When Pablo Paredes, then an 18-year old from the South Bronx, joined the Navy he was only concerned with survival. Little did he know that a few years later he would make national news when he refused to board a ship ferrying soldiers to fight in Iraq.

"I came from that survival nature where you're more worried about putting bread on the table than you are about getting A's on your tests," Paredes said in a telephone interview with the Amsterdam News. "If it paid for my bills then it was important to me at that time."

On December 6, 2004 Paredes reported to the 32nd Street Naval Station in San Diego and told reporters his decision not to board, which could result in military prison time, court martial and a dishonorable discharge.

"Here you are carrying people to their death, and to criminal actions and to murder," Paredes said of his orders that day. "I knew I wasn't going to do it. Rather than do it in a way that compromises my integrity, I'd rather just be honest about it."

Paredes began preparing a conscientious objector application and turned himself in to Naval authorities on December 18th.

Like many anti-war soldiers who have come before him, his opposition developed during his time in the military.

In 2000, Paredes was working two jobs and attending college but he still couldn't afford his tuition. He considered getting a third job but, on his military recruiters' promises of educational opportunities, he opted to join the Navy instead.

Two years later, he went to Japan where he met people outside the military who spoke critically about US military interventions. Paredes had not given much thought to political issues before; the Navy was simply a job for him.

"It pushed me to get very educated as far as political ramifications of the military, especially as a Latino," Paredes said. "It was a birth of a different identity for me."

By the time he returned to the United States in 2004, Paredes was wrestling with his participation in the military and his moral opposition to all war. To avoid any involvement with the Iraq war, he unsuccessfully tried to switch jobs to work as a military police officer, checking Identifications stateside.

Paredes' new convictions were eventually tested when he was ordered to board a ship that would bring soldiers to Iraq.

"I don't want to be a part of a ship that's taking 3,000 Marines over there, knowing a hundred or more of them won't come back," he told reporters on December 6th. "I can't sleep at night knowing that's what I do for a living."

Paredes and his brother, Victor, are speaking out, telling Pablo's story wherever they can. Victor said he hopes that New York politicians - from city council members to senators - will issue statements of support for his brother. Senator Hillary Clinton's office has expressed interest, he said. Clinton's office was not available for comment.

Senator Chuck Schumer and Congressman Jose E. Serrano did not return requests for comment. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion declined to comment.

Paredes is joining a growing number of soldiers who are protesting the Iraq war, by refusing orders, going AWOL, fleeing to Canada or speaking out. There are not as many deserters and anti-war soldiers as during the peak of the anti-Vietnam war movement. However, soldiers and their families are organizing against this war earlier on then their counterparts during Vietnam.

Iraq Veterans Against the War was founded in July 2004, a little over a year after the war began. Vietnam Veterans Against the War was created in April 1967, about five years after the Vietnam war started. And unlike the Vietnam war, military families have been at the forefront of demonstrations against the Iraq war. More than 2000 families belong to Military Families Speak Out which was formed before the US even attacked Iraq.

Some of the most outspoken anti-war soldiers and military families are Latinos, Paredes said. One resister who has attracted international attention is Camilo Mejia, a 28-year old soldier who was recently released from military prison for refusing to return to Iraq. Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose son was killed in Iraq, travels the world, talking about his opposition to the war.

"I think it's by no accident that some of the people who have come out more vocal have been Latinos," said Paredes, who is Puerto Rican. "There's this conflict inside of us just because of the history of what the US military has done in our countries that makes us question things."

Despite soldiers' rising voices, many in the defense department dismiss the notion that there is significant resistance in the military, pointing to numbers which show desertion rates dropping from about 8300 in 2001 to about 5100 in 2004.

Military data show desertion rates decreasing but Steve Morse of the GI Rights Hotline says that the calls they receive illustrate a different trend - from 17,000 in 2001 to more than 32,000 in 2004. Thirty percent are from service members who are AWOL or are thinking about deserting, he said. One website, www.tomjoad.org/WarHeroes.htm, lists (and applauds) the names of soldiers who publicly refuse.

While Paredes says he's received overwhelming support, there are some who call him a coward even though his job on the ship was far removed from danger.

"You drop somebody off to do dirty work and you sit around in the back in air conditioning, online chatting, getting hero status," he said. "What am I afraid of? A paper cut? It has nothing to do with fear."

How You Can Help Pablo:

For contributions to Pablo's cause kindly send check payable to: Victor Paredes/San Diego Military Counseling Project Pablo Paredes Cause/P.O. Box 15307/San Diego, CA 92175

Please contact NY officials and ask them to support the troops by publicly supporting Pablo:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
phone: (212) 688-6262
fax: (212) 688-7444
Web form: clinton.senate.gov/email_form.html

Senator Charles Schumer
phone: 212-486-4430
fax: 212-486-7693
Web form: schumer.senate.gov/webform.html

Congressman Jose E. Serrano
phone: (718) 620-0084
fax: (718) 620-0658
jserrano@mail.house.gov

Mayor Micheal Bloomberg
phone: (212)788-3000
Web form: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion
phone: (718) 590-3500
webmail@bronxbp.nyc.gov

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg's work has appeared in The Nation, Truth Out, In These Times, mtv.com and The Amsterdam News. Her email address is elizabethwg@gmail.com