THE STATUE TO HONOUR “DRAFT DODGERS”: A TEST OF OUR BELIEF IN BASIC DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES, THE U.S. CONSTITUTION, THE CANADIAN CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND SIMPLE TOLERANCE AND ACCEPTANCE

I was recently contacted by various individuals and groups with regard to the proposed erection of a simple statue in honour of that large group of Americans who came to be known as “Draft Dodgers”. They are those who left the United States and came to our country during the Vietnam era in order to avoid the draft. The statue is to apparently depict a young American boy reaching out for help and two Canadians looking upon him with smiling faces and outstretched arms symbolizing an offering of a friendly helping hand to a human being in need. It seems that the City of Nelson is to be the home of this statue because a large number of these Americans understandably chose this beautiful peaceful lakeside community nestled in a mountainous valley to settle, work and raise their families. Many of these Americans, despite President Carter’s general amnesty after the war, chose to stay on and became contributing members of our society.

I was contacted so that I, because of my background, would presumably speak out loudly against such a desecration to the honour of those who fought and spilled blood on often forgotten or little known battlefields throughout the world for democracy and freedom.

Additionally, I was to respond to certain Americans who have recently publicly spoken out against our country by lobbing explosive verbal grenades filled with hatred, superiority, and insults. Some of the shrapnel proclaimed that Canadians are cowards and that the United States should not tolerate us any more and simply take us over as a people, as a nation. The American Legion, as an organization, has even petitioned President Bush to personally intervene and stop the erection of the statue. I agreed to write a letter to the editor, to the Mayor of Nelson and to anyone who might be interested or listen. I am honouring my commitment.

I must confess that, when I first heard of the proposed statue, I was appalled and deeply hurt. I was angry that the Draft Dodgers would even consider that they are entitled to such an honour. I was even more upset that certain Americans would so recklessly and wrongfully demean both the country in which I was born and raised and its people.

However, as I sat down to put pen to paper, my passions cooled. Thus, I will endeavor to express myself not solely from my initial emotional perspective but from a principled and rational point of view as well. While I still believe that the statue should not be built, I need to mentally work my way through the complexities of these issues in order to understand the soundness of that belief.

Let me first address those few Americans who have chosen to criticize our country. It is clear that such remarks are not representative of the average enlightened and fair-minded American. Canadians must and do realize that these words of hatred are simply the words of the few. They are nothing other than the words of bigots, the words of the ignorant. They are the words of those who have little or no understanding or memory of the basic shared values and principles upon which our two great nations were founded and which we continue to nurture, nor of the tremendous sacrifices our peoples have jointly made against common enemies.

Perhaps our politicians could have done a better job in explaining why we have not supported our closest friends and allies in the war in Iraq. I will try.

“Cowardice” of our people, one of the American charges noted above, was certainly not the reason. Indeed, many Canadians felt we should stand with the Americans on the Iraq issue.

The fact remains, however, that Canada is a country with a tenth of the American population and with a comparatively minuscule tax base with which to support a war. Our armed forces were fully committed then and now in the war in Afghanistan, in patrolling the Persian Gulf and in numerous peacekeeping missions throughout our troubled world. Our troops were and have been continuously committed to world peace and the war on terrorism. They have acquitted themselves with both professionalism and honour.

Americans know that we are good friends and share common interests and values. We all know, however, that even the best of friends, husbands and wives, parents and their children do not always agree on everything. That does not mean that they become enemies – they continue to love and respect each other. The same can be said of us.

The American people remember and know that Canadians are not a cowardly people. “Lest we forget” is brought home across our nation, as in America, every November 11th when we gather at cenotaphs and memorials inscribed with the names of hundreds of thousands of our fallen warriors. Americans remember our fallen comrades whose lives were sacrificed as regiment upon regiment was repeatedly cut down like cords of wood in the fields and No Man’s Lands of Europe in the three years before the American politicians decided to join the First World War. Americans do not forget the blood of our troops spilled at the hands of the Axis Powers from the time we entered the Second World War in September 1939, long before the “Day of Infamy”, until the war was over. Americans know that we were there on the ground in the war in Bosnia from the beginning – years before the Americans committed themselves to ground troops.

I do not ever recall hearing Canadians saying that the Americans ever delayed getting into these wars because they were cowards. The bravery and honour of the American people, and its armed forces, have never been questioned by us. Americans know that we suffered with them through the cold carnage of Korea. Americans do not forget that we were there with them in Mozambique. Americans know that we were with them from the beginning in Afghanistan. We are still there, as are they.

With respect to the Vietnam War, Americans also know that many Canadians left the comfort and safety of their homeland to join them and help fight in that war. They know that most of the Canadian volunteers served as grunts. Though there is no accurate figure, some reliable sources estimate that over 30,000 young Canadians went south (then to Vietnam) while many young Americans were going north to Canada. One of my best friends went to Vietnam in 1968 with the U.S. Marines. Like most Canadians, Gordon served with honour and bravery – that is until such time as that small portion of him that the booby trap left behind was shipped home to Canada in a closed casket colourfully clad in the American flag complete with a Marine Corps Honour Guard. I was not at the funeral because I was in some jungle or paddy starting my second tour. I know how brave Americans and Canadians were in Vietnam, because I was there.

Our Canadians who were on the ground from the beginning of the Bosnian war until the peace accord of late 1995 served with honour and bravery, as did Americans. I know how brave they were in Bosnia, because I was there too.

Though I have not been to Iraq, my never-ending mental images and memories of Vietnam and Bosnia cause me to share the same nightmares as the troops are now experiencing in Iraq, as if I were there. Americans and Canadians both know that scars of fear, violence and carnage transcend time and all wars.

With respect to the Draft Dodgers and the statue, we should not forget that both our great nations were founded largely by good people who left their former countries to come, at great personal sacrifice, to the hardships and uncertainty of a new and uncivilized land, because of persecution of one kind or another. The Pilgrims, the Huguenots, the Calvinists, and others come to mind. Many who came were pacifists - the Amish, the Quakers, the Mennonites, the Hutterites, and the Doukhobors also come to mind. The Americans fought a bloody war to establish their independence and adopted their Constitution. We Canadians were fortunate to secure our independence without bloodshed and adopted our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Though different, these documents are strikingly similar in their articulation of basic values. The words that constitute these documents are not just flowery or whimsical thoughts or expressions chosen without reflection. They are thoughtful and hallowed words that reflect the basic values of what we stand for and who we are as peoples. They enshrine our most fundamental and important human rights and freedoms into law. Those values, and our protection of them, give us that quality that separates us from and makes us better than so many other nations in this world.

Some of the rights and freedoms we all value are relevant to the Draft Dodgers’ decision to leave the United States and their recent expressed wish to erect a statue to honour themselves. In simple terms, the rights of freedom of thought, the freedom of speech, the freedom of expression, the freedom of choice, the freedom of peaceful assembly, and the freedom of movement, amongst others, come into play.

In the anti-Vietnam War era, many Americans demonstrated against the war. Often, demonstrators were violent and destructive, many verbally and physically attacking the fighting soldier and many protesting by way of electoral ballot. Mohammed Ali refused to answer the draft, gave up his world championship title and went to jail instead. As well, tens of thousands voted with their feet by fleeing to Canada.

Many of those young men who came to our country with their strong peaceful moral convictions arrived with virtually nothing but the shirts on their backs. Many of them gave up everything – their families, their friends, and their comfortable American way of life. For years they lived with the fear of arrest and detention. For years they lived with the stigma of being labeled cowards.

Just as some of those who bore arms were not necessarily brave or honourable, undoubtedly many who call themselves Draft Dodgers were in fact nothing more than simply cowards more interested in draft evasion than in principles. Only they know who they are. Presumably these cowards continue to live without true inner peace, knowing in their souls, that that is simply all they really are, nothing more.

However, there can be no doubt that the vast majority of those young Americans were in fact young men of strong beliefs and moral fibre. They have paid dearly for those values. To my mind, those who truly believed on moral grounds in what they were doing and left their homeland are also heroes. We sometimes forget that it often takes greater courage to walk away from a fight, such as Vietnam, knowing that the stigmas of cowardice, betrayal and disloyalty will stay with them throughout their lifetimes, than to simply be one of the many who went off to war.

Since my return from Vietnam and throughout the years of living in the Nelson area, I have come to know many of these young American Anti-War Protestors. I came to find that we had many things in common. We had strong personal beliefs in the propriety of that war. The only thing was that, on some fundamental points, they were different beliefs. I cannot say that mine were right and theirs were wrong – only different. None of these young peaceful Americans have ever expressed disdain or dishonour for those who actually fought the war. Their disdain was for the politicians who sent other people’s children to a far away foreign land to kill or be killed.

In 1977 President Carter forgave these young people by granting them general amnesty. The lessons of Vietnam will never leave us, but perhaps it is time to put the war behind us. We can continue to remember and honour those whose ghostly names so loudly appear on the Wall in Washington, many of whom were my friends.

During the Vietnam Era, Canadians, whether they morally supported the war or not, were confronted in their day-to-day lives by over 125,000 young American men crossing our borders. Canadians did not solicit or incite these men to do so. Average Canadians took them in and provided them with their basic human needs such as food, clothing, a roof over their heads, and an opportunity to live in peace and to contribute to society. In short, we did nothing more than offer a helping hand to those in desperate need. I know, because I was one of the many who held out their hands. We did nothing more than what any decent person would do in similar circumstances - just like the American people have done for so many similar people in different circumstances.

To those who wish to erect the statue, I say this: Many men and woman of our great nations have laid down their lives or suffered physical and/or emotional or psychological scars fighting for the democratic rights and freedoms we enjoy today. Some Americans fled the United States because of their moral convictions. The cowardly fled for fear of fighting in Vietnam. Erecting a statue honouring the American Draft Dodger will not differentiate between the two. Given the peaceful beliefs and way of life of true anti-war Americans living in Canada, I must say that I am disappointed that you feel the need to have a statue erected in your honour, particularly given the reaction that you have seen against it. Whether you are right or wrong does not really matter. What matters is that you know who you are, what you stand for and are at peace. Cement and rebar will not significantly add to or detract from that feeling.

There will always be those who are not fair-minded, or who do not realize that poppies will still grow in Flanders fields even if the statue is erected, or who will never understand your sacrifices, or what I have to say. The statue will never change that.

For the sake of the peace of mind of those who are upset by your idea, as honourable as it may be, I ask that you not proceed with the building of your statue.

However, should it be your decision to forge ahead and thereby exercise the rights and freedoms that the blood of others has given you, despite the sorrow and anger that it will cause, I will be disappointed. But, I want you to know that even though I may disagree with your decision to erect the statue, I will always defend your right to do so. For me to do otherwise would be a degradation of the memories of and honour of all of those who fought and sacrificed themselves to give that right to you.

The American Legion, as an organization, has expressed a view different from mine. Hopefully, I have said something that will cause them to further reflect upon their position. I know that many American Legionnaires and veterans of foreign wars agree with and stand by me. I know, because I am one of you too.

Signed

Dana L. Urban
Victoria, British Columbia
(250) 356-5722
urbans@telus.net

FOOTNOTE: After receiving such a negative response to erecting such a statue, it appears that you (promoters of the Draft Dodger statue) have approached the Doukhobor community to have a “peace memorial” erected instead, thereby circumventing the backlash against you. In my mind, you are simply trying to receive the recognition you want on the coattails of others, which is nothing more than being a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The Doukobors are not sheep; stand on yours own two feet.

vietnam was a mistake,sadly the soldier's who died there did not die so that we could all live in peace and freedom, as you seem to imply. If there is anything to be learnt from the loss of these brave yet mislead soldier's its that we have the choice to say No! and we must learn to exercise this right. Otherwise we shall travel this path time and again, just as we are currently. I feel that if this memorial insites one person to back down from a fight he/she knows is wrong, even when to do so causes hardship, then it is justified. as for your point of the monument serving both honorable and cowardice "draft dodgers", like you said "they know who they are"

Mr. Urban,

You spent a lot of time in your editoral scattering thoughts left and right and making no sense and I believe you were smoking a little MJ and could not collect your thoughts bro. The simple fact is that it does not take a hero to run and hide in Canada to avoid the draft during the Viet Nam war and many who made this choice no doubt reqret the scarlet letter they have tatooed on their soul. I was drafted and it was tough to look out the window of the airplane taking me to Viet Nam and to catch a glimpse of my wife and daughter possibly for the last time.To honor someone who fled to Canada is a coward and failed his brothers in America and never again should he stand erect with other Americans who heard the summons to duty and went. You ex-patroit cowards will have have to receive their redemption from God and those reflective shadows from the Viet Nam memorial and not from a disgraced monument in Nelson, Canada.

William Carmack
Co D 1/506 infantry 101st Airborne 68/69