Ask for help, go to jail. A 32 year old U.S. soldier has been charged with "cowardly conduct as a result of fear" for not performing his combat duties.

The soldier, Georg-Andreas Pogony, tells it this way:

He said he had flown to Iraq on Sept. 26 and was with a team of Green Berets three days later near Samarra, north of Baghdad, when he saw the mangled body of an Iraqi. He said he began shaking and vomiting and was terrified he would be killed.

Pogany said he told his team sergeant he was headed for a "nervous breakdown" and needed help. After that, Pogany said, he did not request to go on missions and was not asked to go.

"I don't know how asking for help qualifies as misbehavior," Pogany said. "Something happens, you ask for help and they throw the book at you."

Pogony faces a dishonorable discharge and possible jail time if convicted at his court-martial trial.

A cowardice charge is extremely rare. Army officials could not say when it was last used, and refused to discuss Pogany's case. It was not clear how much prison time he could face.

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