Draft evasion in the Vietnam War
Draft evasion in the Vietnam War | |
---|---|
Part of Opposition to the Vietnam War | |
Date | 1965–1973 |
Caused by | Conscription in Australia Conscription in the United States |
Goals | Avoid military deployment in the Vietnam War |
Methods | |
Resulted in | General
Specifics
|
Draft evasion in the Vietnam War was a common practice in the
Evasion in Australia
In 1964 Australia enacted a draft for soldiers to send to Vietnam. From 1966 to 1968 a growing force of conscientious objectors grew in Australia and by 1967 became openly popular due to a growing protest movement. Information campaigns were carried out by organizations like Students for a Democratic Society and Save Our Sons to spread information on how to avoid the draft.[2][4]
Young men who were subject to the conscription lottery also formed their own anti-conscription organisation, the Youth Campaign Against Conscription. It was the YCAC that imported the concept of draft-card burning from the United States and ushered in a new form of resistance to conscription, active non-compliance. Instead of merely not registering (passive non-compliance with the National Service Scheme), the young conscripts actively demonstrated their distaste for the government's actions by destroying their registration cards.[5]
Conscription ended in December 1972,[6] and the remaining seven men in Australian prisons for refusing conscription were freed in mid-to-late December 1972.[7][8] 63,735 national servicemen served in the Army, of whom 15,381 were deployed to Vietnam. Approximately 200 were killed.[6]
Evasion in the United States
Penalties and rate of prosecution
A distinction is made between draft evaders and draft resisters. There were millions of men who avoided the draft, and many thousands who openly resisted the conscription system and actively opposed the war.[9] The head of U.S. President Richard Nixon's task force on the all-volunteer military reported in 1970 that the number of resisters was "expanding at an alarming rate" and that the government was "almost powerless to apprehend and prosecute them".[10] It is now known that, during the Vietnam era, approximately 570,000 young men were classified as draft offenders,[3] and approximately 210,000 were formally accused of draft violations;[11][3] however, only 8,750 were convicted and only 3,250 were jailed.[3] Some draft eligible men publicly burned their draft cards, but the Justice Department brought charges against only 50, of whom 40 were convicted.[12]
Enlisting to evade
As U.S. troop strength in Vietnam increased, some young men sought to evade the draft by preemptively enlisting in military forces that were unlikely to see combat in Vietnam, such as the
Evasion counseling
Other young men sought to evade the draft by avoiding or resisting any military commitment. In this they were bolstered by certain
Draft counseling groups were another source of support for potential draft evaders. Many such groups were active during the war. Some were connected to national groups, such as the American Friends Service Committee and Students for a Democratic Society; others were ad hoc campus or community groups.[20] Many specially trained individuals worked as counselors for such groups.[21]
Public resistance
Alongside the draft counseling groups, a substantial draft resistance movement emerged.
After the war, some of the draft resisters who stayed in the U.S. wrote memoirs. These included
American emigration to Canada and elsewhere
Popularity
The number of U.S. draft evaders who went to Canada was a fraction of those who resisted the Vietnam War.
The number of Vietnam-era draft evaders leaving for Canada is hotly contested.[41] Estimates range from a floor of 30,000 to a ceiling of 100,000, depending in part on who is being counted as a draft evader.[42] Despite longtime speculation that most American Vietnam War soldiers were draftees, it was revealed in later years that the vast majority of these soldiers were in fact volunteers.[43][44][45]
Process of emigration
Though the presence of U.S. draft evaders and deserters in Canada was initially controversial, the Canadian government eventually chose to welcome them.[47] Draft evasion was not a criminal offense under Canadian law.[48] The issue of deserters was more complex. Desertion from the U.S. military was not on the list of crimes for which a person could be extradited under the extradition treaty between Canada and the U.S.;[49] however, desertion was a crime in Canada, and the Canadian military strongly opposed condoning it. In the end, the Canadian government maintained the right to prosecute these deserters, but in practice left them alone and instructed border guards not to ask questions relating to the issue.[50]
In Canada, many American Vietnam War evaders received pre-emigration counseling and post-emigration assistance from locally based groups.
Effects of emigration
Those who went abroad faced imprisonment or forced military service if they returned home. In September 1974, President
It remains a matter of debate whether emigration to Canada and elsewhere during the Vietnam War was an effective, or even a genuine war resistance strategy. Scholars argue that it was relatively ineffective, and that it served to siphon off disaffected young Americans from the anti-war movement.[30] Activists Rennie Davis and Tom Hayden reportedly held similar views.[62] By contrast, others recognize the American emigrants as "war resisters",[63][64] and Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada author Mark Satin contended that public awareness of tens of thousands of young Americans leaving for Canada would[65][66] – and eventually did[67][68] – help end the war.
Some draft evaders returned to the U.S. from Canada after the 1977 pardon, but about half of them stayed on.
Experiences of emigrants
A number of autobiographical novels were written by draft evaders who went to Canada[73][74] Books such as Morton Redner's Getting Out (1971) and Mark Satin's Confessions of a Young Exile (1976), Allen Morgan's Dropping Out in 3/4 Time (1972), and Daniel Peters's Border Crossing (1978) all portrayed their protagonists' views, motives, activities, and relationships in detail.[73][74] A critic noted that they contained some surprises:
It is to be expected that the draft dodgers denounce the state as an oppressive bureaucracy, using the vernacular of the time to rail against "the machine" and "the system." What is more surprising is their general resistance to mass movements, a sentiment that contradicts the association of the draft dodger with sixties protest found in more recent work by [Scott] Turow or [Mordecai] Richler. In contrast to stereotypes, the draft dodger in these narratives is neither an unthinking follower of movement ideology nor a radical who attempts to convert others to his cause. ... [Another surprise is that the dodgers] have little interest in romantic love. Their libidinal hyperactivity accords with [Herbert] Marcuse's belief in the liberatory power of eros. They are far less worried about whether particular relationships will survive the flight to Canada than about the gratification of their immediate sexual urges.[75]
Later memoirs by Vietnam-era draft evaders who went to Canada include Donald Simons's I Refuse (1992),[76][77] George Fetherling's Travels by Night (1994),[78][79] and Mark Frutkin's Erratic North (2008).[80][81]
Legacy
Pardons
On January 21, 1977, President Jimmy Carter issued a pardon giving unconditional amnesty to Vietnam war draft resisters.[84]
Celebrities
For many decades after the Vietnam War ended, prominent Americans were being accused of having manipulated the draft system to their advantage.
In a 1970s
Liberal actor and comedian Chevy Chase also misled his draft board. In 1989, approximately two decades after the fact, Chase revealed on a television talk show that he avoided the Vietnam War by making several false claims to his draft board, including that he harbored homosexual tendencies. He added he was "not very proud" of having done that.[86] Several politically charged books subsequently discussed Chase's behavior.[87][88]
Conservative talk radio show host Rush Limbaugh reportedly avoided the Vietnam draft because of anal cysts. In a 2011 book critical of Limbaugh, journalist John K. Wlson wrote, "As a man who evaded the Vietnam War draft with the help of an anal cyst, Limbaugh is a chickenhawk fond of making hyperbolic attacks on [liberal] foreign policy".[89]
Politicians
By 2006 politicians whom opponents had accused of improperly avoiding the draft included George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Bill Clinton.[90]
Former Republican presidential nominee
Attention has also been paid to the fact that independent Senator Bernie Sanders did not serve in the war. In an article in The Atlantic, it was reported that, after graduating from the University of Chicago in 1964, and moving back to New York City, the future candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination applied for conscientious objector status – even though as Sanders acknowledged to the reporter, he was not religious.[94] (Sanders was opposed to the Vietnam War.[95] At the time, however, CO status was granted entirely on the basis of religious opposition to all war.[94]) Sanders's CO status was denied. Nevertheless, a "lengthy series of hearings, an FBI investigation and numerous postponements and delays" took him to age 26 at which point he was no longer eligible for the draft.[94][96]
Joe Biden, a former U.S. vice president and senator who became the 46th President of the United States in 2021, was excused from military service in 1968 because of asthma as a teenager.[100][101][102][103] An Associated Press (AP) story, run in The Washington Times, states: "In Promises to Keep, a memoir that was published [in 2007] …, Mr. Biden never mentions his asthma, recounting an active childhood, work as a lifeguard and football exploits in high school".[100] A shorter version of the AP story ran in Newsday, a New York newspaper.[101]
In Australia, alleged draft dodging by politicians has also been an issue. Robert Hill, Minister for Defence 2001–06, received a student deferral in 1966; he then went to London. Returning to Australia in 1970, he was rejected on unspecified "health grounds."[104]
Notes
References
- ^ Burns, John (11 October 1967). "Deaf to the Draft". The Globe and Mail (Toronto), pp. 1, 2.
- ^ a b "Early draft resistance in the Vietnam War, 1966-69". livingpeacemuseum.org. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-67000-5.
- ^ "MILESAGO - Features - Vietnam - Save Our Sons". www.milesago.com.
- ^ Piccini, Jon (26 July 2021). "The forgotten Australian veterans who opposed National Service and the Vietnam War". The Conversation.
- ^ a b Australian Government (2012). "Conscription: The Birthday Ballot". Australia and the Vietnam War. Commonwealth of Australia. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-670-07375-7
- ISBN 978-0-313-31955-6.
- ^ Cortright (2005), cited above, p. 164.
- ^ Cortright (2005), cited above, p. 165 (quoting task force chair Martin Anderson).
- ^ a b Baskir and Strauss (1978), cited above, p. 169.
- ^ Baskir and Strauss (1987), cited above.
- ^ a b Baskir and Strauss, cited above, p. 54.
- ^ Baskir and Strauss, cited above, p. 14.
- ^ a b Baskir and Strauss, cited above, p. 51
- Geniuswebsite. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- Geniuswebsite. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
- ^ Kupferberg, Tuli; Bashlow, Robert (1968). 1001 Ways to Beat the Draft. New York: Oliver Layton Press. Originally New York: Grove Press, 1967. The book focuses on the United States in the 1960s. Neither edition has an ISBN.
- ISBN 978-1-56097-001-9.
- ISBN 978-1-4870-0289-3.
- ^ Tatum, Arlo, ed. (October 1968, orig. 1952). Handbook for Conscientious Objectors. Philadelphia: Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, 10th ed., p. 6. Booklet of 100 pages, no ISBN.
- ^ Gitlin (1993, orig. 1987), cited above, pp. 247–252.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84893-232-6.
- ^ Foley (2003), cited above, Introduction and Chaps. 1–6.
- ^ Foley (2003), cited above, p. 7, "The blurring of this distinction annoys former draft resisters who today find themselves stressing the difference whenever they talk about it."
- ISBN 978-0-394-71965-8.
- ISBN 978-0-674-44726-4.
- ^ Foley, 2003, cited above.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8070-0542-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8078-5436-5.
- ^ a b c Klein, Joe (13 June 1982). "A Protégé's Story". The New York Times Book Review, p. 3. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ a b Friedman, Sari (1 February 2002). "Stranger than Fiction". Berkeley Daily Planet, p. 1. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ a b Kehler, Randy (September 2005). "Felon for Peace: The Memoir of a Vietnam-Era Draft Resister". Fellowship, vol. 71, no. 9–10, p. 27. A publication of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
- ^ Joseph, Paul (April 2015). "Resister: A Story of Peace and Prison During the Vietnam War". Peace & Change, vol. 40, issue no. 2, pp. 272–276. A joint publication of the Peace History Society and the Peace and Justice Studies Association.
- ^ a b Polner, Murray (18 May 2014). "Review of Bruce Dancis's 'Resister'". History News Network, an electronic platform at George Washington University. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-7748-2524-5.
- ^ Kusch (2001), cited above, p. 26.
- ISBN 978-1-4408-3424-0.
- ISBN 978-0-385-48232-5.
- ISBN 978-1-5087-5169-4.
- ISBN 978-0-9737641-0-9.
- ISBN 978-0-7735-5159-6.
- ^ "Five myths about the Vietnam War". Washington Post. September 29, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
- ^ "More Than Self. Living the Vietnam War". Atlanta History Center. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
- ^ "Vietnam War Casualties by Volunteer or Drafted, Enlisted". American War Library. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
- ^ Stewart, Luke (December 2018). "Review Essay: Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada". Études canadiennes / Canadian Studies, issue no. 85, pp. 219–223. Published in French and English by Association Française d'Études Canadiennes, Institut des Amériques, France. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-4597-3285-8.
- ISBN 978-0-87855-113-2.
- ^ Satin (2017, orig. 1968), cited above, pp. 120–122.
- ^ Keung, Nicholas (20 August 2010). "Iraq War Resisters Meet Cool Reception in Canada." Toronto Star. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ^ Clausen, Oliver (21 May 1967). "Boys Without a Country". The New York Times Magazine, pp. 25 and 94–105.
- ^ Williams (1971), cited above, pp. 56–62.
- ^ Magazine or newspaper articles that touched on the effectiveness of one or more of Canada's draft counseling groups include:
- Cowan, Edward (11 February 1968). "Expatriate Draft Evaders Prepare Manual on How to Immigrate to Canada". The New York Times, p. 7.
- Dunford, Gary (3 February 1968). "Toronto's Anti-Draft Office Jammed". Toronto Star, p. 25.
- Johnson, Olive Skene (August 1967). "Draft-Age Dilemma". McCall's, pp. 34, 150.
- Rosenthal, Harry F. (2 June 1968). "Canada Increasingly Draft Dodgers' Haven". Los Angeles Times, p. H9.
- Schreiber, Jan (January 1968). "Canada's Haven for Draft Dodgers". The Progressive, pp. 34–36.
- Wakefield, Dan (March 1968). "Supernation at Peace and War". The Atlantic, pp. 42–45.
- ^ Adams, James (20 October 2007). "'The Big Guys Keep Being Surprised by Us.'" The Globe and Mail (Toronto), p. R6 (statting that "close to 100,000" had been sold).
- ^ MacSkimming, Roy (26 August 2017). "Review: Mark Satin's Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada Is Just as Timely as Ever". The Globe and Mail, p. R12 (stating that 65,000 had been sold by Canadian publishers and another 30,000 had been reproduced in whole or in part by U.S. anti-war entities). Online text dated 25 August 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-674-00471-9.
- ^ Hagan (2001), pp. 80–81.
- ^ Williams (1971), pp. 79–83.
- ^ Hagan (2001), pp. 81 and 161–62.
- ^ Author unspecified (14 September 1974). "Flexible Amnesty Plan Is Reported Set by Ford". The New York Times, p. 9. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-19-507190-0. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
- ^ Kasinsky (1976), cited above, p. 98.
- ^ Williams (1971), cited above.
- ^ Hagan (2001), cited above.
- ^ Kasinsky (1976), p. 104.
- ISBN 978-1-4870-0289-3.
- ^ Satin (2017), p. 135.
- ^ Satin, Mark (14 June 2017). "Godfrey and Me". House of Anansi Press website. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
- ^ Hagan, John (2001), pp. 3 and 241–42.
- ^ These points have been made in a series of academic journal articles by Canadian social historian David Churchill:
- Churchill, David S. (2004). "An Ambiguous Welcome: Vietnam Draft Resistance, the Canadian State, and Cold War Containment". Histoire Sociale / Social History, vol. 37, no. 73, pp. 1–26.
- Churchill, David S. (Fall 2010). "American Expatriates and the Building of Alternative Social Space in Toronto, 1965–1977". Urban History Review, vol. XXXVIX, no. 1, pp. 31–44.
- Churchill, David S. (June 2012). "Draft Resistance, Lefr Nationalism, and the Politics of Anti-Imperialism". Canadian Historical Review, vol. 93, no. 2, pp. 227–260.
- ^ Baskir and Strauss (1978), p. 201.
- ^ Hagan (2001), cited above, p. 186 (quoting Baskir and Strauss).
- ^ Project MUSEdatabase. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ a b McGill (2017), cited above, pp. 172–181 ("The Alternative America in Draft-Dodger Novels" sub-chapter).
- ^ Adams (Fall 2005), p. 419.
- ^ Beelaert, Amy M. (November 1993). "Voices of Our Times: I Refuse: Memories of a Vietnam War Objector". The English Journal, vol. 82, no. 7, p. 84.
- ^ Peters, Pamela J. (April 1992). "I Refuse: Memories of a Vietnam War Objector", Library Journal, vol. 117, no. 6, p. 129.
- ^ Macfarlane, David (30 April 1994). "Fetherling's Talents Take Wing". The Globe and Mail, p. C20.
- ^ Ware, Randall (1 May 1994). "A Grey Memoir of a Colorful Time". Ottawa Citizen, p. B3.
- ^ Coates, Donna (Winter 2009). "Artful Dodgers". Canadian Literature, issue no. 203, p. 147. A publication of the University of British Columbia.
- ^ Grady, Wayne (8 October 2008). "An Artful Dodger". The Globe and Mail, p. D4.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8065-3073-4.
- ^ a b Johnson, Timothy (26 March 2014). "The Worst Ted Nugent Interview of All Time". Media Matters for America, online article (see under the sub-head "Nugent Says He Soiled Himself To Avoid Vietnam Among Other Bizarre Anecdotes"). Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ^ "Texts of Documents on the Pardon". The New York Times. January 22, 1977. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
- ^ Noriyuki, Duane (15 July 1990). "Ted Nugent Grows Up?". Detroit Free Press, magazine section, pp. 6, 10.
- ^ O'Connor, John J. (11 January 1989). "Review / Television; Late-Night Chitchat Additions: Pat Sajak and Arsenio Hall". The New York Times, p. C-17. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
- ^ Kusch (2001), cited above, p. 71.
- ISBN 978-0-670-83935-3.
- ISBN 978-0-312-61214-6.
- ^ Dionne, E.J. (17 January 2006)."Murtha and the Mudslingers". The Washington Post, p. A17. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-06-212327-5.
- ^ Kranish, Michael (24 June 2007). "Mormon Church Obtained Vietnam Draft Deferrals for Romney, Other Missionaries". The Boston Globe, web exclusive, now at Boston.com regional website. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
- ^ Salononline magazine. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
- ^ a b c Banks, Russell (5 October 2015). "Bernie Sanders, the Socialist Mayor". The Atlantic, online; third section, 10th paragraph. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ^ Banks (5 October 2015), cited above, third section, 9th paragraph. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-68245-017-8.
- ^ Eder, Steve; Philipps, Dave (1 August 2016). "Donald Trump's Draft Deferments: Four for College, One for Bad Feet". The New York Times, p. A1. Print edition has a different date and headline. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
- Politifact, both from the Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 6 October 2017
- ^ Eder, Steve (26 December 2018). "Did a Queens Podiatrist Help Donald Trump Avoid Vietnam?". The New York Times, p. A1. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
- ^ a b Associated Press, no author given (1 September 2008). "Biden’s Draft Deferments Equal Cheney’s During Vietnam War". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ a b Associated Press, no author given (31 August 2008). "Biden Got 5 Draft Deferments During Nam, As Did Cheney Archived 2021-01-03 at the Wayback Machine". Newsday. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (2021). "What Causes or Triggers Asthma?"..
- ^ No details on the asthma triggers were mentioned. Asthma can be triggered by a wide spectrum of triggers, including allergens, chemical irritants, and exercise. Therefore, it is entirely possible to have asthma and yet still be able to engage in vigorous physical activity, and yet to not be fit for military service, given that military service carries the intrinsic and obvious expectation of being able to survive exposure to chemical irritants such as gunfire smoke and particulates released by weaponry, munitions, explosions, incendiary devices, deliberate burning of items, and other military activities.
- ^ "Hill defends his record". The Age. July 31, 2004.