War objector PFC Ryan Jackson was charged with multiple counts of AWOL
and spent time in April and May in pre-trial confinement in the Charleston Naval Brig. Two Charleston Peace members attended his trial on Friday, May 30 in Fort Gordon. We learned that Ryan will have to spend 29 additional days in prison and that he is likely to serve his sentence here in Charleston.

Ryan was a satellite communications technician in the army. While he was stationed in Korea, he read the works of Gandhi, Thoreau, Martin Luther King and others. What he read changed his views, and he applied for Conscientious Objector status. Frustrated with the Conscientious Objector process, he then left his post several times. He eventually turned himself in at Fort Gordon and was taken to the Charleston Naval Brig for pre-trial confinement. 

A pre-trial agreement was made under which Ryan agreed to be tried by a military judge instead of a jury and to plead guilty to all eight charges against him, in return for the assurance that the most punishment he could receive would be 100 days of prison time.The judge actually sentenced him to four months in prison, but due to the pre-trial agreement that sentence cannot be applied. Ryan will be credited with 54 days for the time he spent in pre-trial confinement and will have to spend 29 more days in prison. He expects to begin serving his sentence fairly soon and to be brought back to Charleston. He is interested in helping to inform young people who might consider enlisting in the military. We are in contact with him and will discuss speaking to classes, church groups etc. when he is released. For more information or to help. please contact anna(at)charlestonpeace.net, 843-312-9741. 

To learn more about Ryan or to find others who can come and speak to your group, check the Courage to Resist website, http://www.couragetoresist.org/ .