I am going to get the contentious part of my post out of the way ahead of time. You will find that CPL (not SGT as he likes to try and portray) Adam Kokesh was WRONG in his actions that led to the Marine Corps withdrawing his honorable discharge. However, I also firmly believe the Marine Corps was wrong to withdraw an honorable discharge and replace it with a general discharge because of his actions. I believe it was excessive and unwarranted. With that said, CPL Kokesh violated Marine Corps and Department of the Navy regulations when he participated in his demonstration in March of this year.

Marine Corps Order P1020.34G specifically states:

The wearing of the uniform is prohibited under any of the following circumstances: when participating in activities such as public speeches, interviews, picket lines, marches, rallies or any public demonstration (including those pertaining to civil rights), which may imply Service sanction of the cause for which the demonstration or activity is conducted.

It goes on to state that Marines are forbidden from wearing the uniform anywhere or anytime that “would tend to bring discredit upon the Armed Forces.” CPL Kokesh’s actions in Washington, DC that afternoon of March 19th. Kokesh would argue that his actions did not “imply Service sanction of the cause” while he was bagging and tagging other anti-war demonstrators in mock arrests. However, to the uninformed public looking on at what would appear to be squad level tactics by uniformed military personnel, it is easy to conclude that the implication was indeed made that these were real soldiers. They wore complete uniforms, some with assault packs on. The held their arms as if carrying weapons at the ready.

A look at Kokesh’s blog will tell you that he thinks this is also about free speech. This is a lie that he would love you to believe because it shunts the blame from the true issue that he was in violation of many military regulations. When responding to a letter written by Marine Corps Major Whyte, the officer assigned to investigate the incident in March. The letter was clearly writting in Whyte’s official capacity as investigator to Kokesh in his official capacity as a member of the IRR – something Kokesh knew full well about when he signed up for service. It was at that point that Kokesh violated the UCMJ and Marine Corps regulations by responding:

If I accept this “plea bargain,” I would have to allow you to punish me for speaking my mind, allow you to say that it is somehow less than honorable for thousands of IRR Marines to exercise their freedom of speech, allow you to silence the voices of those whose experiences are most relevant in the most pressing debate before the nation, and allow you to say that Thomas Jefferson was wrong. If this is your intent, I would ask to please, kindly, go f*** yourself. I will not allow it.

I recently left a comment under one of CPL M’s open posts about Adam Kokesh, the former Marine Corps CORPORAL (he is not a Sergeant) whose honorable discharge was changed to a general discharge. I even wrote Mr. Kokesh that I completely disagreed with his position but thought that the Marine Corps was wrong in changing his discharge for free speech issues. He posted that letter on his blog. I did some more research into the matter and realized that he was misleading a lot of people, including me as a reader. I sent Adam another email stating that I no longer think he was shafted and that the Marines were enforcing their established and published rules and regulations. That email was NOT posted. I am working on this post to provide the readers here with a balanced report on what happened and why it happened as well as my position on the issue. Please be patient as I sift through all the facts and provide a completely accurate post. I just wanted to say immediately that my position has changed somewhat, especially in light of the fact that Adam posted my comment to him. Stand by for more…