News coverage about a proposed memorial in Canada to honor
Vietnam draft-dodgers has drawn the fury of the Veterans of
Foreign Wars. “We urge the President and Congress to do
whatever is necessary to communicate to the Canadian
government that this exercise of free expression is an
absolute slap in the face to every man and woman who ever
served in uniform… both in our military and theirs,”
said VFW commander John Furgess. “To honor draft-dodgers,
deserters, people who brought grief to the families they left
behind and anguish to those American men who took their
place, is an abomination,” he added. An estimated 125,000
Americans fled to Canada to avoid the Vietnam draft. Half
returned to the U.S. when then-President Jimmy Carter granted
them amnesty in 1977. Dedication of the bronze statue
honoring draft-dodgers is planned for July 2006 in Nelson,
British Columbia.
