Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia has written a memoir so clear in perspective that it is almost like a decoder ring for those of us struggling to read the cryptic news items out of Iraq. Road From Ar Ramadi was featured in the monthly newsletter I receive from the Courage to Resist network, and I was pleased to find it already available at the Hartford Public Library. The subtitle of the book is “The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia,” but it could of been called “Why I preferred 12 months in prison to spending 5 more months in Iraq.”
Carlos Mejia was sentenced to 12 months in prision, without pay and with a demotion of rank, after he was tried for going AWOL rather than return after leave to Iraq. Amid scenes in Mejia’s memoir of courage and humanity are descriptions of torture and brutality. In the coda to the book Mejia’s editor explained why such profound peace had settled over the Staff Sergent during his court martial sentencing: “He had chosen to put himself in a situation where he could call all the important shots in his life: not killing people, not humilating people, not incarcerating innocent people, [and] not abusing prisoners.” (more…)
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