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Women’s History Month hosts ex-soldier
BY ELIZABETH ENKE
STATESMAN STAFF WRITER
iISSUE: 78/25
TYLER SWEENEY / STATESMAN
Army Reservist Melanie McPherson speaks at
UMD about her refusal to deploy to Iraq.
In celebration of Women’s History Month, Army Reserve member Melanie McPherson visited UMD and discussed her refusal of deployment to Iraq. McPherson was invited to speak at UMD by the Northland Anti-War Coalition (NAWC). NAWC is a broad combination of peace, religion and labor that work together with the hope and intention of bringing an end to the Iraq War and a change in U.S. policy, according to Joel Kilgour a NAWC member.
Kilgour believed it would be influential for McPherson to come speak on a college campus. He said he hoped this would give people who are interested in the military an opportunity to hear a different perspective, rather than just what recruiters say. “All of us are affected by the war on some level,” said Kilgour. “The amount of people and families that are actually involved is a very low 1 percent. They’re carrying the most of it. They went into that contract trusting the government wouldn’t send them in unless good reason was held. Most people don’t understand the reality of it. It’ll be good for people to hear and endure what they experience.”
In high school, McPherson said she thrived on adventurous situations. She wanted to go through Basic Training to test her mental and physical limits while also earning money for college; that is why she decided to sign up for the Army Reserve in 1999. During her time in the Army Reserve, McPherson was enrolled in a photography journalism class. She recalled seeing the pictures taken of noted historical event and wars. McPherson said she would envision her father, who was Vietnam War Veteran, in those photos—he was very quiet about the experience—and was able to get a small sense of what he had gone through. She explained how he had told her that photographs are the “undeniable tool to educate others of all the big [unseen] conflicts.”
In January of 2000, McPherson began her Basic Training and then went into the Reserves for 2 1/2 years. On April 1, 2006, McPherson received a letter of deployment for Operation Iraqi Freedom. She was assigned the task of a photojournalist. “I hadn’t been in a uniform in the past four years,” said McPherson. “I saw it as my destiny to live up to the other war photographers. It felt like a dream come true.” McPherson told her family and friends that she saw the deployment as a peace mission and that she did not agree with the war. She saw it as an opportunity to do a greater good for humanity.
As time drew closer to deployment, McPherson became mentally prepared and also very excited. She was very eager to try to better the situation in Iraq. Three days before her leave, she received a disheartening e-mail from a solider she had trained with. The e-mail warned her to be very flexible and told her that there was little to no need for a photojournalist down there. It also said that the military placed people where they were needed, regardless of proper training. Her friend also noted that he was unsure of what her position would be down there because she was a female. McPherson voiced her concerns to various commanders while she was in training.
In late July of 2006, while awaiting her plane ride at Ft. Bliss, in Texas, McPherson made her final decision to go AWOL (absent without leave). Instead of getting on the plane, she took a cab to the New Mexico border. “I was continuously told to be optimistic and flexible,” said McPherson. “I feared to be thrown into the unknown. It [could] be very dangerous for myself and others. I could only see things getting worse if I boarded that plane so, I decided to go AWOL and made my way back to Minnesota.” She ended up hitching a ride with a lemon truck in New Mexico, and it was then she was convinced she was doing the right thing.
Before she left her home in Minnesota, McPherson’s brother told her to “go out there and make lemons into lemonade.” McPherson happily admitted that she had never heard that phrase before and didn’t know what it meant until she hitchhiked that ride in New Mexico. “The truck that had picked me up was carrying 1,000 gallons of lemons to be made into lemonade in Florida,” said McPherson. “It was a sign that I knew I was doing the right thing, and the driver and I delivered those lemons together.”
During this time, McPherson had no contact with her family; however, the military did contact them. The first calls told the family that McPherson had disappeared and there may have been a chance she was taken over the border. Then the calls turned into accusing them of keeping their daughter in hiding. McPherson made it to Alabama and was able to purchase a Greyhound ticket with cash and a false name to Minneapolis where a close friend came and picked her up. She spent 40 days hiding in Minneapolis then headed north. “I was very paranoid,” said McPherson. “I rarely went out during the day. I felt like a bat in a cave.” McPherson said she had always intended to turn herself into the proper authorities, which she eventually did. She was taken to Texas on April 12, 2007, where her punishment was determined. She was facing up to eight years in prison but her guilty plea of AWOL lessened her time to three months in prison.
Today, McPherson, 29, resides in Tofte, Minn., and is working as a potter and photographer. She plans on moving out west while using her artwork as a stepping stone to promote peace. “Everything turned out the way it was supposed to,” said McPherson. “Looking in hindsight, I still wouldn’t change anything.” Second year student Coly Wentzlaff was interested in McPherson’s story. “I have friends in the military, I’m sure everyone knows someone in the military,” said Wentzlaff. “It’s important to know that different people might have different situations.
Some people may have good situations; some people may have bad situations, but it’s important to talk about
both.” On the other hand, junior Brianna Rache felt that McPherson had an obligation to fulfill. “She understandably didn’t stand up for her responsibility as a U.S. soldier,” she said. McPherson said that she has been asked to re-enlist in the military. She said she had no other comment on the issue, but stated that good outcomes will come from her situation. “I’m here to help other people,” said McPherson of coming to UMD. “I’m not a speaker. The more you talk, no matter who you are, proactivity will take place.”
