Kevin Benderman has quickly become the public face of opposition to the Iraq War.

He’s been profiled in the L.A. Times, mentioned in several New York Times articles, appeared on numerous radio talk shows, and is flown around the country to speak before major  peace rallies.

He’s a family man, the stepfather to several college-age kids. He’s a true patriot who served his country. He just doesn't want to pick up a gun again.

Forty-year-old Sergeant Kevin Benderman was court-martialed by the U.S. Army for desertion. Haunted by his time of combat duty in Iraq, remembering his encounters with maimed children, witnessing dead civilians being ravaged by dogs, and helplessly watching young soldiers turned into soulless killing machines, the nine-year veteran declared himself a conscientious objector and declined to return to Iraq for a second tour. When his unit was again deployed, he stayed home in Georgia. Imprisoned for thirteen months after being convicted of “missing movement” in 2005, Benderman is still appealing, and he is requesting an honorable discharge.

“I'm being singled out and punished for speaking the truth about the army,” he said. He and his wife, Monica, continued to speak publicly in spite of his imprisonment. Their ongoing story is told in between fragments of the battles Kevin fought in Iraq, his growing awareness that the war in Iraq is wrong, and their struggle to see that justice is served. His is the public face of those against the war in Iraq, one of a few in uniform who served there. Kevin and Monica share a passionate, superbly written memoir that will get major national attention in the news media, as will his continued struggle against the U.S. Army.

Kevin Benderman served his country honorably, both in the United States and Iraq, service for which he was commended. But appalled by what he saw in Iraq, he decided he could not return for a second tour. For that, he was court-martialed and sent to prison.

He would do the same thing again.

“I have prepared this statement to address the injustice I have been dealt by the U.S. Army after I made the decision to apply for conscientious objector status. I made this decision after my return from Iraq, where I witnessed and experienced for myself the insanity of war. What I learned from my experience is that war is a waste of humanity. We kill many people in the name of keeping the peace—an oxymoron if there ever was one. After many months of contemplation, I reached the conclusion that I no longer wanted to contribute to the ultimate violence toward other human beings that war is.”

—from a statement by Kevin Benderman to the U.S. House of Representatives