Sheppard having “the time of [his] life”

I’m a little behind in my tips from you guys, so excuse me for the time lag. But someone sent me this link from Fox News/WSJ the other day about our old friend Andre Sheppard;

Germany has been very good to Spec. André L. Shepherd since he deserted the U.S. Army.

The 31-year-old former mechanic of the 601st Aviation Support Battalion is enjoying perks that eluded him back home in Ohio: a bed, a bank account, a cell phone and friends.

Best of all from his standpoint, he isn’t back in Iraq.

“I’m having the time of my life,” says Shepherd, the only American bunking at a refugee-processing center in southern German

Sweet. I can see him now, all alone in the “refugee center” pulling his pud and watching German broadcast TV (if you’ve never seen it, German TV is like Public Broadcasting only without the excitement).

Sporkmaster sends us a link to a Cleveland news source that seems proud to have their hometown boy in the news;

Germany opened its arms to a former Clevelander who deserted from the U.S. Army because of his opposition to the war in Iraq.

Now that soldier — Andre Shepherd — hopes Germany will open them a little wider and grant him political asylum.

His court hearing on the issue begins Wednesday in Karlsruhe in southwestern Germany.

“I have my first chance to tell my complete side of the story,” he said by telephone Friday.

Since he surfaced in November and formally asked for asylum, Shepherd has lived freely in Germany, under protection of that nation’s laws and international accords on asylum.

For 19 months before that, starting April 11, 2007, Shepherd lived underground with help from friends in southern Germany, where he had previously been stationed with the Army.

Another feather-in-your-cap moment for the large number of Cleveland and Lorain readers of TAH. So, while Shepard is busy braiding Darnell Stephens Summers‘ curly locks at the refugee center, Jody got Darnell’s girl and she’s gone.

The Fox News/WSJ article says that Sheppard has plenty of friends;

Shepherd has no shortage of supporters. Punk rockers gave him shelter after he decamped from a military base near Nuremberg in 2007 and went into hiding. Dozens of peace organizations have championed his cause since he turned himself in to German authorities late last year and applied for asylum.

“He’s our poster boy,” says Tim Huber of the Military Counseling Network, part of the German Mennonite Peace Committee, a nongovernmental organization helping finance Mr. Shepherd’s legal campaign.

He’s the poster boy of a lot of people’s lists, Tim. Especially mine – that list of stupid, lazy morons who don’t understand the meaning of duty, commitment and personal responsibility. Don’t do the crime….

The Mennonites ought to stick to painting their car bumpers black and leave the politics of keeping them safe for the grown ups.

Category: Politics