Road from AR Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia

Conscientious Objector status is suppose to exclude one from military service - but what if you're already in the military? "Road from Ar Mamadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia" tells this story as a veteran of the war has enough of it, and requests discharge - only to be marked as a deserter and imprisoned. Now free, Mejia tells his story and urges Americans to support an end to what he calls an unjust war in Iraq. A chilling first person perspective not often heard, "Road from Ar Mamadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia"is a top pick for any community library collection focusing on current events.

There is nothing simple in this book; nothing simple about the situations that Staff Sergeant Mejía faced in Iraq, nothing simple in the moral decisions he was forced to make, and nothing simple about the way that he eventually came those decisions. This is a story about fundamental moral questions of right and wrong, yet those who are looking for a simple good-versus-evil narrative won't find it here. Staff Sergeant Mejía has written a deeply honest and profoundly human book, one that will hopefully continue to be read for many years after the war in Iraq is over.

One of the things that distinguishes this book is how morally focused Camilo seems to be. Camilo might disagree, since he depicts his great difficulties in coming to the decision not to redeploy to Iraq. But to the reader, this is a deeply principled man whose early life not only set the conditions for him to enlist as a soldier (National Guard) but to question the morality of the war in which he was participating. It's an interesting combination: the man who is gung ho about defending America against terrorists (and he wasn't even an American -- he was a dual Nicaraguan/Costa Rican) and a thinking man who questioned the war. I know Camilo -- I wouldn't say I know him well, but we are acquainted. He came to speak at an event I co-organized in Miami in 2005, shortly after he was released from his 9-month prison term. It was the first public event at which he spoke, I believe, and he was solemn and anxious, but this small man spoke powerfully and from his heart. His book is well worth reading because, again, his heart is in it and he speaks the truth. The book appropriately starts with Camilo's parents: one a Nicaraguan freedom fighter, the other a Costa Rican political activist. His upbringing alternately in a war-ravaged country and a more stable one is clearly part of what enabled him to enlist, serve ably and bravely (with the full trust of those who served under him), and then to refuse deployment. A former Marine -- also well-known as a vet turned peace activist -- Scott Camil Winter Soldier, told me that Marines would never be able to question openly as Camilo did. Camilo was not involved in (or at least does not describe) some of the worst abuses that we have learned soldiers committed (and are continuing to commit) in Iraq. The journey he took nonetheless is worth understanding -- for all Americans: those who support the war and those who don't, as well as for those who have changed their minds.

This is an important book for a number of reasons. First, it is a soldiers account of the attrocities that have taken place in Iraq. Second, it documents what he went through - his feelings that it was an unwarranted war from the start: prisoner abuse, wars fought for improving rank, resources, etc. Third, it should be a must read for any American because we are the ones who are paying for this unjust, immoral, absolute waste of lives and resources. We are the only ones who can put an end to it and this brave soldier's tale can only help average Americans understand how absurd staying there would be/is. A fifty year commitment would be a huge waste of our resources and it would never change how Iraq will ultimately resolve its own problems....many of which we've created. Mejia is to be commended for telling this tragic, moving yet uplifting story. I would like to see more soldiers come forward and do the same.

I found Road from ar Ramadi to be an honest (sometimes painfully so), plainly written account of one man's transition from soldier to resister. Although it moved a little fast, racing through segments I found fascinating, like his family background and upbringing, it provided the sort of un-hyped, unglamorized view of military life in and out of the combat zone which civilians don't often get to see and probably should. It ain't pretty, and Mejia doesn't spare himself in his descriptions of the ills thrown into sharp relief by the stressful climate of any war, let alone one based on shoddy grounds and incompetently executed: the bullying, pettiness, blame-shifting, rule-bending-and-selective-enforcing, pervasive confusion, constant jockeying for position, not to mention the spurts of terror and virtually mindless rage spattered over long stretches of grinding boredom and physical discomfort. His story had me with him every step of the way, all the time thinking, What would I have done? By the end I felt as though I'd walked a mile in his combat boots, as the saying goes, and ultimately I believe he did the right thing. And not just for himself alone. The whole world can't help but be a better place when people engage in this type of uncomfortable soul-searching, and refuse to shut down their hearts and minds just because it's the easier or more lucrative thing to do. That's why I'm comforted by Sgt. Mejia's story even though it wasn't exactly comfortable to read. I'm sure he doesn't appreciate being called a hero any more than he likes being called all the other things. Still, that's what he is to me. I hope this book is as widely read as it deserves to be.