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American Deserters Find A Mixed Reception In Canada (good riddance and you are NOT WELCOME BACK)
Washington Post ^ | October 11, 2004 | Doug Struck

Posted on 10/11/2004 1:02:48 PM PDT by Former Military Chick

TORONTO -- Jeremy Hinzman enlisted in the Army in Boston, did a tour in Afghanistan and prepared for elite Ranger school. Then came orders to go to Iraq. He neatly piled his Army gear in his living room at Fort Bragg and fled to Canada with his wife and baby.

"No matter how much I wanted to, I could not convince myself that killing someone was ever right," Hinzman, 25, said in an interview here.

Spec. Hinzman is a deserter, one of at least four who have followed the path of Vietnam War resisters a generation ago to seek refuge in Canada. Here, they have been embraced by many from that time -- former peaceniks who are now pillars of the community.

The government is less welcoming. Despite Canada's opposition to the Iraq war, the government also is opposing the deserters' refugee applications, saying the soldiers are not persecuted. It is resisting the argument that the Iraq war is illegal.

"Canada is worried if they grant us refugee status, others would come up," said Hinzman.

The deserters in Canada provoke anger in the United States among people who argue they are shirking a duty to which they willingly agreed. "There's no draft. These people volunteered for the military," said Jerry Newberry, a spokesman of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in St. Louis. "These people want to have their cake and eat it, too."

Hinzman, a slender, studious young man, accepts the criticisms. He replies that his objections to the military evolved after he enlisted. Well before he was ordered to Iraq, he applied for noncombatant duty. Had that been granted, he said, he would have served his obligation, would even have gone to Iraq as a medic or cook or anything that did not involve offensive operations.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: weaklings
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To: caisson71

'swhat the rifle is for, ya twit !


21 posted on 10/11/2004 1:33:03 PM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: Former Military Chick

Kerry would probably make this guy a general.


22 posted on 10/11/2004 1:33:17 PM PDT by B Knotts ("John Kerry, who says he doesn't like outsourcing, wants to outsource our national security.")
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To: caisson71

You talkin' about the guy who went down into Mexico to snatch the pervert/rapist? If so, I hope the 'Dog' does a better job at extraction in the future.


23 posted on 10/11/2004 1:33:42 PM PDT by x1stcav (John Kerry was the only hero from Vietnam; the rest of us were war criminals.)
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To: shagbark

Only one? I figure there are at least 25 million rgistered demonrats.


24 posted on 10/11/2004 1:34:46 PM PDT by x1stcav (John Kerry was the only hero from Vietnam; the rest of us were war criminals.)
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To: Former Military Chick
No problem.

President Kerry will pardon all deserters.

25 posted on 10/11/2004 1:35:14 PM PDT by JesseHousman (Execute Mumia Abu-Jamal)
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To: Former Military Chick

We ought to send "Dog" the boutnty hunter up there to drag his arse back here...and Dog can make it an episode of his A&E show...


26 posted on 10/11/2004 1:36:52 PM PDT by Keith in Iowa (At CBS - "We don't just report news - we make it - up.")
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To: Former Military Chick

Hinzman enlised in the ARMY, not the Navy or the Air Force, and was preparing for elite Ranger school? Now he's 'connot convince himslef that killing someone was ever right'? This guy watched too much reality TV.


27 posted on 10/11/2004 1:37:38 PM PDT by caisson71
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To: caisson71

Nah. It was the wife's nagging.


28 posted on 10/11/2004 1:40:45 PM PDT by Beckwith (John Kerry, sign the Form 180 - petition at http://www.SignForm180.com)
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To: Former Military Chick

I feel sorry for Hinzman's baby, having a father without any sense of courage, duty, or honor. This man is absolutely shameless!


29 posted on 10/11/2004 1:41:18 PM PDT by DTogo (U.S. out of the U.N. & U.N out of the U.S.)
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To: w1andsodidwe

The thing about Canada is that nobody was drafted in WW1 until 1917, or in WW2 until 1944.
That's a lot of volunteers who didn't shirk their duty, including many brave American lads that came up and joined with us prior to America getting involved.

How times have changed...


30 posted on 10/11/2004 1:51:27 PM PDT by maikeru (40000 draft dodgers and 1 province have made this country what it is today...)
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To: DTogo

This guy will return to the US later, become a college professor and be another spineless, liberal educator with an attitude AND tenure.


31 posted on 10/11/2004 1:53:14 PM PDT by caisson71
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To: caisson71

And he'll have plenty of doe-eyed, mush-for-brains students ready to applaud his cowardess.


32 posted on 10/11/2004 2:00:47 PM PDT by DTogo (U.S. out of the U.N. & U.N out of the U.S.)
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To: DTogo

"I feel sorry for Hinzman's baby, having a father without any sense of courage, duty, or honor. This man is absolutely shameless!"

Wait until wifey or baby get sick. Canada's health system seems to be about as good as it's submarines.


33 posted on 10/11/2004 2:13:52 PM PDT by zygoat
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To: BroncosFan

As for the TEXAS Rangers: If you're talking about the Law Enforcement organization, they've probably killed more people than the Army Rangers.

If you're talking about the baseball team..... well, they just choke and die.


34 posted on 10/11/2004 2:27:57 PM PDT by tarawa
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To: Former Military Chick
If these people end up in Canada, it's good riddance to bad rubbish. Revoke their citizenship, cancel their passports, put them on a no-fly list and NEVER let them back in.

Except to face charges for desertion.

35 posted on 10/11/2004 2:30:28 PM PDT by Not A Snowbird (Official RKBA Landscaper and Arborist, Pajama Duchess of Green Leafy Things)
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To: x1stcav
What an idiot. Desertion is not a rational choice. Now if only the terrorists would feel that they couldn't justify taking life. Wait, they blow themselves up first. Kinda hard to have a conversation with somebody as they are going to pieces in front of you.
36 posted on 10/11/2004 2:39:21 PM PDT by crazyhorse691 (I volunteer to instruct JFK on the meaning of a purple heart!!)
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To: SandyInSeattle

Actually Sandy...we would prefer if you didn't let them out...


37 posted on 10/11/2004 2:42:16 PM PDT by maikeru (40000 draft dodgers and 1 province have made this country what it is today...)
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To: maikeru

Love the tag line.

What people don't realize is that while there were 40,000 draft dodgers that went north, there were probably half that number of Canucks who came south and served with us, and I'm proud to know several.


38 posted on 10/11/2004 2:45:31 PM PDT by x1stcav (John Kerry was the only hero from Vietnam; the rest of us were war criminals.)
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To: maikeru
we would prefer if you didn't let them out...

Let them out of what? What are you talking about?

39 posted on 10/11/2004 2:49:30 PM PDT by Not A Snowbird (Official RKBA Landscaper and Arborist, Pajama Duchess of Green Leafy Things)
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To: luvbach1

Ask veterans of the Battle of the Bulge how many cooks, clerks, and medics got pressed into combat. Even rear-area folks are expected to be able to defend themselves. (True conscientious objector medics like MOH winner Desmond Doss being the rare, and brave, exception.)

}:-)4


40 posted on 10/11/2004 2:50:03 PM PDT by Moose4 ("That was beautiful. Now never, ever, do it again.")
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