AIR FORCE BACKS DOWN,
DR. BUCK AVOIDS PRISON
HIT WITH HEAVY FINE
CAN REMAIN IN MILITARY

Facing a firestorm of protest from the public and a quiet rebellion among the ranks, an Air Force panel who convicted Capt. John Buck on Monday of ãdisobeyingä an order to submit to the controversial Anthrax shots, decided to forgo sending the young physician to prison.

The 11-man panel at Keesler AFB in Mississippi deliberated for 90 minutes before handing down a sentence last month of 60 days "base confinement," a $21,000 "fine," (spread out over 14 months) and a letter of "reprimand" added to Buck's personnel file.

The emergency room doctor and first physician in the U.S. military to say NO to being ãguinea-piggedä with the so-called Anthrax ãvaccine,ä could have received five years imprisonment and a dishonorable discharge.

Courtroom sources tell MilitaryCorruption.com there is no guarantee the Air Force wonât try again to order Buck to submit to the shots, and, if he still refuses, charge him anew with ãdisobeying an order.ä

AN ELOQUENT STATEMENT BY A COURAGEOUS OFFICER

So important are the words we reproduce below, that we have put them in capital letters to emphasize their meaning. They are the words of a man possessing courage and character, badly lacking among todayâs Air Force ãbrassä and Pentagon ãdesk-jockeysä

ãI WAS AT A CROSSROADS . . . BETWEEN MY OATH AS AN OFFICER AND MY DUTY AS A PHYSICIAN.

ãTHE ONLY WAY TO HAVE PEACE ABOUT THE CONFLICT WAS TO DO WHAT I KNOW IN MY HEART AND CONSCIENCE TO BE RIGHT AS A PHYSICIAN - AND STARE DOWN THE BARREL OF A GUN WITH THE COURAGE OF AN OFFICER.

ãI KNOW ENLISTED PERSONNEL HAVE BEEN COURT-MARTIALED BEFORE ME, AND ALL HAVE BEEN FOUND GUILTY. I COULD HAVE WALKED AWAY AND PROTECTED MY SELF-INTEREST, BUT I FELT THAT WOULD BE TURNING MY BACK ON MY TROOPS.ä

Spoken like a true ãleader,ä an officer who was willing to risk all in a cause so important to the future of the U.S. military. We at MilitaryCorruption.com SALUTE you Captain Buck, for your courage and determination to do what is right for service members and our country.

SPINNER TO APPPEAL

Ace defense attorney Frank Spinner vowed he would appeal military court judge, LTC Mark Allredâs arbitrary refusal to accept or allow evidence before the panel that would conclusively show the forced Anthrax shots to be neither safe nor legal.

The Air Force ãbrassä have maintained a ãdonât confuse us with the facts, our closed mind is made upä attitude. But, like a rotten piece of poisoned fruit hanging from a tree branch, the ãAnthrax shot programä will soon die a much-deserved death. The question is, will investigators ãfollow the money trailä and punish those responsible for this devastating assault on morale in our nationâs armed forces?

The military voted overwhelmingly in favor of George W. Bush last election and deserve better than a ãhands-offä attitude from the White House. Didnât Bush promise to ãreform the military?ä He made that promise to our men and women in uniform, and we intend to hold his feet to the fire until he comes through.

As for the Senate Majority Leader, Trent Lott of Mississippi, it would have been welcome if he had spoken out more forcefully prior to sentence being handed down. Heâs always ready to give the TV cameras a ãsound-bite,ä like when he injected himself into the Lt. Kelly Flinn case, remember?

Senator, why havenât you proposed legislation to STOP this destructive and dangerous ãvaccine,ä from being forced (under threat of severe punishment) on our members of the armed forces? Why should they have to choose between risking their health and lives and draconian measures such as fines, prison and loss of career? We know you never served in the military, senator, but you have an obligation to look out for the well-being of those who do.

SUPPORT FOR BUCK THROUGHOUT THE AIR FORCE

Like the first field-grade officer to refuse the ãshots,ä former MAJ Sonnie Bates (now a civilian airline pilot), Capt. John Buckâs name will go down in the honor role of those - like former Air Force COL Redmond Handy - who put it all on the line no matter what the odds. Thank God men like these still exist.

Beginning with the posting of our B U L L E T I N yesterday on the ãguiltyä verdict handed down against Dr. Buck, our E-mail has been clogged and phone ringing constantly with words of anger, amazement, some - fear and apprehension, but mostly determination and a heartfelt respect for Capt. Buck.

We know that MilitaryCorruption.com is read every day at Air Force bases all across America and around the world. From Kadena to Aviano, from Elmendorff to McGuire, we hear your voices and we will magnify their sound on this page. We will fight for you and all members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard too.

The Clinton regime is no more. Our military has survived the past eight years of cut-backs, double-standards and social experimentation that has ruined morale and severely damaged recruiting and retention. Now it is time for the Bush Adminstration to ãget out the barn shovelä and start ãcleaning up.ä

First stop, the Pentagon. Dump Shinseki (infamous for the bone-headed ãblack beretä fiasco) and the other bootlickers who prospered under ãthe draft-dodgerâs tenure.ä They should be sent to the showers now. Retire them and get rid of them. Our countryâs security hangs in the balance.