Gambit
27 November 2004, 07:18
I love the last line here... he 'gave himself up and returned to active duty'... AFTER FORTY YEARS....
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U.S. Deserter Jenkins Free, Prepares for New Life
By Elaine Lies
Reuters
Saturday, November 27, 2004; 5:00 AM
TOKYO - Former U.S. sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins, who deserted to North Korea four decades ago, emerged on Saturday from nearly a month in confinement to prepare for a new life with his family in his Japanese wife's home town.
Jenkins was given a dishonorable discharge and sentenced to 30 days in confinement at a court martial this month after confessing to deserting because he was scared, bringing to an end one of the Cold War's strangest dramas.
He married his wife, Hitomi Soga, in North Korea after she had been abducted in 1978 by Pyongyang agents to teach spies about Japan.
Jenkins was taken by helicopter on Saturday to the U.S. army's Camp Zama base near Tokyo from the U.S. naval base where he had spent time since the Nov. 3 court martial, his sentence reduced by several days for good behavior.
Looking frail, wearing an army uniform and carrying a duffel bag, the 64-year-old Jenkins, who was demoted to private after his court martial, entered Camp Zama accompanied by several soldiers and was taken to his home where Soga and their two North Korean-born daughters were waiting.
Sgt. N. Maxfield, with the U.S. Army Japan Public Affairs office, declined to give further information.
Jenkins will begin procedures on Monday for his discharge, which Maxfield said could take anywhere from a week to a month, but Japanese media said the process may be completed by Dec. 3.
"He's now just like any one of a thousand soldiers who are getting out this month," Maxfield said.
The family plans to move to the northern island of Sado and Soga's home town of Mano, a sleepy, rural community of 7,000 people 300 km (186 miles) northwest of Tokyo, where media reports have said Jenkins wants to find a job.
FRIGHTENED SOLDIER
A 24-year-old sergeant from tiny Rich Square in North Carolina, Jenkins disappeared one night in January 1965 while on patrol near the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas.
Occasionally choking back sobs, Jenkins told the court he deserted to avoid hazardous duty in South Korea and escape combat in Vietnam, and that he had planned to go to Russia and turn himself in to the U.S. embassy there.
He also pleaded guilty to aiding the enemy.
Jenkins said he drank 10 beers before taking his men on patrol, where he told them to wait while he checked the road below. Then he walked toward North Korea, holding a rifle with a white T-shirt tied around it.
"I knew 100 percent what I was doing, but I didn't know the consequences behind it," he said. "I didn't know that North Korea was planning to keep me."
After his marriage to Soga in 1980, Jenkins said that fears for the safety of his family and himself made it impossible to refuse demands to teach English to North Korean soldiers. He also played an evil U.S. spy in a North Korean propaganda film.
The Jenkins saga was a diplomatic headache for the United States and its close ally, Japan, which had sought leniency out of sympathy for Soga.
Soga was allowed to return to Japan two years ago with four other Japanese abducted to North Korea but had to leave behind Jenkins and their daughters -- Mika, 21, and 19-year-old Brinda.
The family was reunited in Jakarta before Jenkins was brought to Tokyo for medical treatment in July. He gave himself up in September and returned to active duty.
-------------------------------------------------
U.S. Deserter Jenkins Free, Prepares for New Life
By Elaine Lies
Reuters
Saturday, November 27, 2004; 5:00 AM
TOKYO - Former U.S. sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins, who deserted to North Korea four decades ago, emerged on Saturday from nearly a month in confinement to prepare for a new life with his family in his Japanese wife's home town.
Jenkins was given a dishonorable discharge and sentenced to 30 days in confinement at a court martial this month after confessing to deserting because he was scared, bringing to an end one of the Cold War's strangest dramas.
He married his wife, Hitomi Soga, in North Korea after she had been abducted in 1978 by Pyongyang agents to teach spies about Japan.
Jenkins was taken by helicopter on Saturday to the U.S. army's Camp Zama base near Tokyo from the U.S. naval base where he had spent time since the Nov. 3 court martial, his sentence reduced by several days for good behavior.
Looking frail, wearing an army uniform and carrying a duffel bag, the 64-year-old Jenkins, who was demoted to private after his court martial, entered Camp Zama accompanied by several soldiers and was taken to his home where Soga and their two North Korean-born daughters were waiting.
Sgt. N. Maxfield, with the U.S. Army Japan Public Affairs office, declined to give further information.
Jenkins will begin procedures on Monday for his discharge, which Maxfield said could take anywhere from a week to a month, but Japanese media said the process may be completed by Dec. 3.
"He's now just like any one of a thousand soldiers who are getting out this month," Maxfield said.
The family plans to move to the northern island of Sado and Soga's home town of Mano, a sleepy, rural community of 7,000 people 300 km (186 miles) northwest of Tokyo, where media reports have said Jenkins wants to find a job.
FRIGHTENED SOLDIER
A 24-year-old sergeant from tiny Rich Square in North Carolina, Jenkins disappeared one night in January 1965 while on patrol near the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas.
Occasionally choking back sobs, Jenkins told the court he deserted to avoid hazardous duty in South Korea and escape combat in Vietnam, and that he had planned to go to Russia and turn himself in to the U.S. embassy there.
He also pleaded guilty to aiding the enemy.
Jenkins said he drank 10 beers before taking his men on patrol, where he told them to wait while he checked the road below. Then he walked toward North Korea, holding a rifle with a white T-shirt tied around it.
"I knew 100 percent what I was doing, but I didn't know the consequences behind it," he said. "I didn't know that North Korea was planning to keep me."
After his marriage to Soga in 1980, Jenkins said that fears for the safety of his family and himself made it impossible to refuse demands to teach English to North Korean soldiers. He also played an evil U.S. spy in a North Korean propaganda film.
The Jenkins saga was a diplomatic headache for the United States and its close ally, Japan, which had sought leniency out of sympathy for Soga.
Soga was allowed to return to Japan two years ago with four other Japanese abducted to North Korea but had to leave behind Jenkins and their daughters -- Mika, 21, and 19-year-old Brinda.
The family was reunited in Jakarta before Jenkins was brought to Tokyo for medical treatment in July. He gave himself up in September and returned to active duty.