18 September 1995

FROM: Spc Michael G. New
HHC 1/15th Infantry
Conn Barracks
Schweinfurt, Germany

TO: Chain of Command
Subject: Statement of Spc. New concerning wearing U.N. uniform.

Reference (a) Oral orders of 21 August 1995 to submit statement following research.

1.

Pursuant to Ref. (a) in compliance with orders received on or about 21 August 1995, I researched the U.N. Charter, history and objectives of the U.N., and submit enclosures (1), my statement requested of me by my CO of my convictions and position regarding wearing a U.N. uniform and serving under U.N. command. Enclosure (1) attached hereto is submitted in specific compliance with those orders.

2.

I have reviewed the U.N. Charter, its history and objectives which I was somewhat familiar with, and I still find that the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence are incompatible with the U.N. Charter. My statement is submitted, and I await further direction.

Spc Michael G. New, U.S.A.

1.

As an American soldier I fully intend to obey all lawful orders, and I again request that the Army through appropriate channels provide for my review the legal justification for the change of uniform and the justification for pending deployment orders for UN/NATO operation "prevent deployment." "Able Sentry". Please include any and all relevant acts of the U.S. Congress and/or U.N. Security Council Resolutions.

2.

On August 21, 1995, my seniors in the U.S. Army chain of command informed me that my unit and I would soon be ordered to significantly alter our uniform by sewing a United Nations patch on my right shoulder and wearing the blue beret and/or helmet of the U.N. These are important insignia. If they were unimportant, then I would not have been threatened with courts-martial, imprisonment, or less than dishonorable discharge when I expressed my reservations about wearing them. I interpret the wearing of a uniform, or the accoutrements of a uniform, as a sign of allegiance and faithfulness to the authority or power so signified, or which issues that uniform. I am an American citizen who was recruited for and voluntarily joined the U.S. Army to serve as an American soldier. I am not a citizen of the United Nations. I am not a United Nations Fighting Person. I have never taken an oath to the United Nations, but I have taken the required oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

3.

I am not trying to avoid a difficult or dangerous assignment or to get out of the Army. I served in Kuwait last year and have offered to serve anywhere in the world, in my American uniform, in my capacity as a U.S. Army medic under American command and U.S. Constitutional protections. I have worked diligently to be a good soldier. I have previously been offered a "Green to Gold" program to an Army Commission, and I am still seriously considering that offer. In order to avoid controversy, or to avoid placing the Army in a bad light, I have requested a transfer to a unit that is not required to wear the U.N. uniform. I was told that such is not possible, and I was even reluctantly willing to accept an honorable discharge, and I was willing to sadly and reluctantly withdraw from the U.S. Army quietly. However, I will not wear a U.N. uniform or serve under U.N. command, and I will strongly contest any discharge that is less than honorable.

4.

I simply cannot understand the legal basis of the Army order to change my uniform against my oath of enlistment, against my conscience and against my will. Despite my requests for information up my chain of command, my questions about the lawfulness of such an order or about how my allegiance can be transferred without my approval have gone unanswered.

5.

My parents share my deep concerns and have requested information and help from General Dennis Reimer, Army Chief of Staff in Washington, D.C., in getting answers to my questions and theirs. To date, we have received no answer or information.

6.

My chain of command has directed me to study the history and objectives of the U.N. My knowledge of, and my research into the United Nations, (which continues even as I prepare this statement), indicates to me that the U.N. Charter is based upon manmade principles which are incompatible with the Constitution of the United States, and the U.N.'s authority and principles are diametrically opposed to the founding documents of my country. The more I study the U.N. history and American history, the more incompatible they appear to me.

My studies indicate to me that there are those who would see my country assimilated or brought under the authority of the United Nations, which I interpret to mean a corresponding loss of sovereignty, which is a departure from our Founding Principles and a loss of independence for all Americans. Boutros-Ghali, for example, has written, "The time of absolute and exclusive sovereignty has passed." (1992, An Agenda for Peace) I should expect EVERY American soldier to be concerned about serving under such a Secretary General.

America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I believe that the Constitution is the fundamental law of America, and if there is any ambiguity or conflict with treaty or international agreement or organization that the U.S. Constitution would prevail. My oath is to the Constitution. I cannot find any reference to the United Nations in that oath. That oath includes a statement that is more than a passing reference to God Almighty, it is a prayer, "...so help me God." It is no secret that our nation is founded upon Biblical principles. {~" ) Our Founders reflected this fact in their speeches, correspondence and documents from the Mayflower Compact to the Declaration of Independence, and other more recent documents, all of which recognize certain rights such as life, liberty and property as being bestowed from Above, and as, therefore, "unalienable." I believe I will lose something precious and more valuable than the U.N. can possibly grant me, by surrendering my status as an American fighting man.

8.

Without a response from the Army about the legality of any orders to become a U.N. soldier, I do not intend to surrender my status as an American soldier to wear the uniform of a foreign power. If you wish to convene a courts-martial and send me to jail for standing upon my oath as an American soldier and for defending my wearing the American Army uniform, and its historic significance, then I cannot prevent that action, and I will accept it as a price I am willing to pay, rather than submit to an order to obey or render allegiance to any foreign power, including the United Nations.

(signed) Spc. Michael G. New