Draft dodger
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A draft dodger, or draft evader, is a person who defies and avoids ("dodges") the conscription policies of the nation in which he or she is a citizen or resident, by leaving the country or going into hiding. Though it originated earlier, the term became popular during the Vietnam War to describe citizens of the United States who dodged the mandatory conscription policy, in order to avoid serving in the war, by leaving the country, originally to Sweden, but later in greater numbers to Canada, or (much less often) Mexico. The term may be applied to individuals who avoid military service by other means.
The motivations for draft dodgers are manifold. Some are individuals who merely wish to avoid the dangers of combat (and may otherwise support the war in question). Others have political or moral objections to warfare in general, or to the circumstances of a particular conflict in which their country is fighting.
Avoidance of the draft is considered a criminal offense in most countries where conscription is in effect.
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Other uses of the term
The term draft dodger is sometimes used more loosely, and often inappropriately, to describe those who avoid military service by any number of means, such as:
- Active draft resistance: persons who openly defy the draft, and who do not flee or go into hiding to avoid conscription.
- Deserters: those who join the military, but flee from the service (including from the field of battle).
- Becoming a conscientious objector: whether or not one's anti-war religious faith is genuine, or merely a ruse to avoid military service. Peace churches, such as Mennonites, Amish, and Quakers, oppose any kind of military service for their members, even in non-combatant fields, but are not opposed to alternative non-uniformed civilian service.
- Seeking excusal from military service due to health reasons: legitimate, feigned or overstated.
- Claiming to be homosexual, when the military in question excludes gays.
- Seeking and receiving a student deferment.
- Enlisting in the a branch of the military, such as the United States National Guard, whose members are unlikely to be deployed into combat. U.S. politicians who come from well-established political families, such as Dan Quayle and George W. Bush, have been accused of unfairly using family influence to secure Guard assignments that would be unavailable to ordinary citizens.
- Serving with the military in a non-combatant role (such as a medic) in which one is less likely (under traditional rules of warfare) to be exposed to enemy fire. Al Gore was accused of draft-dodging for serving as a war correspondent, rather than as a soldier, during the Vietnam War.
- Simply declining to enlist. During the Vietnam War, not all eligible young men were drafted; many who had a high lottery number simply took no action, knowing that they were unlikely to ever be drafted. Some hold the view that young persons (or young men) of combat age have an affirmative duty to enlist in the military during wartime, even if not drafted.
Draft dodging and the Vietnam War
During the Vietnam War, about 100,000 draft dodgers, in total, went abroad; others hid in the United States. An estimated 50,000 to 90,000 of these moved to Canada, where they were treated as immigrants. Though their presence was initially controversial within Canada, the government eventually chose to welcome them. Draft evasion was not a criminal offence under Canadian law. The issue of deserters was more complex, because desertion was a crime in Canada, and the Canadian military was strongly opposed to condoning it. In the end, the 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. The number of deserters was relatively small, with only some 1000 making it to Canada.
Those that went abroad faced imprisonment or forced military service if they returned home. The U.S. continued to prosecute draft dodgers after the end of the Vietnam War. In 1977 President Jimmy Carter issued an amnesty in the form of a pardon to all remaining draft evaders, as part of a general climate of "cultural reconciliation" after the end of the controversial and unpopular war.
Some draft dodgers returned home to the United States after the 1977 amnesty, but according to an estimate by sociologist John Hagan, around 50,000 settled in Canada. This young and mostly educated population expanded Canada's arts and academic scenes, and helped push Canadian politics further to the left. Notable Canadians who were draft dodgers include Jay Scott, William Gibson, and Michael Hendricks.
Present ramifications
Long after the Vietnam War, military service, or its avoidance, remains an issue for politicians in the United States. Some U.S. politicians are labeled as draft dodgers by their opponents, though no prominent political figures in the U.S. were among those who went to Canada or otherwise broke any laws. Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Howard Dean, Dan Quayle, and Dick Cheney have all been accused of being draft dodgers on the grounds that they never saw combat in Vietnam, even though none of them received a conscription notice. George W. Bush did serve stateside in the Texas Air National Guard as an F-102 pilot during the Vietnam War, in a unit assigned to the defense of the continental United States and hence unlikely to be deployed overseas; his service in the Guard (and the question of whether his father used undue influence to secure a Guard position for the younger Bush) was an issue in both the 2000 and 2004 U.S. presidential elections. Dan Quayle served in the Indiana Army National Guard during Vietnam, which became an issue during the 1988 election.
Although there is no longer a draft in the United States, the issues of desertion and conscientious objection remain for soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some military personnel, both active and reservist, have attempted to find asylum in Canada, though not in the numbers that did so during the Vietnam War.
See also
External links
- Vietnam War Resisters in Canada - Online Bibliography
- Mark Satin's Draft Dodger Bible
- Phil Ochs' song "Draft Dodger Rag"
Further reading
- Halstead, Fred. GIs speak out against the war: The case of the Ft. Jackson 8. 128 pages. New York: Pathfinder Press. 1970.
- Cortright, David. Soldiers in Revolt: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War (Re-issue). Chicago: Haymarket Books. 2005.