Piece Description

Carl Webb Goes AWOL Part 1 1/20/05 It’s 8:35. You’re listening to Morning Edition on KUT. I’m Jennifer Stayton. Some 3,000 Texas National Guardsmen shipped out to Iraq the first week of this month. It was the largest single deployment of the guard since World War II. There are more than 50 thousand guardsmen serving in Iraq. More than a hundred and forty (140) have died there. And because the military has instituted a stop loss policy, some guardsmen are still fighting – even though their contracts should have expired months ago. One member of the Texas National Guard was scheduled to ship out this month. His name is Carl Webb. But Webb had deserted – and gone underground. Webb had taken a gamble on the National Guard. When he signed up, a few months before 9/11, he thought it unlikely he’d be called to war. In fact, he was a familiar figure at local anti-war gatherings. But last August, Webb was given orders he’d hoped he’d never hear. TAPE: Webb Diary Part 1 (on AV as) TIME: 2:11 O/C: "I would call truly underground." Back announce: Carl Webb continues his tale of desertion and living underground …. Tomorrow, with details of his months –long wait for the military to notice he was gone. ORIGINALLY AIRED January 20, 2005 on KUT FM, 90.5, Austin, TX