US Marine deserter caught after 36 years on run

Houston - A US citizen who deserted the Marine Corps 36 years ago rather than ship out to fight in Vietnam was arrested late last week and could face jail time.

Ernest Johnson Jr, 55, had been living as Ernest McQueen since he fled Camp Lejeune in North Carolina in 1969. He was arrested outside Fort Worth, Texas, where he lived with his girlfriend, according to Monday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Johnson joined the Marines in 1968, but said that news of the massacre of civilians by US soldiers in My Lai, growing protests against the war across the United States and stories from Marines returning from the battlefield prompted him to leave.

"I just decided I didn't want to be part of killing anybody. That's as plain as I can say it," Johnson told the newspaper.

He could face up to three years in a military jail and a dishonourable discharge, according to Marine Capt. Jay Delarosa.

"But it's really too early to say exactly what's going to happen to him," Delarosa said.

Delarosa said the military does not actively hunt down Vietnam-era deserters, but said Johnson was arrested after a relative tipped off authorities.

Johnson worked as a carpenter in several states for 35 years as he moved from state to state. He was married twice and divorced twice, and has two adult children, but never told his family about leaving the military.

"I'm glad to get this behind me," Johnson told the newspaper.

"What are they going to do with a 55-year-old man that's baldheaded, broke down, mentally unstable? What more can you do to me?"

- REUTERS