Agustín Aguayo received an enthusiastic welcome at King’s Books in Tacoma on Thursday, July 12. Sallie Shaw announced the presenters and speakers; Steve and Kristi Nebel began the evening with two songs of war resistance.

Helga Aguayo began by thanking the support that she and her husband have gotten from the activist community of Pierce County and Tacoma.  She recalled the time she was here for the Aaron Watada trial. Standing on the bridge with the demonstrators, she received a call from her husband, Agustín Aguayo, who was in prison. Up to that point Aguayo’s resistance had been a private matter, but when the demonstrators found out who was on the phone, they shouted “Go Agustín!”  “That was when Agustín began his campaign.”

“In 2002 my husband joined the military in the delayed entry program. He was 30 years old.”  He wanted to show his patriotism.  “I am from Guatemala; I came to the U.S. when I was a baby and Agustín arrived from Mexico when he was two or three years old.  We both grew up in the United States.  We wanted to be American.  Agustín wanted to show this by enlisting in the service of his country.”

Helga said that from the beginning he found difficulty with the training.  In one phone conversation he told her,  “I couldn’t squeeze the trigger.”  He still wanted to serve his country and believed that “my country would only ask that of me [to use a weapon] for a very good reason.”  Helga related that while their husbands were in training, letters were sent to military wives telling them to “encourage our husbands to forge ahead”.

The military sent him to the snowy forests of  Germany to train for the new war in Iraq.  He was instructed to grab his gun, aim at the heart or the head and shoot to kill.  Before being deployed to Iraq, Agustín told his wife that he realized he couldn’t kill and that he would not carry a loaded gun.  Helga was concerned that he could not defend himself.  He registered as a conscientious objector and for the 366 days of his tour he never loaded his gun.  Despite her fears Helga supported him.  She affirmed, “He did the right thing.”

His application for conscientious objector status was denied, but the military gave no reason.  Agustín reapplied.  A year later the request was again denied.  He didn’t want to participate in the war and he didn’t want to kill.  He would have accepted a discharge, as his  immediate superiors recommended, but his appeal was also denied.

On the date of scheduled deployment his family was in Germany with him.  Helga told the compelling story of how he was pressured to join his unit and deploy to Iraq, despite his convictions.  A sergeant came to the door and insisted that Agustin come with him and join the unit.  When Augustin refused, two sergeants returned.  He told the sergeants to wait in the living room while he gathered his supplies.  While they were waiting, Helga, who had until this time been stoic, began ranting and wailing.  The sergeants sat embarrassed, their eyes staring down at the floor for nearly forty minutes.  By this time Agustín had fled out the back window.

The military cut any funds for the Aguayo family.  They harassed Helga and her daughters, insisting that she tell them where he was.    “All hours of the day they were pounding on the door.”  The second in command said ‘I will never sign papers for you to go,” refusing to let Helga and her two children leave Germany.  Finally Helga told them “If you don’t give me tickets I will hold a press conference.”  Helga finally got tickets for her and her daughters to leave.

Agustín returned to L.A. through Mexico and turned himself in.  They held a press conference.  “There were many reporters but the story didn’t get to the major media.”  Agustín was court-martialed and convicted of two felonies including desertion.  He served eight months, but still has the felonies on his record.  The case is being appealed with JAG attorneys at the Pentagon.

Helga added that she is grateful for community support for their cause and that she completely supports her husband and his cause.

When Agustín Aguayo was introduced, he reiterated that had joined the services before the Iraq war began.  When he was deployed as a medic in Iraq he said he had hoped to make a positive contribution. Arriving in Iraq he discovered that the situation was different than he had imagined it would be.  Although he was a medic he was required to carry a gun.  Because of his belief he refused to load his gun throughout his twelve month tour of duty.

Early in his tour three wounded were brought in:  “One of our sergeants was screaming” Agustín did what he could, but the two younger men died within minutes.  “I looked at them and wanted to help, but was told ‘you have to stop’…I was ordered to take the body to the back --I couldn’t accept that -- and to put him in a body bag…That memory is always with me – that smell is always a reminder of what it [war] is about… I’m scarred for life.”

Augustin explained why he couldn’t go back to Iraq.  “I couldn’t hurt anyone.  My job is to help people.  I realized that I was “supporting the mission.” [even if I was a medic].  My medic friends were required to check citizens for explosives while on guard duty.  And one medic was placed as a gunner [even though] medics aren’t supposed to be in combat.”

“When I arrived in Iraq medical officers told us, ‘If you think you are going to follow Geneva convention you are mistaken.’ When you speak to infantry they tell you that when they use their weapons they have to ‘finish the job’. [kill the targets in all situations] “The idea of using weapons to make our lives [as military occupiers] easier is not acceptable to me.”

“This hate toward the locals [Iraqi people] began from that day one – locals were [as a matter of course] being harassed…The mission didn’t make sense to me - - On one mission all men were taken out of their homes in the middle of the night.  They were searched and interrogated.  Then they [the U.S. military] would go to schools and hand out pencils to the kids… The hate towards locals is saddening… The stress and hatred was so intense.  I wanted to do something to help people, but I helped no one.”  He added, "What's happening inside the military is completely disconnected to what’s going on in the states.  I am saddened – not enough is happening… The military think that the American people let this happen… The war seems like its never ending.”

He also stated: “Resistance in the army is growing everyday, more and more.  I wanted to quietly exit the military, [but] that was selfish…I can share my experiences.”  Agustín talked about supporting organized efforts to inform young people who are being approached by military recruiters, and said, “I have met with Vets for Peace, Courage to Resist, Military Families Speak Out, and have been interviewed by Amy Goodman. [Go to democracynow.org].”  Agustin told the audience, “I feel truly blessed to come home to the states and meet people like you.”