Cliff Cornell, ex-US Serviceman and exiled Gabriolan, is getting used to being free again, after serving an 11-month jail term in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

In a Jan. 27 interview with the Shingle, Cornell said that he is finding there is a lot to adjust to – particularly dealing with his emotions. He said: “In the brig you just deal with anger and frustration, but now that I’m free I have to deal with everyday issues, figure out where I am going, and what not”. Cornell said he is still trying to get settled with his surrogate family in Arkansas.

Asked about his treatment in the brig, Cornell said: “As long as I did what I was told, I was treated okay”. He said that his main issue with the time in jail was the conditions. He said the institution went without heat for two weeks in December. Everyone was wearing extra layers of clothes and blankets over top of those to keep warm, he said.

Asked about the food, Cornell said it was “crappy”. He said that it was not unusual to be served chicken that was still bloody when they got to the bones.

Camp Lejuene is really set up for short time incarcerations of people who are waiting to go to trial, Cornell said, so it is a lot stricter there than long term facilities. He said they make the rules harsher “so that people won’t think it’s a vacation“.

Cornell is still planning to emmigrate to Canada, he said, but is trying to get his feet under him before he starts looking into how he will do so. To date, he said, he has only talked about this with Gabriolan and war resister supporter Steve Watters, who is looking into “what he can do at his end”. Otherwise, Cornell said, he is keeping a low profile. Asked how he is being treated by the rest of the community at his home in Arkansas, Cornell said, “So far so good. I don’t get out much”.

Asked if he had any messages for Gabriolans, Cornell said: “Tell everyone thanks for the support and the help with sending letters for my clemency review, and that I appreciate everything they have done for me”.

Cornell was ordered by the Canadian Conservative government to leave Canada in 2009, despite the passing of a non-binding opposition-sponsored bill allowing war resisters to stay.

Cornell came to Canada in 2005 when he found out that, contrary to what he had been told by recruiting officers when he signed up, he was about to be deployed to Iraq. He moved to Gabriola and worked at Village Foods until his applications to stay in Canada were refused.

Cornell surrendered himself at the US border and was sent on his own recognisance to Fort Stewart, Georgia where he was court-martialed. He was given a one year sentence, a dishonourable discharge and was demoted to private. His lawyer appealed his sentence and it was reduced by one month, which means he will not be considered to have committed a felony, a fact that will make it easier for Cornell to find work or to return to Canada.