Sweden deserter 'still a wanted man': US military

http://www.thelocal.se/41518/20120618/

David Hemler, now 49, recently came forward after 28 years of hiding in plain sight in Sweden with an assumed identity.

In 1984, the then 21-year-old airman left the US Air Force's 6913th Electronic Security Squadron in Augsburg, Germany and eventually made his way to Stockholm.

While nearly three decades has passed since Hemler went AWOL, he remains a wanted man by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), which confirmed that a man identifying himself as Hemler recently contacted the agency.

“We really want to catch this guy,” AFOSI spokesperson Linda Card told the New York Times.

Card's comments come on the heels of a report first published on Saturday in the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper in which Hemler revealed his secret past.

After arriving in Sweden in 1984, Hemler eventually gained residency under a false name, attended university and, over time, built up a rather unassuming life as a father and husband, despite an admittedly dubious story about how he first ended up in Sweden.

"I made up a story that I had run away from my parents while they were traveling but nobody believed it," he told DN.

The horror! The horror! To think that other countries beside the US let people just become whoever they want to be, illegal or not, even if nobody believes them.

Still, arrest and prosecute the guy for desertion, and see what happens.

It appears the deserter was in a high-security job. I'm sure the intel peeps will have a lot of questions for him, and he has a lot of 'splainin to do.

“I think I have been punished. I’ve been worrying my parents to death for 28 years.”

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Oh, he thinks he's been punished, huh? Wait until the military gets ahold of you. But then he'll probably get a dishonorable discharge and no prison time since his desertion was not during wartime.

Vince said:

Oh, he thinks he's been punished, huh? Wait until the military gets ahold of you. But then he'll probably get a dishonorable discharge and no prison time since his desertion was not during wartime.

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I think having to live in Sweeden and wear wooden shoes is punishment enough!

itsrequired said:

I think having to live in Sweeden and wear wooden shoes is punishment enough!

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That's Holland for wooden shoes. Sweeden is hot blondes and massages.

I watched a documentary several years ago about a marine I think, that deserted during his third Vietnam tour. He was listed MIA and had been living in New Zealand ever since. His family thought he was dead until one day about ten years ago he showed up on their doorstep. They convinced him to turn himself in to the military and the military processed him out without even a lecture. In fact several of the brass thanked him for his two highly decorated tours. :shrug:

Misfit said:

I watched a documentary several years ago about a marine I think, that deserted during his third Vietnam tour. He was listed MIA and had been living in New Zealand ever since. His family thought he was dead until one day about ten years ago he showed up on their doorstep. They convinced him to turn himself in to the military and the military processed him out without even a lecture. In fact several of the brass thanked him for his two highly decorated tours. :shrug:

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I would say he had earned an easy exit. My older bro-in-law flew Chinooks in Vietnam. He and his crew were shot down three times. They all survived all three crashes, which was amazing in itself.

After the third incident of being rescued under fire, he and his co-pilot walked up to the CO, turned their wings in, and refused to fly anymore. The CO said "OK, I understand", and reassigned them to less stressful jobs with no repercussions against them.

Although the request was noted in his service file, it did him no harm later as he flew Chinooks for the Texas ANG in both Iraq wars and Afghanistan. They finally let him retire (after four rears of his requests to do so) four years ago at age 62.

Vince said:

That's Holland for wooden shoes. Sweeden is hot blondes and massages.

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D*mn! Burn him at the stake then!