On this day in 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter grants an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War.
In total, some 100,000 young Americans went abroad in the late 1960s and early 70s to avoid serving in the war. Ninety percent went to Canada, where after some initial controversy they were eventually welcomed as immigrants. Still others hid inside the United States. In addition to those who avoided the draft, a relatively small number–about 1,000–of deserters from the U.S. armed forces also headed to Canada. While the Canadian government technically reserved the right to prosecute deserters, in practice they left them alone, even instructing border guards not to ask too many questions.
For its part, the U.S. government continued to prosecute draft evaders after the Vietnam War ended. A total of 209,517 men were formally accused of violating draft laws, while government officials estimate another 360,000 were never formally accused. If they returned home, those living in Canada or elsewhere faced prison sentences or forced military service. During his 1976 presidential campaign, Jimmy Carter promised to pardon draft dodgers as a way of putting the war and the bitter divisions it caused firmly in the past. After winning the election, Carter wasted no time in making good on his word. Though many transplanted Americans returned home, an estimated 50,000 settled permanently in Canada, greatly expanding the country’s arts and academic scenes and pushing Canadian politics decidedly to the left.
Back in the U.S., Carter’s decision generated a good deal of controversy. Heavily criticized by veterans’ groups and others for allowing unpatriotic lawbreakers to get off scot-free, the pardon and companion relief plan came under fire from amnesty groups for not addressing deserters, soldiers who were dishonorably discharged or civilian anti-war demonstrators who had been prosecuted for their resistance.
Years later, Vietnam-era draft evasion still carries a powerful stigma. Though no prominent political figures have been found to have broken any draft laws, Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and Vice-Presidents Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney–none of whom saw combat in Vietnam–have all been accused of being draft dodgers at one time or another. Although there is not currently a draft in the U.S., desertion and conscientious objection have remained pressing issues among the armed forces during the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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A slap in the face to every Vietnam veteran except John McCain and John Kerry.
I am old enough to remember that day. He was a disgrace to this country. Perhaps the worst in modern history until Obama came on the seen.
Vietnam was a war crime. Everyone who did whatever it took to avoid participating, did the right thing. Those who avoided service and continued to work against US foreign aggression and the war crimes of the 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, and 2010s, have all done the right thing. Those who avoided service and got themselves into political roles that promoted the future war crimes and future deaths of gullible soldiers, deserve to burn in hell. Those who served and learned NOTHING about the true nature of US government, the US military, and what the US REALLY fights for, have only themselves to blame.
ALL THAT I WANTED …ALL THAT I FOUND
I wanted to experience life
instead I destroyed it
I wanted to become a man
but became a guerilla
I wanted to be brave
but became a M-60 berserker
I wanted to be strong
but turned cold and vicious
I wanted to follow my conscience and convictions
but lived by raw animal instincts
I wanted to help defeat my country’s enemies
but found my country betrayed me
I wanted to do what was right
and almost drowned in the wrongs
I wanted to be a hero
but returned a wounded casualty
from the rose colored glasses
of a teenaged idealist
to the sunken glazed stare
of a shell shocked veteran
all that I wanted
and all that I found
are questions screamed in my mind
that never make a sound
MAN CHILD…SOLITARY MAN…POERTY MAN 1975
MAN CHILD
did it drive you wild
when you fell
did it burn
in your teenage Marine Vietnam hell
youth and innocence KIA
humanity to sell
who were the good guys
could you really tell?
SOLITARY MAN
can you come to understand
the war trapped in your head
don’t forget
what yesterday said
remember the wail
of your conscience crying
can you still hear
your screaming humanity dying
POETRY MAN
making your stand
writing every day
got to stay out
of your shadows’ way
ignore the inevitable costs
survivors must pay
just write the truths
you’re driven to say
AND LET THE READER SORT IT OUT
Whoever fights monsters should see to it
that in the process he does not become a monster.
And when you look long into the abyss,
the abyss also looks into you.
Nietzsche
I was drafted by lottery draw in 1972, took a delayed enlistment until June 1973 into the Air Force. When the draft was ended I was in SEA flying drone reconnaissance into North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
Fuck Jimmy Carter