This Day in Military History
American Soldier Court-Martialed
for wanting to serve his own country!!!

10 October 1995 (Schweinfurt, Germany) - Army SPC4 Michael New reported to formation with his regiment of the 3rd Infantry Battalion, wearing an authorized Battle Dress Uniform - green cap and US patch on his right shoulder.  For that audacious act of disobeying a direct order to wear an unauthorized uniform - with a blue cap and a United Nations patch on his right shoulder - SPC New was court-martialed and kicked out of the Army with a Bad Conduct Discharge.  SPC New appears to be the first and only American soldier ever court-martialed for wanting to serve his own country!

The story is told in the book, MICHAEL NEW - Mercenary...or American Soldier?, and should be read today by every man and woman in uniform.  The questions asked by SPC New in 1995 are still unanswered, or have been given answers that cannot be acceptable to a free and sovereign nation.  Among them: SPC New fought the decision by his court-martial, appealing to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, where he lost.  He then appealed to the Court of Appeals of the Armed Forces,where he lost again.  He then appealed to the US Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case.  His attorneys then filed suit on his behalf with the US District Court in Washington, D.C., a court which had found merit in his case in 1996, but ruled itself ineligible until the military review was ended.  Suddenly, it could find no merit, and he lost again.  He then appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, where he lost again.  He then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and for the second time, not one Supreme Court Justice could find enough merit in the case to hear it.  That process took over twelve years.

At the heart of the issue was an Executive Order, known as Presidential Decision Directive #25, or PDD25.  This was the document whereby President Bill Clinton authorized himself (ignoring Congress, ignoring existing statutory law, and ignoring the Constitution) to deploy American troops under United Nations authority.  Then, to make sure that he would not be impeached for his actions, he classified the document, so that not even Members of Congress could read it!  You can read the public version here.  You can read one analysis of that document here.  The public version is a public relations piece.

What motivates a soldier to sacrifice a promising career and then spend years of his life fighting a simple Bad Conduct Discharge?  According to former SPC New, "I took an oath of exclusive allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, not to the United Nations Charter.  While I would like to have an Honorable Discharge, since I did nothing that was not honorable in this affair, my only motive for resisting such an order has been that future American soldiers -- including my sons and nephews -- may be required to be mercenaries in the New World Army, and that is unacceptable to me, as an American."

The Ballad of Michael New was composed by noted composer and performer Dave vonKleist, and has now been set to graphics as an video, for the 15th anniversary of 10/10/95.  It will be available for sale later, but it can now be viewd on our new You Tube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/spcmichaelnew?feature=mhum. 

The book, MICHAEL NEW - Mercenary...or American Soldier?, is still given free to all active duty military personnel who request it.  There is also a DVD documentary on the subject, GOOD CONDUCT, The Story of Michael New. 

For more information, www.MikeNew.com/, where you can sign up for free updates.


Please pass this on to every Veteran, every active duty military person, and every young person contemplating enlistment.