Via the NK Zone news site quoting the the Wall Street Journal
http://www.nkzone.org/nkzone/category/defectors/index.php
"...In a little-noticed reference in an interview published in November 2002, Sgt. Jenkins told the Japanese weekly, Syukan Kin'yobi, that he "walked" into North Korea with the intention of avoiding Vietnam service.
"I served in the army, but when I was ordered to go to the Vietnam War, I refused," Sgt. Jenkins told the magazine. "Now I don't have any interest in war-related issues."
Wall Street Journal October 06, 2004 (subscription required)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109706200192737805,00.html?mod=world_news_whats_news
Jenkins' claiming Vietnam desertion] Which if true would seem to be a confession.
Comments of NK Zone
http://www.nkzone.org/nkzone/entry/2004/10/hitomi_and_char.php#comments
If true, the sad irony of his "avoiding" Vietnam service is that he wasn't on orders to go to Vietnam. The Division was, by means of a strategem that moved the colors and unit designations of the 1st Cavalry Division from Korea to Fort Benning, Georgia, where the 2nd Infantry Division folded its flag, and "moved" to Korea. All that happened in Korea in Jul '65 was that units fell out in the quadrangle and changed guidons and colors. (As supply sergeants laid in stocks of white and red paint for the eventual "Indianhead" painted rocks and signs that would replace the "Horse and Line")
Hopefully, his attorney will check the facts for himself and not rely upon Jenkin's misjudged impressions. It's sounding more and more like Jenkins should have gone for the jury trial.
(On the other hand, learning that he walked into North Korea to avoid service in a place he wasn't going anyway might just unhinge whatever mental balance he has left.)
See also http://www.nkzone.org/nkzone/entry/2004/09/jail_for_jenkin.php#more