Accused Marine deserter returned to Camp Lejeune

Accused Marine deserter returned to Camp Lejeune
Associated Press

MILFORD, Mass. - A 20-year-old Marlborough man accused of deserting his Marine unit was on the way back to Camp Lejeune, N.C., on Wednesday.

Milford police released Pfc. Kristopher Vento into the custody of the U.S. Marines on Tuesday. Vento was arrested in a car outside Milford High School on Monday as he was picking up his girlfriend.

Vento joined the Marines in May 2005 and was a student in infantry school. Vento deserted Jan. 3, said Marine spokesman Capt. Jay Delarosa.

No one answered the phone at Vento's Marlborough home Wednesday afternoon.

Military authorities will decide Vento's punishment. An average of 1,100 Marines desert their units each year, Delarosa said.

Ellie

I don't think so. I know so. Not in my Marine Corps.

Father of Marine told son to ’clear up’ details of his service
By Sara Withee / Daily News Staff
Thursday, April 13, 2006 - Updated: 02:29 AM EST

A former Army reservist, Joseph Vento thought his son Kristopher followed his lead when he left for Marines Corps training last year.

Then his son returned home to Marlborough a few months ago and Vento began wondering. Kristopher, 20, seemed to have put the Marines out of his mind completely, rather than planning on the next phase of training, his father said yesterday.

"I just kept telling him, ’Make sure it’s cleared up. Make sure it’s cleared up.’ That’s all I can say," the elder Vento said from the doorway of his Washington Street home.

Joseph Vento learned his son had not followed his advice when Kristopher was arrested on a warrant for desertion Monday morning outside Milford High School, where his girlfriend is a student. She declined to comment.

After being held at Milford Police Headquarters, Kristopher Vento is in Marine Corps custody and is heading back to Camp Lejeune, N.C., according to Capt. Jay Delarosa, a Marine Corps spokesman.

Delarosa said Kristopher Vento is a private first class and was not a reservist. The Marines probably would not issue a warrant for desertion for a reservist, Delarosa said, adding that reservist training only lasts three months -- a shorter span than Kristopher Vento served.

Kristopher Vento enlisted last May 21 in Boston, began recruit training July 18 and deserted under undisclosed conditions Jan. 3, according to the Marines.

While concerned about his oldest son, Joseph Vento largely was unaware about his activities since his return. Kristopher Vento, an Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School graduate, had been living with and spending most of his time with friends, some in the Milford area, Joseph Vento said.

Joseph Vento said he also knows little about his son’s training except he fractured his ankles. He said he was unable to reach Milford Police Headquarters before his son was taken away, but there was little he could do anyway.

"Whatever he’s done, he’s going to have to deal with," Joseph Vento said.

Ellie