Camil had a troubled childhood, frequently being beaten by his authoritarian stepfather, and occasionally getting into fights with school children who would harass him because he was Jewish.
In a 2005 interview with UF's Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, he recounted that as a student he went to see Jane Fonda speak, "to see what a movie star looked like."
"[2] He soon learned about the Winter Soldier Investigation and became active in the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, later becoming a chapter leader of that organization.
On December 22, 1971, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover sent a classified memo to the Jacksonville office regarding Camil, referring to him as an "extremely dangerous and unstable individual whose activities must be neutralized at earliest possible time."
Camil became the Florida Coordinator for the VVAW, and was one of the most outspoken participants of the 1971 Winter Soldier Investigation, in which returning personnel recounted the atrocities they had been induced into committing against combatants and non-combatants alike.
Camil (also referred to as "Camile" in the transcripts) testified of[4] burning of villages with civilians in them, the cutting off of ears, cutting off of heads, torturing of prisoners, calling in of artillery on villages for games, corpsmen killing wounded prisoners, napalm dropped on villages, women being raped, women and children being massacred, CS gas used on people, animals slaughtered, Chieu Hoi passes rejected and the people holding them shot, bodies shoved out of helicopters, tear-gassing people for fun and running civilian vehicles off the road.At Senator Hart's garden party during Dewey Canyon III, Camil wore two Purple Heart medals, a Vietnamese Cross for Gallantry with Silver Star, and a Good Conduct medal.
In the documentary "A Seasoned Veteran", Camil Stated: "The throwing away of the medals, for me, was the cutting of the umbilical cord between me and the government.
"[5] In a 1992 interview, Camil revealed for the first time that he had considered shooting "the most hardcore hawks" in Congress as an alternative to returning medals during the Dewey Canyon III demonstration in April 1971.
"[6][7] Six months later at a November 1971 meeting, after recruiting participants and describing his weapons training range, Camil proposed to the VVAW his idea about the assassination of the members of Congress who showed the most support for the war.
Camil explained in an interview that the group received information that during the 1972 Republican National Convention, the government was going to shoot someone and blame it on the anti-war protesters.
As of 2015, Camil lives in Gainesville, Florida with his wife Sherry, is active in local politics, and is writing an autobiography.
He is the subject of the 2002 documentary film, "Seasoned Veteran: Journey of a Winter Soldier", by Benito Aragon, Melinda Kahl and Michael Kirschbaum.