Let's apply a little deductive reasoning to what we know here.

LYNCH--attacked when her truck takes a wrong turn that leads to a fire-fight and her broken legs. She was touted as a heroine who "fought fiercely and killed many enemy soldiers", but it was later revealed that evidence showed "the men may have been trying to protect the women in the company."--Elaine Donnelly, Center for Military Readiness.

JENKINS--...while leading a patrol in January 1965, Charles Robert Jenkins heard a noise.  Telling his troops to wait for him, he went to investigate and did not return. –from the Family of Charles Robert Jenkins

According to the government, it was at that moment, while leading a patrol, that Jenkins took the opportunity to put his planned defection into effect. Yes, they reason, that dark night along the DMZ, while out leading his men, he was overcome with his long-planned desire to run into the arms of "Dear Leader's" communist utopia, and decided that right then and there was the perfect instant to fake hearing something, walk into the bush, drop his rifle, and run to the north, knowing that all the while his American comrades were just a few feet away, waiting for him to return.

My...the common sense of this is astounding. It must have taken a whole building full of bureaucrats to come up with that scenario.

LYNCH--About 10 days in the hands of the enemy, most of which she was lying in a hospital bed surrounded by people who actually liked her. The Real 'Saving of Private Lynch': Iraqi Medical Staff Tell a Different Story Than US Military

JENKINS--39 years and counting in the "Stalinist utopia" of North Korea, where the care is so outstanding that he is now in Japan trying to get treatment for a botched, un-healed stomach surgery a few months ago. Ex US Soldier, Family arrive in Japan

LYNCH--No Iraqi troops near her while she is at the hospital. Jessica Lynch 2003 Chronology - Disinfopedia

JENKINS--After finally admitting to the decades of forced abductions, North Korea allows Jenkins' wife to return home, but alone; her husband and daughters must stay in North Korea, where they are closely monitored (A common communist tactic to ensure that the "free bird" behaves) The lost soldier and his abducted bride - smh.com.au

LYNCH--Multiple book and movie deals, her education paid for, awards, fame, recognition, and more money than she could ever hope to get in a lifetime of teaching elementary school! Jessica Lynch 2003 Chronology - Disinfopedia

JENKINS--WHO????

The only two significant differences between LYNCH and JENKINS? The era and the sex. That is it.

HE never stood a chance; SHE got them all and then some. And she did it in less time, more confusion, and with fewer facts.

All situations must pass three tests in order to be valid: logic, reason, and consistency. Here is the evidence that led the government to their conclusion, and why they meets none of these.

1. The main "proof" the government held up for the world were 4 letters they claimed to have found in the days following his disappearance, letters that have since evaporated, making handwriting analysis impossible. But the contents of one letter went like this: I am sorry for the trouble I will cause you. I know what I have to do I am going to North Korea. Tell family I love them very much. Love, Charles. Now I'm no genius, but I have a son who does not go by his first name; he has since birth been called by his middle name, as was Charles Robert Jenkins, who has always been known as Robert. Tell me...if you were writing your last letter to your mother, would you use the name that she had never called you? No, this defies the first tenet: logic, which dictates you would use the familiar name. My son has never, ever, ever signed any of his notes, letters, homework, or cards with his first name. Not even once. However, the name that would be on all of Jenkins' documents and tags would be Charles, and since the majority of Americans do go by their first name, it is logical that whoever wrote these letters would have gotten his name from official tags and assumed it was correct, not knowing the important detail that Robert did not go by Charles.
2. The wording of the letter is awkward, suggesting that the writer may not have been fully comfortable with the English language. This, too, defies logic.
3. The timing of the letters being found, which happened weeks after he disappeared, is suspicious. Surely his friends and the MP's would have immediately searched his personal possessions, finding the letters within hours of his absence. I know I would have. This defies both logic and reason.
4. The government used a quote by one of Jenkins' classmates as evidence too. "The last time I saw him, he had come home for Christmas in 1964," said Wayne Pope, a classmate of Jenkins, in an April 15, 1996, People magazine story. "He kept saying we would never see him again." Who knows what context this was in, or even if this man was reliable. And it defies logic yet again that they would put so much weight on the hearsay of an acquaintance but so completely ignore the claims of those who knew him best--his family. This one quote is totally inconsistent with what friends and family have said about Jenkins, who lied about his age to join the Army at the age of 14, and had always been proud of his service. So again no logic, no reasonable conclusions, and absolutely no consistency.
   
5. The government claims that five days after Jenkins was taken, the North Korean government asserted over its propaganda intercom system that Sgt. Jenkins had defected, calling him a "hero." Now knowing North Korea as I do, I find it hard to believe that they would have waited five whole days to gloat about this "victory". Communist countries take decades to admit to failings, but they are faster than a runny nose when it comes to something they can use in support of "the state." Given North Korea's penchant for cruelty, five days is more than enough to break a man. Kidnapping and torture are most definitely consistent with North Korea's behavior, as they have been kidnapping people from other countries and even along the DMZ for four decades now. That makes Jenkins' family's scenario absolutely logical, reasonable, and consistent with the known facts; it casts even more doubt on the government's continued denial that the NKA could never have gotten to Jenkins along the heavily-guarded border. North Korea's done it before, and even been so brazen as to snatch people from their own lands; it is completely reasonable and consistent with their behavior. Besides, they have spies in the south, and I don't know about you, but I can't tell a North Korean from a South Korean except by the uniform. Therefore, not only was this a possibility, it borders on being a certainty, and begs the question: Why on earth is our government choosing to believe a kidnapping, untrustworthy Axis-of-Evil country who lied for decades about what it was up to, and still does?
6. The government reasoning of the motive is that Jenkins wanted to avoid the war in Vietnam. This is the most ridiculous of all! Why run to a hard-line Stalinist state--constantly at war--that requires years of military service of its people? And why wouldn't he have done so when he was home only weeks earlier, close to Canada and Mexico? It is also inconsistent with the type of person Jenkins had already proven himself to be--a man who wanted to get into the service before he was even old enough to shave is not likely to try to get out of it after a decade of honorable service.

President Bush, for the most part I have been supportive of you. I believe the war in Iraq is both just and necessary, and that you are doing the right--and hard--thing.

However, your decision to continue to pursue charges against the 64-year-old Jenkins is unconscionable. It is plain to anyone with an ability to follow a logical sequence that Robert Jenkins was kidnapped, tortured, forced to play his role as a pawn for the country that enslaved him, and abandoned and vilified by the country he loved.

If only he had been a woman--apparently, they are worth any cost to rescue... even the truth.

Robert Jenkins is not the traitor here... we let him down. We owe him. I'm not going to ask for a pardon, because he has done nothing wrong. I am, instead, demanding he be given the very thing he was willing to give everything for: freedom. Bring him home, Mr. President.

Keep the faith, bros, and in all things courage.

**I'm asking everyone to please call/email/fax Pres. George Bush, who is the only one who can help Jenkins and his family. Don't ask for a pardon, ask for justice! Let's flood 'em for his freedom!**

Resa LaRu Kirkland is an avid military historian, with her main focus being on the Korean War and its forgotten warriors. She has been given many names by her beloved Korean War Vets, her favorites being "The Pitbull," "Rambo Brockovich," "Hellraiser," "Tiger" and "D-Day." This article was published originally at EtherZone.com: republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.