Deputy nabs second of three AWOL Minnesota brothers

Richard Tsong-Taatarii, Star Tribune

Brothers Leo, 20, from left, and twins Leif and Luke Kamunen, 21, are shown in this May 2007 photo in their hometown of Carlton, Minn. The three enlisted in the military in 2006, and subsequently went AWOL around the end of the year.

By RANDY FURST, Star Tribune

Last update: April 25, 2008 - 11:29 PM

A deputy sheriff was waiting for Leif Kamunen when he and his girlfriend pulled out of the Carlton driveway on Friday morning in her grandfather's red Tacoma pickup truck.

His girlfriend, Angela Martini, said that Leif, 22, had gotten wind the military was after him and was planning to turn himself in to an Army office in Duluth after being AWOL for nearly 16 months.

The Carlton County Sheriff's Office saved him the trouble, arresting him about 7 a.m. on a desertion warrant.

Kamunen is one of three brothers from northern Minnesota who went AWOL from the Army at virtually the same time about 16 months ago, not returning to basic training after a Christmas break in 2006.

His twin brother, Luke, was spotted during a traffic stop in spring 2007 and arrested on a desertion warrant. He was flown to Fort Knox, Ky., where he was given an "other than honorable discharge" last year. He is now working and attending Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet.

The whereabouts of the third brother, Leo, remained a bit of a mystery on Friday night.

Some friends and relatives said they believed he also had been arrested for going AWOL. But his father, also named Leo, said his son told him that he couldn't find work in the area and might have gone to Minneapolis to work in a restaurant. The younger Leo did not answer calls to his cell phone Friday.

Debora Zauhar, Carlton County jail administrator, confirmed Friday that Leif Kamunen had been booked into jail on a desertion warrant. It is unclear what will happen to him next. "We have notified military authorities and we are waiting for their response," she said.

There was no record of Leo in either the Carlton or St. Louis county jails.

All three brothers had enlisted at roughly the same time in 2006 but grew disenchanted with their decision during basic training. Each brother was living with a girlfriend and they said they decided independently to go AWOL. They said they only learned after several days back home that the each of them had decided not to return to military duty.

Martini, who sounded distraught in a telephone interview on Friday, said that Leif had assumed that the Army would not have him arrested. She said he had spoken with someone in the Army last year who told him there was nothing in the Army computer about him and he should just go about living his life.

But she said he spoke by phone with a sheriff's deputy Thursday who had been inquiring about him in town. She said the deputy told him he would be arrested if he did not turn himself in by 8 a.m. Friday in connection with his military absence. Leif and Martini decided to circumvent an arrest by driving to Duluth, but the deputy was there to arrest him as he left home in Carlton.

The couple have an 18-month-old daughter, Jasmine, and live with Martini's grandparents. "He wanted to be with his child and watch her grow up and not be in Iraq," Martini said. "I didn't want him to go either."

Longtime counselors of AWOL soldiers said last year they had never heard of three brothers going AWOL. Bill Galvin of the national GI Rights Hotline said it is not unusual for the military to be slow about catching AWOL soldiers, figuring that most will be picked up on warrants in connection with unrelated contacts with police such as traffic stops.

Don Olson of Minneapolis, who has counseled AWOL soldiers since the Vietnam War era, advised the Kamunen family on in the case. He said Friday that the Kamunen sons were misled by a recruiter who played down the likelihood they would wind up fighting in Iraq. Nonetheless, he said, that while "everybody has to make up their own mind what to do, generally it's best to clear up your legal situation so you can get on with your life."

Randy Furst • 612-673-7382

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