GI Who Won’t Don U.N. Colors Charged
SCHWEINFURT, Germany — In the first case of its kind, the U.S. Army has charged a 22-year-old medic with disobeying a lawful order for refusing to wear the U.N. blue beret and patch.
The medic’s commanding general will now decide whether Spec. Michael New of Conroe, Tex., will face a court-martial, U.S. Army spokeswoman Hilda Patton said Wednesday from Heidelberg, Germany.
New was to have been deployed to Macedonia this month for peacekeeping duty but was transferred to a headquarters brigade in Schweinfurt after refusing orders to don the U.N. insignia. About 540 U.S. soldiers are part of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Macedonia.
The medic contends that he swore allegiance to the United States and not the United Nations when he joined the service.
The medic’s legal adviser in the United States, Ronald D. Ray, said in a statement Tuesday that his client wanted to have a court-martial rather than accept non-judicial punishment.
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