 Citizen Soldier is a third story in this real-war stories number two from Eclipse Comics published in 1991. Citizen Soldier the name of a veterans organization that is geared towards advocating for US veterans. Written by Kim Yeo, artist Dean Mottor, letters M. Eisman, edits Joyce Bradner. Press about face. A four-year bummer. The airman's voice. On guard and I believe on guard was a paper that Citizen Soldier was putting out. This is your personal property and cannot be taken away. Fort Knox had won so did Fort Dix. Its name was shakedown, Newport Naval Station, titled Dares, All Hands Abandoned Ship. While weight, right Patterson Air Force Base, called Dares, the star-spangled bummer. The Marines said said it all with a single nasty word, rage. That's what that is, rage. The GI Underground newspapers were the most consistent, consistent stateside protest during the veteran era. Some lasted for years, others folded when the men who put them out were discharged or transferred. As the war drew to its weary end, the newspapers shut down as well. Vietnam vets were systematically discharged from service to make way for less embedded, more pliable volunteer armed services. The reason for the fraggings, the search and avoid patrols, the radical unrest and sabotage and attack carriers and unpopular war is long over. One rarely hears of any protest among soldiers or sailors. On guard, the paper published by Citizen Soldier, a non-profit GI, a veterans rights group, is proof that discontent and dissent still exist. Hi. I was told I could call this number and find out about AIDS testing. I'm in the Army and I need to know what will happen to me if I refuse. I guess I'd better tell my story. I tried using the chain of command, but no one's doing a damn thing about it. The equipment's unsafe, and someone's going to get hurt, maimed, even killed. Hi. I'm in the eighth grade and I'm doing a term paper on Agent Orange, and I was wondering if I could send me some information. Eight and a half years of hard work wiped out because I was honest about being gay, because I was true to the oath of my commission that I would not lie. I want to fight it, but I'll need help. Each issue of on guard reflects the paramount concern of Citizen Soldier, the democratization of the military system, making it accountable to society at large, and responsive to the needs of his personnel and families. Every day, Citizen Soldier receives calls from men and women, enlisted, enlisted, and officer on active duty or in the reserves who believe their human and civil rights have been infringed upon by military policies and practices. Changes are, if you call chances are, if you call Citizen Soldier, Trisha Prechfield will answer. Trisha sought Citizen Soldier's assistance in obtaining a release from the air force as a consciousness objector in 1983. She's been an integral part of Citizen Soldier now for eight years, press releases, fundraising, screening, and processing calls. You name it, Trisha does it. The answering machine goes off. Amazing. After all these years, we're still getting inquiries about Agent Orange. So this is... This was a call coming in to her, I believe, regarding Agent Orange. And Agent Orange was a chemical that the US military used in Vietnam, in Cambodia, and in that region. And they sprayed it everywhere and it appeared poison. And Monsanto had a role to play in it, I believe. It was amplified, pesticide, military grade pesticide that was used for killing off the vegetation so the soldiers could see through. They wouldn't be ambushed and stuff and poisoned everything. Poisoned everything. Continuing with the comic, gay men and women love their country too. Every time I put on my guard uniform, I feel a great sense of pride. That's another message. There's the paper on guard. Bring. By challenging the military's efforts to discharge me, I'm standing up for the right of Americans to enjoy sexual expression without click. Oh, so someone was leaving a message. She picks up the phone. Hello, Citizen Soldier. She answers. That's a beautiful piece. I see you're calling on behalf of your son. He signed with the Marine, reserves for the money for college and the terms of enlistment were misrepresented to him. Recruiting. Join the Marine. They promised that field training would not disrupt his college studies and that he would be excused from drills when he had exams or term papers. Now he's getting hassled. He's interfering with his grades. Yes, and now he wants out. History of western civilization. C-minor as well. That's not good grades. No, your son's not the only one. Unfortunately, we receive plenty of calls and complaints about recruitment practices. They'll tell you you're going to be a pilot and you don't have a high school education. False promises, bait and swish tactics, blatant lies, threats and intimidation of enlistees, all in the name of an established quota system which recruiters are under intense pressure to meet. So the ends justify the means, forge the signature of a 17 year old recruit, old recruits, estranged father on the enlistment papers. Don't mention that on a delayed entry enlistment contract, a person isn't legally obligated to report for active duty unless they swear a second oath which places them on active duty. Talk to golden career opportunities, portray in the commercials and films like Top Gun and then sign the guy up for whatever slot needs to be filled, over qualified, under qualified for the position, it doesn't matter, fill the quota. A third of the jobs in the army and marines are either with infantry, artillery or tanks. Almost half the navy jobs involve extended tours of sea duty. The number of qualified people who actually get the high tech training is very small. Enlistees find that written promises for a specific job assignment aren't binding, the army isn't obligated to train you as a radar technician, the navy isn't obligated to place you in navigation school. Hey buddy, your scores are good but all my school openings are closed right now. After you complete basic, you can reapply for computer tech or attrition or sonar or nuclear. Yes, tomorrow afternoon is fine. Back to the citizen office, right? Yes, tomorrow afternoon is fine. How about 115? Good. No, please feel free to come along. We want you to find out more about citizen soldier by now. By now. Good morning. How many messages? He asks. Too many. The most important one is still on the machine. Another call came in before I could finish listening to it and this time you're helping an eighth grader with her paper on Agent Orange. On guard was delivered but I haven't looked through a copy yet. I just finished with another recruitment call. The guy will be in with his father tomorrow. Fine, do the intake and I'll review exactly what kind of case we've got and how we can help. You answer it. I want to read my morning paper with my coffee, she says, and the phone was ringing. Hello, citizen soldier, Todd Ensign speaking. Haha, Todd Ensign. The end. And Todd Ensign. So it looks like it was a two-person operation so far, but it must have been more people in there, right? And Todd Ensign is the person that wrote the little statement here regarding who citizen soldier is, right? Todd Ensign. Very cool. Very cool. Very cool. What a historical piece. Crazy. Crazy. Very cool. Very cool gang.