[2 articles] Deserter debate echoes the past
http://www.canada.com/Deserter+debate+echoes+past/1557561/story.html The Daily News May 2, 2009 In the mid 1960s Americans trying to avoid being drafted into the military for service in Vietnam began trickling across the border into Canada. Seeing them as a valid source of potential immigrants, the dodgers were allowed to apply to become landed immigrants. Over time, the trickle turned into a flood, and by the time President Jimmy Carter offered a pardon, more than 50,000 Americans were believed to be taking refuge in Canada. After the presidential pardon was issued, about half of the displaced Americans went home. But many also stayed, and with them, a strong interest in the anti-war movement. Today a small number of Americans -- many who have served in the military -- are again seeking refuge here, as conscientious objectors to the war in Iraq. But the climate in Canada is very different than it was in the 1960s, and despite the efforts of lobby groups, a number of asylum seekers have been sent back to the U.S. to face military -------- Refuge for war resisters still divides Canadians http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=640c6bcf-3eab-4b06-a274-f5dea5e7b768 From the front: Vietnam to Iraq, the fight goes on Dustin Walker, The Daily News; With files from Canwest News Service Published: Saturday, May 02, 2009 Jim Erkiletian sorts through a small collection of faded news clippings sprawled across the kitchen table in his Haliburton Street home. They're a reminder of his early years in Canada dodging the Vietnam War draft and the time Uncle Sam almost made him pay for it. The Vietnam War was over, the hippie era along with it, and B.C. had become a popular haven for Americans fleeing the draft. Erkiletian was one of those transplanted Americans. He was also the first U.S. draft dodger to ever be offered a pardon by President Jimmy Carter in 1976. It was an offer he turned down. "I told Carter that if you can't pardon everyone who objected to that war. . . I couldn't accept a pardon under these circumstances," said the 66-year-old as he examined old newspaper clippings from behind oversized glasses, his weathered face framed by wisps of silver, shoulder-length hair. Today, Canadians are helping war resisters of a different sort. Some U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq have deserted the army and taken refuge in Canada. Last week, Cliff Cornell was sentenced to a year in prison for deserting the U.S. military in 2005. The young man lived on Gabriola Island for the past three years before being ordered back to the U.S. Unlike Ekiletian and his compatriots, Cornell and others like him cannot apply to enter Canada as landed immigrants. Prior to last summer, they had to apply to stay in the country as political refugees. Since 2008, Canada has ordered the deportation of six U.S. military deserters and their families. In June last year, the House of Commons adopted a motion calling on the government to stop deportation proceedings against war deserters who were resisting for conscientious reasons. The non-binding motion, passed by a vote of 137 to 100, called for the objectors to be allowed to remain in Canada and apply for permanent resident status from within the country. As it did in the 1960s and 70s, the issue of offering refuge to war resisters continues to divide Canadians. While some rally to aid the American ex-soldiers, others simply want them sent back across the border. In January federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney drew the wrath of some advocacy groups when he accused U.S. military deserters of being bogus refugee claimants. "We're not talking about draft dodgers, we're not talking about resisters. We're talking about people who volunteer to serve in the armed forces of a democratic country and simply change their mind to desert -- and that's fine, that's the decision they have made, but they are not refugees,'' said Kenney at the time. Still, there are many in Canada who want this country to offer refuge to war resisters like Cornell. He is the third U.S. soldier that the Mid-Island War Resisters has helped. There are several war-resister networks across Canada, in cities like Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto, while the Kootenay town of Nelson has a well-known history of being a destination for draft dodgers. Still, some war resisters looking to slip away into obscurity also saw the mid-Island area -- and the Gulf Islands specifically -- as perfect places to disappear. It's impossible to tell exactly how many soldiers have hidden on Vancouver Island over the years, or how many continue to hide. Meanwhile, some people argue that, unlike draft dodgers, today's modern war resisters signed on the dotted line, and shouldn't be shielded from their rightful punishment. Erkiletian's tale made national news in 1976, but his story began a decade earlier, when the University of Colorado anthropology student received his draft letter. "I didn't see much future in killing the people I wanted to learn from," he said. So, at 26, he bolted for the Canadian border. He applied for landed-immigrant status, then travelled around B.C., eventually making his way to the Yukon. Erkiletian got a construction job, got married and had two kids. In 1976, he was busted for draft evasion while driving a friend across the Yukon-Alaska border and was sent to jail. But nine days later, Carter was elected president and Erkiletian was soon a free man. In a way, he had Playboy Magazine to thank for it. During his trial, Erkiletian's lawyer cited an interview given by Carter to Hugh Hefner's famous publication in which he promised to pardon all draft dodgers. That was a major factor that "swung the balance" in the magistrate's decision to let Erkiletian go, according to a 1976 article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He returned to the Yukon and about four months later received a letter from Carter's administration offering him a full pardon. The peace activist and musician, also known as "Banjo Jim," wrote back, saying that he would only accept the offer if all the Vietnam War resisters were also pardoned. There was no reply from the federal government and within a few months the first U.S. army deserter was arrested. "The only difference between draft dodgers and deserters is we didn't take that one step forward to become soldiers," said Erkiletian, who moved to Vancouver Island in 1982, eventually settling in the Nanaimo area. He's now heavily involved with the Green Party and still spends plenty of time playing his music. Erkiletian has sympathy for war resisters like Cornell. He doesn't buy the argument that because he made the decision to sign up for battle he should be punished for not meeting his commitments. "Men and women who have crossed the border lately have been soldiers who realized war is wrong and is bad for the country," he said, adding that it's more difficult to leave the army today compared to the 1960s because the support network isn't there. "We had a movement back then, we don't have one now." The formation of the The Mid-Island War Resisters coincided with the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. "It was pretty obvious there would be some people who didn't want to go," said Marjorie Stewart, one of about a dozen people from Nanaimo and Gabriola Island who started the group. "We didn't know how many people we would see in this part of the country. It was formed to just give them whatever support we could." Two years later, peace activists on Gabriola Island invited Joshua Key, along with his wife and kids, to the community in March 2005. The Oklahoma native had served eight months in Iraq, and deserted the U.S. Army after a two-week leave. "We felt it was our job to help take the strain off the groups in Toronto and Vancouver and Victoria," said Stewart. Along with her husband Al, she has been involved in the war resistance movement since the 1970s. "There's this Gulf Island phenomenon that you must be aware of where people get all excited and enthusiastic and say, 'come to us, come to us'." And they came long before the Mid-Island War Resisters was formed. In the 1970s, it was easier to live on rural Vancouver Island with few resources, said Stewart. "The attraction of Vancouver Island would be anonymity and simple living," she said. How large a role more rural parts of Vancouver Island played in housing draft dodgers is difficult to estimate, since most of these people kept low profiles for fear of being found out. Decades later, some of the war resisters who have made names for themselves within the community still don't advertise their background. Unless of course, you ask them. Scattered throughout the Lantzville home of Chris Smith and his wife Jane is an array of intricately designed stained-glass windows, vases and other pieces of artwork. His Glaskrafter Art Glass company has been in business since 1977 and through the years he's earned a reputation as an accomplished artist. But years ago, Smith was a wanted man. At 16, he was convicted of destroying federal property while living in Portland after he helped fellow members of the White Panthers -- an anti-racism, spinoff group of the Black Panthers -- trash the local draft board office. He escaped, fled to Canada in 1970 and changed his name to D. Michael McCrae. The young man bounced around B.C. for a while, eventually ending up in Port Alberni and finally, Nanaimo. Smith said being a war resister wasn't something people talked about. When someone asked about his past, he would change the subject. "None of us wanted to make ourselves known," he said, adding that he was especially worried about being found out. " At least being a draft dodger was more socially acceptable than being a criminal." By 1986, the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence, and two years later, he switched back to his real name. He understands the plight of people like Cliff Cornell and can see some parallels between draft dodgers of Vietnam and modern-day war resisters from Iraq. "You have guys who are thrown into war and can't handle it," he said. "It's like people had forgotten what happened (in Vietnam)." Regardless of whether residents believe war resisters are in the right or wrong, the peace movement is at least a small part of the history of Vancouver Island. -- [email protected] 250-729-4244 . --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sixties-L" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sixties-l?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
