IVAW member André Shepherd

-from the IVAW website:

IVAW member and war resister applies for asylum in Germany

IVAW member André Shepherd has applied for political asylum in Germany. Shepherd, a 31-year-old Army helicopter mechanic from Ohio, served for six months in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. While serving in Germany in the spring of 2007, Shepherd received orders to redeploy to Iraq. Instead, he chose to go into hiding.

Shepherd submitted his petition for asylum based on Germany's opposition to the illegal war in Iraq. "If I carried out my orders, it would make me a criminal. But I swore my oath on the American Constitution, which prohibits wars of aggression of any nature, such as the one in Iraq,"

After 19 months living with friends and supporters, Shepherd is now staying at an asylum facility in Karlsruhe, Germany while he waits for a decision on his asylum application.