Joel David Klimkewicz, who received a “bad conduct” discharge from the United States Marine Corps because he obeyed his conscience and refused to pick up a weapon, won a victory that could let him return to the armed forces in the future. In a 3-2 vote, the U.S. Naval Clemency and Parole Board decided to upgrade Klimkewicz’s release from the service to a “general discharge.”
Klimkewicz was a combat engineer with the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, with headquarters at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and was convicted in December of 2004 on a charge of refusing to obey an order from a commanding officer who asked that the Marine pick up a weapon.
Klimkewicz, whose military performance and personal life underwent a drastic and positive change after a Christian conversion, joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church in October 2002, then re-enlisted for another tour of duty. After that time, the then-lance corporal learned that non-combatancy is the church’s recommendation, and, upon personal reflection, came to the conclusion that he could not take up a weapon to kill another person. He then asked for assignments where he could serve without carrying a weapon, volunteering, for example, to work on clearing landmines in Iraq.
The Marine Corps refused his request, culminating in the court martial that reduced Klimkewicz’s rank, led to a bad conduct discharge, and a felony conviction record following a seven-month jail sentence. He was released from the brig at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, after about three and one-half months behind bars, during which time he held Bible studies for other inmates.
Other appeals to upgrade his discharge and overturn his conviction can continue.
Today, Klimkewicz is a student at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee, living there with his wife, Tomomi and their young daughter. He hopes to eventually become a chaplain in the armed services. Mrs. Klimkewicz, a native of Japan, joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church along with her husband, and was helped by local church members in North Carolina during his imprisonment.
“I’m not a conscientious objector,” he told Adventist News Network in April of 2005. “I’m a conscientious cooperator; I don’t object to serving my country.”
With an estimated 14.3 million members and approximately 114,000 congregations in 203 countries and areas of the world, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has long advocated nonviolence and peaceful solutions to conflicts. The church supports noncombatancy for its members who serve in the military, but leaves such decisions to individual members.