I took an oath to the U.S.Constitution not a president or a political party
Here is a painting I just completed.. Acrylic on a 24 x 30 canvas called “Freedoms Battle” copyright 2009.
When I was in the army I hoped the day would not come where I would have to make the choice to go against our Constitution or our fellow citizens for exercising their Constitutional rights. Because I knew then what my choice would be. I took an oath to the U.S.Constitution not a president or a political party.
I didn’t have to make that choice while in the Military, but we have a lot of troops today, I fear, that may have to. I hope they make the right one.
This painting was inspired from all that’s been going on in our government lately.
A.F.Branco
Please donate and support Oath Keepers mission, every little bit helps!
December 16th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Hey A.F.
That painting of yours says it all, friend.
Thank you for your service to our Country.
Thank you for standing up for your beliefs, and being an Oath Keeper.
Eddie Gilbert
USMC SSgt 70-78
Peace Officer 97-present
December 16th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
That is a really cool painting!
December 17th, 2009 at 6:41 am
Welcome and thank you for joining us at Oathkeepers. Thank you for your service to our great country. I am proud to belong to an organization made up of so many American heroes that have defended our Constitution.
December 17th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
AF,
What a wonderful picture. It truly depicts the struggle that this country is going through. Our Constitution has provided us the freedoms that no other country has achieved but I fear that’s its falling apart at the seams. I too took an oath to the U.S. Constitution, not a president or a political party, and will defend it with all my might.
I would like to display a copy of your picture in my office. Is there a way for me to obtain/purchase a copy?
Keep up the good work.
KenE
USAF: 1971-1978
USNR: 1978-1982
TNSG: 2001-2006
DoD/Navy Civilian: 1978-Present
December 18th, 2009 at 5:44 am
Thank you for joining us and sharing your inspirational talent. Tears to my eyes and pain in my heart – superb painting!
God guide us together! Welcome and I humbly thank you!
USMC 1stMarDiv
88-93
Semper Fi
December 18th, 2009 at 7:08 am
Thank you all for your comments, it is so very appreciated. it is very touching to be in your company with this fabulous web site O.K. Some of you have asked about prints of this painting. Here is a link.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/afbranco/art/3985186-1-freedoms-battle
December 28th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Share39 Watada Discharged
Saturday 26 September 2009
by: Gregg K. Kakesako | The Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Lt. Ehren Watada was the first commissioned military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq because he believed it was an illegal war. (Photo: PD-USGov-Military)
The Army grants the officer’s resignation under “other than honorable conditions.”
First Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq because he believed it was an illegal war, has won his three-year legal battle with the Army.
With little fanfare the Army at Fort Lewis, Wash., accepted the resignation of the 1996 Kalani High School graduate, and he will be discharged the first week in October.
Rather than seek a second court-martial against the artillery officer, the Army will grant Watada a discharge under “other than honorable conditions
December 28th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
http://www.starbulletin.com > News >
Watada discharged
The Army grants the officer’s resignation under “other than honorable conditions”
By Gregg K. Kakesako
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Sep 26, 2009
(Single Page View) | Return to Paginated View
First Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq because he believed it was an illegal war, has won his three-year legal battle with the Army.
With little fanfare the Army at Fort Lewis, Wash., accepted the resignation of the 1996 Kalani High School graduate, and he will be discharged the first week in October.
Rather than seek a second court-martial against the artillery officer, the Army will grant Watada a discharge under “other than honorable conditions.”
Joseph J. Piek, Fort Lewis spokesman, said, “This is an administrative discharge, and the characterization of Lt. Watada’s discharge is not releasable under the privacy act.”
Watada, 31, told the Star-Bulletin in a phone interview yesterday that he was “glad to finally bring this chapter to a close and to move on.”
“The actual outcome is different from the outcome that I envisioned in the first place, but I am grateful of the outcome.”
Watada said he was “thankful to the people from all walks of life that supported me and agreed with my stand.”
In May, Watada won a significant legal victory when the U.S. Department of Justice dropped efforts to retry him. The Army had wanted to appeal U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle’s decision last October that a second court-martial would violate Watada’s constitutional protection against double jeopardy.
Following the Justice Department’s decision, the Army made it clear the only course available to Watada is what the Army calls “resignation for the good of the service in lieu of general court-martial,” Watada said yesterday.
Watada could either voluntarily resign or be forced out with a discharge “under other than honorable conditions.”
Watada said the result would be the same, except it would take longer if he was forced out.
Ken Kagan, one of Watada’s Seattle attorneys, said last night, “Lt. Watada had previously tendered his resignation on more than one occasion, and each time, it was rejected. This time, however, it was accepted, apparently only when the Army realized it could not defeat Lt. Watada in a courtroom.”
Kagan described Watada as “a hero and a patriot. Lt. Watada took a lonely stand as a matter of conscience, never attempted to spread discord within the ranks and never sought to evangelize about his ethical convictions. More importantly, he never disparaged the service and the sacrifices made by countless other soldiers and officers who obeyed their orders. He realized that each member of the armed forces must make her or his own decision, according to the dictates of conscience, just as he did. He always understood it to be an intensely personal decision.
“It is our belief that history will treat Lt. Watada far more favorably than the United States Army sees fit to regard him now.”
Watada said he turned in his resignation papers in July, and they were approved by the commanding general at Fort Lewis and sent to his higher headquarters. Watada learned of the Army’s final approval on Sept. 16.
Watada said that he does not know whether he will stay in the Pacific Northwest, where he attended Whitworth College, or return to the islands.
Before he was charged, Watada, an artillery officer, had requested to be assigned to Afghanistan instead of Iraq and even offered to resign from the Army. Both requests were denied.
Initially, Watada was charged with missing the 2nd Infantry Division’s 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s deployment on June 22, 2006, considered by the Army as the most serious charge, and conduct unbec- oming an officer.
Watada participated in anti-war rallies here and on the mainland and held numerous interviews denouncing Bush. Two of those activities were the basis of the charges of conduct unbecoming an officer. Conviction on all counts would have meant six years in prison and a dishonorable discharge.
One of his biggest supporters was his father, Bob Watada, who retired to farm in Eugene, Ore.
“I am very happy he is getting out,” the elder Watada said, “and getting on with his life.
“I firmly believe he did the right thing. I supported him all the way, and I continue to support him.”
Watada’s first court-martial ended in a mistrial in February 2007 when military judge Lt. Col. John Head believed that Watada did not understand the terms of a plea agreement. He had been charged with denouncing President George W. Bush and the Iraq war and refusing to join his Stryker brigade unit when it deployed.
The mistrial occurred before Watada’s attorney could put on a defense.
To block a second court-martial, Watada’s attorneys sued in U.S. District Court.
The Army had been contemplating prosecuting Watada for his anti-war sentiments, citing statements against the war and Bush that were not part of the original court-martial. Watada could have been court-martialed for conduct unbecoming an officer for making those statements.
However, Piek said yesterday, the last two remaining specifications under Article 133, conduct unbecoming an officer, have been dismissed.
Watada, who has been working a desk job since the mistrial, was supposed to have been discharged on December 2006, but his legal proceedings have kept him at Fort Lewis’ I Corps.
The 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team served three combat tours in Iraq.
First Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq because he believed it was an illegal war, has won his three-year legal battle with the Army.
FL MORRIS / DECEMBER 2006
View Large Version >>With little fanfare the Army at Fort Lewis, Wash., accepted the resignation of the 1996 Kalani High School graduate, and he will be discharged the first week in October.
Rather than seek a second court-martial against the artillery officer, the Army will grant Watada a discharge under “other than honorable conditions.”
Joseph J. Piek, Fort Lewis spokesman, said, “This is an administrative discharge, and the characterization of Lt. Watada’s discharge is not releasable under the privacy act.”
Watada, 31, told the Star-Bulletin in a phone interview yesterday that he was “glad to finally bring this chapter to a close and to move on.”
“The actual outcome is different from the outcome that I envisioned in the first place, but I am grateful of the outcome.”
Watada said he was “thankful to the people from all walks of life that supported me and agreed with my stand.”
In May, Watada won a significant legal victory when the U.S. Department of Justice dropped efforts to retry him. The Army had wanted to appeal U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle’s decision last October that a second court-martial would violate Watada’s constitutional protection against double jeopardy.
Following the Justice Department’s decision, the Army made it clear the only course available to Watada is what the Army calls “resignation for the good of the service in lieu of general court-martial,” Watada said yesterday.
Watada could either voluntarily resign or be forced out with a discharge “under other than honorable conditions.”
Watada said the result would be the same, except it would take longer if he was forced out.
Ken Kagan, one of Watada’s Seattle attorneys, said last night, “Lt. Watada had previously tendered his resignation on more than one occasion, and each time, it was rejected. This time, however, it was accepted, apparently only when the Army realized it could not defeat Lt. Watada in a courtroom.”
Kagan described Watada as “a hero and a patriot. Lt. Watada took a lonely stand as a matter of conscience, never attempted to spread discord within the ranks and never sought to evangelize about his ethical convictions. More importantly, he never disparaged the service and the sacrifices made by countless other soldiers and officers who obeyed their orders. He realized that each member of the armed forces must make her or his own decision, according to the dictates of conscience, just as he did. He always understood it to be an intensely personal decision.
“It is our belief that history will treat Lt. Watada far more favorably than the United States Army sees fit to regard him now.”
Watada said he turned in his resignation papers in July, and they were approved by the commanding general at Fort Lewis and sent to his higher headquarters. Watada learned of the Army’s final approval on Sept. 16.
Watada said that he does not know whether he will stay in the Pacific Northwest, where he attended Whitworth College, or return to the islands.
Before he was charged, Watada, an artillery officer, had requested to be assigned to Afghanistan instead of Iraq and even offered to resign from the Army. Both requests were denied.
Initially, Watada was charged with missing the 2nd Infantry Division’s 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s deployment on June 22, 2006, considered by the Army as the most serious charge, and conduct unbec- oming an officer.
Watada participated in anti-war rallies here and on the mainland and held numerous interviews denouncing Bush. Two of those activities were the basis of the charges of conduct unbecoming an officer. Conviction on all counts would have meant six years in prison and a dishonorable discharge.
One of his biggest supporters was his father, Bob Watada, who retired to farm in Eugene, Ore.
“I am very happy he is getting out,” the elder Watada said, “and getting on with his life.
“I firmly believe he did the right thing. I supported him all the way, and I continue to support him.”
Watada’s first court-martial ended in a mistrial in February 2007 when military judge Lt. Col. John Head believed that Watada did not understand the terms of a plea agreement. He had been charged with denouncing President George W. Bush and the Iraq war and refusing to join his Stryker brigade unit when it deployed.
The mistrial occurred before Watada’s attorney could put on a defense.
To block a second court-martial, Watada’s attorneys sued in U.S. District Court.
The Army had been contemplating prosecuting Watada for his anti-war sentiments, citing statements against the war and Bush that were not part of the original court-martial. Watada could have been court-martialed for conduct unbecoming an officer for making those statements.
However, Piek said yesterday, the last two remaining specifications under Article 133, conduct unbecoming an officer, have been dismissed.
Watada, who has been working a desk job since the mistrial, was supposed to have been discharged on December 2006, but his legal proceedings have kept him at Fort Lewis’ I Corps.
The 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team served three combat tours in Iraq.