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 ...
If you look at Canada from the North Pole...I'm on the far right in Vancouver.
If Canada sends down the Princess Pat's, you'll have to take Quebec too. You might want to think a while on that.
I sure screwed that one up. Thanks for setting me straight.
Who in the hell would want Quebec.
You just have to shake your head at guys like this. He volunteers for the Rangers but is opposed to killing people? It's probably a BS excuse. He most likely got sick of the military and wanted out.
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