'60s Vet Jailed for Desertion Freed

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A Vietnam-era Marine from New York with an honorable discharge says he was wrongly jailed last week for being AWOL.

Gary Whiting, 59, told The Buffalo (N.Y.) News he spent two days in a cell in Buffalo and then was flown in handcuffs to a military court in Quantico, Va., before being released. It turns out a four-decade-old bureaucratic snafu was to blame, the newspaper reported Tuesday.

Whiting divulged he was absent without leave in 1967 but returned to duty and was honorably discharged the following year.

"The Marines made a mistake, and when they found out about the mistake, they released me," Whiting told The Buffalo News. "I'm thinking about suing, but I still have very positive feelings about the Marines."

Whiting had no paperwork to back up his story. While the Marines aren't talking about Whiting's claims one way or the other, they did say they are tracking down 125 deserters from the Vietnam War era, the newspaper said. And officials at the U.S. Marshals Service in Buffalo said they arrested Whiting Sept. 24 on the desertion charges filed by the Marines.

'60s vet jailed for desertion freed : US World