the
rest of his life. We do not intend to dishonor the service of
all the military personnel still serving, each will have to make
the choice for themselves of how to live with their beliefs and
their conscience. We will not say that the beliefs of those still
fighting are wrong. We can only say for certain that what my husband
was ordered to continue to believe, by his command, is very wrong
for him. This is the United States of America, the land of the
free and the home of the brave. Sirs, my husband freely volunteered
to serve in the United States Army because he believed it was
right. He gave 10 years of honorable service because he believed
it was right for him. After seeing war firsthand, he knew that
he could not participate any longer; because he KNEW war was the
wrong choice for him. The stand he has taken, to say NO to war
and to lay down his weapon in the face of so many who do not understand,
is what I believe gives him the right to live in this “home
of the brave,” as one of the bravest.
I have never met any of you. I hear what others say about you,
but I cannot say the same. I do not know you. I would like the
opportunity to know you, so that I could know what to believe.
I would like the opportunity to sit with each of you and discuss
what my husband believes, as people who care about our country
and those who serve it.
Our country needs to heal. War has divided our country, our families
and our world. I would like the opportunity to present our views
for a different approach to lasting peace. We believe that we
can make this country strong on our shores, that we can develop
ways to defend our country without taking the fight to foreign
lands. We believe that we can work together to provide adequate
means to secure our land so that we will not have to “get
to them before they can get to us.” It will involve more
than just coffee table discussions, and we make no illusion, no
doubt there will be loss. As we work through the process and remain
firm in our commitment to not allow ourselves to be drawn into
violence, we know that some will try to force us against our will,
to show us to be weak by daring us to lose control. BUT the loss
incurred will be far less than what we have already faced, and
the innocents who now suffer will not be so openly in harm’s
way.
Taking a stand for what we believe, for a commitment to seeing
that peace happens and that those who threaten this peace are
neutralized does not have to involve weapons meant for killing.
Animals on this earth were given their weapons; teeth, claws and
a ravage tenacity to protect what is theirs and keep “enemies”
at bay. Humanity was given something much different, a far more
significant weapon. Humanity was given a mind. Somewhere along
the way, we have forgotten the power of our mind and what it can
be used for. It became easy to create weapons of destruction,
far easier than to use our minds to think and create strong principles
for preventing the use of these weapons.
We believe that we should take pride in our abilities to use our
mental strength. We believe that we should develop this asset
and work with courage toward peace by drafting positive resolutions,
knowing that while the implementation of these resolutions will
result in some loss, it will be far less than the loss we face
with weapons of destruction in our hands, no different than “the
enemy” facing us.
We believe we should stand strong and confident in knowing that
we have the courage of heart and strength of intellect to overcome
the basest animalistic tendencies that so easily drive us to forget
that we are human. We believe it is time to rise up from a position
of strength knowing that there is no “enemy” greater
than ourselves, when we lose respect for our God-given abilities
and resort to violence as an answer.
Our world is divided because of war. We see children dying who
will never have the chance to grow to use their talents to help
our world. We see children who have lost their fathers. How will
they grow? Will there be resentment, or will they come to believe
that they must become strong in saying NO to war? We see mothers
crying as they reach out to find a noble cause for their sons’
deaths. Wouldn’t the cause be far nobler if the solution
were to lay down our guns and say, “not one more person should
have to die when we have the strength to resolve our problems
without violence?” We see homes destroyed, a country laid
waste to, and people struggling to survive. Will they one day
say “thank you” for making my world better because of
war? OR – will they find forgiveness and reach out in hope
when we put our weapons away and give them the freedom to do what
they must to heal their country and their homes?
This world is great and we are all part of it. War only creates
chaos, it will never bring lasting peace, and fighting with killing
machines to keep the turmoil from reaching our shores will only
prolong the agony. We must work together to strengthen us, to
secure us, and to use our strength wisely to show the world that
we mean business when we say that no one will control us, our
actions or our way of life. To take the stand of strength, to
honor those who have served this country with their sacrifices,
we must rise above the violence and say “NO MORE,” we
will not allow ourselves to be drawn to a position of having to
use their methods to resolve our differences. Sirs, nothing that
results in destruction can ever be counted as success on the way
to lasting peace.
Please consider my request. Please understand that I mean no disrespect,
nor does the stand that my husband has taken. We care about our
country, we care about healing the wounds we all now feel. We
know that our country stands for human rights, for respecting
others and for leading others to their personal freedom by giving
them the right to make the choices that are best for them, as
long as they bring no intentional pain to anyone else. We believe
it is time to reach out for what makes us truly strong and to
leave the way of violence behind.
I look forward to the opportunity to discuss my husband’s
case with you. Mostly, I look forward to the opportunity to work
together in strength, to bring lasting peace to our world, and
to see our country represented by the confidence of a principled
stand for conscience that all people deserve.
In Peace,
Monica Benderman
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