Exclusive Quaker House photos of his release here

Jacksonville NC, February 4--Stephen Eagle Funk, one of the first public GI resisters against the Iraq war, was freed this morning from the Marine Corp Brig at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. At five AM, he was taken to the nearby Jacksonville airport, and there boarded a flight for California, where he will complete his discharge from the Marines.

Funk was met at the Jacksonville airport by Chuck Fager, Director of Quaker House in Fayetteville NC, and Rubye Braye, a Quaker from Wilmington, NC. Both had been frequent visitors with Funk during his six-month sentence at the remote Marine base. Quaker House was active in organizing visits and support throughout Funk’s incarceration.

Funk joined the Marine reserves in 2002, during a period he described as one of personal confusion. But when activated and confronted with military training and the prospect of joining the invasion of Iraq, Funk soon realized he had no sympathy with the war, or with war in general. He filed a claim as a conscientious objector, which the Marines ignored, and then went AWOL. While absent in the spring of 2003, Funk spoke at peace rallies, and came out as a gay man.

In April he returned to the Marines to face the consequences of his absence, and was charged with desertion, a felony which carries a long sentence or even, in wartime, possible execution. He says some friends urged him to seek a discharge under the military’s "don’t ask don’t tell" policy excluding acknowledged homosexuals. But Funk refused to do this, because he rejects the discrimination that the policy represents.

Funk was tried at a court martial in New Orleans in September. Marine prosecutors ridiculed his CO claim as a fake, an attempt to evade hazardous duty. The military jury acquitted him on the desertion charge, but convicted him of "unauthorized absence," and sentenced him to six months confinement and a bad conduct discharge. Six months for 47 days absence is an unusually long sentence. To serve it the Marines sent Funk to Camp Lejeune, across the continent from his duty station, family and friends.

Besides visits, call for support from Quaker House and others brought Funk more than one thousand letters and cards from several countries. Brig regulations limit inmates to keeping a maximum of forty letters, but when guards attempted to confiscate Funk’s "stash" of correspondence, he appealed to brig commanders and was permitted to keep them.

Besides providing personal encouragement, Funk reports that sharing many of the letters with other inmates spread their messages of action for peace, and affirmation of gays among a population normally under the influence of a constant barrage of contrary propaganda. He had many good conversations with other prisoners, even some who disagreed.

When he arrived at Lejeune, Funk’s supporters feared that he might be in danger because of his outspoken antiwar views and open gayness. But Funk’s friendly personality, his skill at cards (he won a brig tournament playing spades ) and the curiosity aroused by his unusual status proved disarming. He did not encounter any physical harassment from other inmates.

Funk told Quaker House that he planned to take some private time with friends and family once he is discharged, "wading back in" to life outside rather than jumping into a whirl of public or media activity. He also said he wanted to thank all the people who wrote to and prayed for him during this intense experience.

More background information about Stephen Funk and his peace activism can be found   here   and here   and here!

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