Should he go to jail?

‘You are going to make your decision, and I am going to respect that’

“On my personal part, after the last five years that I have been through, it would be, I don’t think, too – I don’t want to go with brash, too exaggerated to say that, [the last five years] that was a little more than any prison system in America could put forth, if we are talking punishment for action. I read on the Internet somebody saying, ‘Well, if charges of desertion were pressed, then he would spend five years in prison.’ If you put it in that sense, realistically speaking, what I dealt with isn’t in the American prison system because we go to great extent of giving prisoners the luxuries of being human.

From my personal perspective, given the opportunity to move on with my life, which has been what has kept me going. The ability to get back to this life and being the perfectionist that I am, make up for all of the things I had to look at as regrets.

Do I need anything to move on with my life? Yes, obviously I need something as a human being. I can pull myself up like I did before. I started at the bottom before; I can start at the bottom. …

So your decision is going to be your decision. This is just coming from my side. I’m going to be, as a soldier, I am going to understand that as the commander, as the general, you have the big picture. You have to look at everything, details to the bigger picture, and your decisions are going to be made off of your understanding of the situation and your experience in all the years that you have been there. You are going to make your decision and I am going to respect that.”