soldiers to whom it was handed at Sukiyabashi, Tokyo, and the naval base at Yokosuka. .
AMERICAN SOLDIER NO LONGER PROUD OF HIS COUNTRY'S UNIFORM
Unable to square his conscience with what the U.S. armed forces are doing in Vietnam, an American soldier, Specialist—4 J. Harry Muir, 21, of Goldsboro, North Carolina, has refused to wear his country's military uniform any longer. He demanded to -be discharged as a "conscientious objector." .
Before surrendering to military authorities at Fort Benning January 3, he told the press that he could not participate in "escdlation of the war in Vietnam, the bombing of North Vietnam, the continuing troop build-up in South Vietnam and the use of chemicals as outlawed by the Geneva Conventions
He said, "I would violate the laws of my fatherland concerning war and military service before I would | continue to compromise what I hold to be holy laws of love, peace and nonviolence.
Harry Muir had been considered to be a model soldier. After a term of service he was given an honorable discharge. He reenlisted in October 1965 for a six-year term in which he expected to become an officer and to be transferred to the Special Forces and go to Vietnam.
"I spent more time studying the ways of war and more time thinking," he said. After sixteen weeks, he quit the Officers Candidate School.
He filed as a "conscientious objector," joining the Protestant Episcopal Church to gain recognized standing in this category. He was given noncombatant duties in the Army Medical Corps but felt that this would contribute to the war effort.
When his request for a discharge was turned down, he decided to resist and to risk imprisonment in.the hope that this would "cause the American people to take a serious look at the manner in which conscientious objection to war is dealt with by the armed services and the Selective Service System."
The case created a considerable stir in view of Harry Muir's family background. He comes from one of the most prominent families in North Carolina, being a great~grandnephew of the late Josephus Daniels,Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson and Ambassador to Mexico under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He is also related to Jonathan Daniels, editor of The Raleigh News and Observer.
Interviewed on a nationwide telecast, the rebellious soldier was asked about the prospect of being sent to prison because of his way of expressing his antiwar views. He smiled and said that at most it would be for five years, the maximum penalty provided under the law.
BROAD CAMPAIGN FOR HUGO