By Everyone has an opinion on US Army deserter Charles Jenkins, but personally I think it is good to see him getting on with life, what worse punishment could you have for deserting than spending 4 decades in North Korea:
Charles Robert Jenkins, a former U.S. Army sergeant who spent four decades as a North Korea captive after abandoning his men and walking into North Korea in 1965, poses with Japanese tourists, who view him as a national celebrity.
Reporting from Sado Island, Japan — Charles Robert Jenkins is running late. He hurries into work at the souvenir shop to a chorus of approving calls that has become the foreign-language soundtrack to his life.
“Jenkins-san!” shout two dozen tourists lined up to meet this diminutive man with jug-handle ears, a 69-year-old American who speaks only a few words of their native tongue. With a weary smile, Jenkins poses for a frenzy of snapshots, awkwardly holding a box of specialty cookies. Everyone wants a piece of him, pressing in close to shake his hand and ask him to sign their souvenir snacks.
“One day I counted 300 pictures in the first hour alone,” Jenkins recalls in the easy cadence of his native North Carolina. “Then I just gave up counting.”
And so begins another day in the bizarre life of a man famous for “the stupidest decision of my life.” [LA Times via ROK Sojourn]
Make sure to read the rest because it is a pretty good article.
12:19 pm on July 17th, 2009 1
He disgraced himself and the country he was born in. So now he has to live with it. Pity.
12:45 pm on July 17th, 2009 2
If you had a child who ran a away from home, spent years on the streets being used and abused. When they found their way back home, would you welcome them? For the Judeo-Christians, it's the story of the Prodigal Son.
At this stage in his life, he is a genial and humble old man and I kind of like him.
12:58 pm on July 17th, 2009 3
He disgraced himself. But one illiterate hillbilly Sergeant does not have the ability to disgrace an entire country. I in no way condone what he did, but if I had been a junior troop in his unit, looking at him, an NCO who by his own admission had at the time a lack of confidence in his abilities and a drinking problem, to lead me into combat… Well, I don't think I would have been too deeply upset when he went missing and a hopefully more competent Sergeant took over.
2:38 pm on July 17th, 2009 4
Word up.
4:40 pm on July 17th, 2009 5
What he did wasn't right, but he didn't commit murder or go AWOL during combat. His desertion led to no loss of life.
Time to forgive.
5:50 pm on July 17th, 2009 6
He has suffered more than most people can imagine.
Reading his book should be required of anybody talking about North Korea today.
I'm glad he has a job and living and wife and family and can spend some years of freedom and comfort in his last stage of life.
But he certainly still has recurring scars from his time in the North. That level of abuse does not go away…
I'm sure he regrets his decision at some point every single day of his life. Even military prison doesn't leave that kind of imprint…
7:51 pm on July 17th, 2009 7
I guess you've never seen "The Searchers".
12:45 am on July 18th, 2009 8
I think the SOL for his crime was 40 Yrs. He came back at 39 1/2. I'm glad he's back and wish him the best.
1:13 am on July 18th, 2009 9
I dunno – I remember that being in the news when he and his wife reunited in Indonesia, and the US side seemed pretty adamant there was no Statue of Limitations on desertion (which jives with what they always told us in the Corps).
2:23 am on July 18th, 2009 10
The military did court martial him and have him "serve time".
We can call it a slap on the wrist, but technically they didn't let him off, and in my book, he suffered more than enough for the crime.
6:41 am on July 18th, 2009 11
You guys know there's another stupid GI that still lives in NK? Now that guy is a TOTAL loser!
10:20 am on July 18th, 2009 12
Yeah I heard about him.
If North Korea gets liberated, he can spend the rest of his life in the slammer.
11:58 am on July 18th, 2009 13
The one remaining US soldier defector in North Korea is James J. Dresnok, who defected on August 15, 1962. There is an excellent documentary about him titled "Crossing The Line" that came out a few years ago.
It shows Dresnok in the present day around Pyongyang (where he now lives), and interacting with his North Korean friends. Dresnok speaks about his feelings about his childhood, his desertion, living in a country completely foreign and even hostile to his own, and his wife and children.
4:49 pm on July 18th, 2009 14
Yeah it he pretty clearly states how much he likes it in North Korea and how much he hates America.
He had plenty of opportunities to come back but he didn't take any of them.
8:54 pm on July 18th, 2009 15
What were the plenty of chances?
I haven't seen the documentary, but it is hard to believe he had a chance to get out.
The main reason I haven't watch the video is that you can't put any stock into anything anyone in that situation says. When you know the person is living in a place where he could easily be sadistically tortured as long as a tyrannical regime wanted to torture him, the incentive to lie is too high and that makes what anyone says in such a situation worthless.
12:06 am on July 19th, 2009 16
Please post some citations that discuss the "plenty of opportunities to come back" that Dresnok has not taken advantage of.
12:08 am on July 19th, 2009 17
It's a fascinating video – regardless of whether he's telling the truth or not about wanting to stay in North Korea. That is only one very small aspect of the documentary.
2:46 am on July 19th, 2009 18
It didn't take him long to figure out that deserting to North Korea was not one of the most lucid decisions he had ever made. Having to stay in North Korea that long must have been torture.
6:15 am on July 19th, 2009 19
Read his book – it was literally torture.
For example, a few times, one of the Korean minders had the other deserter mentioned above, who was much bigger than Jenkins, punch him in the face repeatedly until he was a bloody pulp.
Another time, while teaching English to military cadets, they noticed he had an US Army tattoo. He was sent to the school clinic where cadets held him down and the doctor cut the tattoo off without an anesthetic. (The other deserter mentioned above came by to see the show.)
10:01 pm on September 30th, 2009 20
this scum bag was just taking up space in the army and they cause the unit to fall short in combat readiness and his type got good men kill in combat.he is with out honor and a man with out honor is nothing sign 40 yards
3:33 am on October 1st, 2009 21
Interesting how when I suggest buying his book is likw supporting druggiess my comments are gone.
3:38 am on October 1st, 2009 22
GI korea, seems that a lot of my comments vanish. They are not breaking any rules.
Should not adults agree to disagree.
3:43 am on October 1st, 2009 23
USINKOREA, Civilized adults discuss ideas and debate those ideas. Yes sometimes they disagree. stuffing a sock in the mouth of those you disagree with is not freedom of speach. I think you are abusing the freedom that GI korea has given you.
2:16 pm on October 1st, 2009 24
I guess this is the only way you can get me to respond to you, uh?
Haven't deleted a comment of yours in over about a week. Haven't seen any in the Spam filter I clean out either. So, it is either GI Korea or part of the recent spat of site problems.
Maybe try looking at yourself and what you write and then the common Comment Standards guidelines like the one GI Korea has and see if you can figure out why you get deleted or attacked…
10:29 pm on October 1st, 2009 25
I haven't deleted anyone's comments in quite sometime. So it wasn't me.
11:15 pm on October 1st, 2009 26
Thanks GI. I didn't think it was you. I know who it was….
12:12 am on October 2nd, 2009 27
Is anyone else experiencing comments not showing up or disappearing besides…?
It might be connected to the recent tech problems.
Some of chickenheads have been coming up in the Spam filter and I'll send them to moderation if they aren't a clear double post. I think I've also seen a couple of double posts by others too, but I haven't been keeping up with the comments sections the last two weeks or so – just the spam filter…
If anyone else is experience this, drop a note…
PS – I have noticed a considerable drop in daily spam since the glitch of a few days ago…
10:14 am on October 2nd, 2009 28
I did install a new plug in called Bad Behavior that compliments Akismet to fight spam. The spammers are using up a lot of bandwidth and I am trying to get it reduced.
1:07 pm on October 2nd, 2009 29
From the book and news at the time, the military didn't restrict him too much when he came back. He was arrested. He was also given a new, proper uniform, and they just restricted him to base. He had more freedom under arrest in Japan than he ever had in NK.
If the US wanted to make sure he didn't release to the world any "deep secrets" he had, I'd think they'd have pressured him a little differently…
From the start, it seemed clear the military wasn't going to let a precident be set on this crime but were not going to put him in jail in the end. His trial was on principle and the sentence in light of his unique history in NK.
1:08 pm on October 2nd, 2009 30
There was a whole lot of it per day when I started cleaning the filter. Blocking that one IP from Holland cut down on much of it. Now, it is not much…