Convicted deserter to speak in Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ An Iraq war veteran who chose to go to prison rather than return to the battlefield will speak in Oklahoma City Monday night. <br/><br/>Camilo Mejia will speak at 7 PM at the Mayflower

Monday, August 8th 2005, 10:50 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ An Iraq war veteran who chose to go to prison rather than return to the battlefield will speak in Oklahoma City Monday night.

Camilo Mejia will speak at 7 PM at the Mayflower Congregational Church in northwest Oklahoma City. The event is free and open to the public.

Majia was a staff sergeant in the Army when he refused to return to his Florida National Guard unit after a two-week leave in October 2003.

He was convicted of desertion and later was denied status as a conscientious objector and sentenced to prison at the correctional facility at Fort Sill. He also was reduced in rank to private.

Mejia served five-and-a-half months near the Sunni Triangle and claimed the horrors of war made him a conscientious objector.