as received from C-NEWS, June 26, 1996.
STATEMENT OF SPC NEW CONCERNING WEARING OF THE UN UNIFORM ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: SPC Michael G New, HHC 1/15 INF, Medical Platoon, 19 September 1995 Reference (a) Oral orders of 23 August 1995 to do research, and an oral suggestion that I clarify my position on paper: 1. Pursuant to Ref. (a) in compliance with orders received on or about 23 August of 1995, I researched the U.N. Charter, history and objectives of the UN and submit enclosure (1), the statement my squad leader suggested I write concerning my convictions and position regarding wearing a UN uniform and serving under UN command. Enclosure (1) attached hereto is submitted in specific compliance with the suggestion given to me. 2. I have reviewed the UN Charter, it's history and objectives which I was somewhat familiar with, and I still find that the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence are incompatible with the UN Charter. My statement is submitted, and I await further direction. (signed) SPC New, Michael G. (U.S.A.) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * REQUESTED STATEMENT OF MICHAEL NEW, SPECIALIST U.S. ARMY 1. As an American soldier I fully intend to obey all lawful orders, and I again request that the Army through appropriate channels provide for my review the legal justification for the change of uniform and the justification for pending deployment orders for UN/NATO operation "Prevent Deployment." Please include any and all relevant acts of Congress and/or Security Council Resolutions. 2. On August 21, 1995, my seniors in the U.S. Army chain of command informed me that my unit and I would soon be ordered to a UN operation in Macadonia which would require that we significantly alter our uniform by sewing a United Nations patch and wearing the blue beret and/or helmet of the U.N. These are important insignia. If they were unimportant, then I would not have been threatened with courts-martial, imprisonment, or less than honorable discharge when I expressed my reservations about wearing them. I interpret the wearing of a uniform, or the accouterments of a uniform, as a sign of allegiance and faithfulness to the authority or power so signified or which issues that uniform. I am an American who was recruited for and voluntarily joined the U.S. Army to serve as an American soldier. I am not a citizen of the United Nations. I am not a United Nations Fighting Person. I have never taken an oath to the United Nations, but I have taken the required oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. 3. I am not trying to avoid a difficult or dangerous assignment or to get out of the Army. I served in Kuwait last year and have offered to serve anywhere in the world, in my American uniform, in the capacity as a U.S. Army medic under American command and U.S. Constitutional protections. I have worked diligently to be a good soldier, and have received early promotion and recognition for my efforts. I have previously been offered a "Green to Gold" program to an Army commission, and I am still seriously considering that offer. In order to avoid controversy or to avoid placing the Army in a bad light, I to avoid controversy or to avoid placing the Army in a bad light, I have requested a transfer to a unit that is not required to wear the U.N. uniform. I was told that such was not possible and I was even reluctantly willing to accept an honorable discharge, and I was willing to sadly and reluctantly withdraw from the U.S. Army quietly. That request was also denied. However, I will not wear a UN uniform or serve under UN Command, and I will strongly contest any discharge that is less than honorable. 4. I simply cannot understand the legal basis of the Army order to change my uniform and, thus, shift or alter my status and allegiance against my oath of enlistment, my conscience and against my will. Despite my requests for information up my chain of command, my questions about the justification and, thus, the lawfulness of such an order or about how my allegiance can be transferred to the UN without my approval have gone unanswered. 5. My father and mother share my deep concerns and have requested similar answers and information and help from General Dennis Reimer, Army Chief of Staff in Washington, DC, in getting answers to my questions and theirs. To date, we have received no answer or information. 6. My chain of command has directed me to study the history and objectives of the U.N. My knowledge of, and my research into the United Nations, (which continues even as I prepare this statement,) indicates to me that the U.N. Charter is based upon man-made "human rights" and principles which are incompatible with the God given "inalienable" rights preserved and protected by our Constitution of the United States. Thus, the U.N.'s authority and principles are diametrically opposed to the founding documents of my country. The more I study the U.N. history and American history the more incompatible they appear to me. 7. I took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. As an American soldier, I was taught and believe that the Constitution is the fundamental law of America and if there is any ambiguity or conflict with the UN or any treaty or international agreement or organization that the US Constitution would always prevail. My Army enlistment oath is to the Constitution. I cannot find any reference to the United Nations in that oath. That oath includes a statement that is more than a passing reference to God Almighty, it is a prayer, "... so help me God." It is no secret that our nation is founded upon Biblical principles. The U.S. Supreme Court so held as a matter of history, fact and law based upon dozens of precedent. (1) Our founders reflected this fundamental fact (Americans enjoy God given rights which government cannot abridge) in their speeches, correspondence and documents from the Mayflower Compact to the Declaration of Independence and other more recent documents, all of which recognize certain rights such as life, liberty and property as being bestowed from God, and as, therefore, "inalienable." I am losing something precious and more valuable than the U.N. can possibly grant me by surrendering my status as an American soldier and fighting man. 8. Without a response from the Army about the justification, it is difficult if not impossible to judge the legality of any orders to become a U.N. soldier, and in the face of any doubt, I do not intend to surrender my status as an American soldier to wear the uniform of a foreign power. If you wish to convene a court martial and send me to jail for standing upon my oath as an American soldier and for firmly defending my wearing the American Army uniform, and upholding its historic significance, then I cannot prevent that action, and I will accept it as a price I am willing to pay rather than submit to an order to obey or render allegiance to a foreign power, the United Nations. It would seem there are those who would see my country assimilated or increasingly under the authority of the United Nations or subject to international tribunals and this would mean a corresponding loss of America's sovereignty, departure from our founding principles in the Constitution which I am sworn to defend and a loss of independence for all Americans. (signed) Specialist Michael G. New, U.S.A.