God bless the parents who're helping their children get to Canada. Children who've had it with the US service sending them to Iraq. Children who were fooled by their recruiters, soldiers who were appalled by what they saw on their first tour.
Did you know? Did you know it's really happening?
Pvt. Anderson said he supported the war at first but changed his mind after he was ordered to shoot at a car speeding toward his checkpoint in Baghdad. He held his fire and saw the car was carrying a family with two small children.
"I did the right thing because they were innocent, but my superior said I should have fired anyway," Anderson said. "Right then I decided I'm not going to fire my weapon unless I absolutely have to."
He thought he had to when the tank he was riding in came under fire a few days later and he suffered a shrapnel wound in his side. He tried to shoot back, but his gun's safety lock was on, and he saw that he almost shot a young boy who was running with a stick.
"I thought, [cont. below]
'That's just a kid running scared like I am right now,' " Anderson said. "That's when I realized no matter how good my stance is, I am going to kill innocent people. There's no way I can stop it."
Anderson returned to his mother's house in December 2004 with a Purple Heart and a second deployment order for Iraq.
During his Christmas leave, he told her what had happened in Iraq. Together they decided she would drive him over the Canadian border.
Will you be the next parent to help your child? Will you support another parent you know to make this choice?
Will you be the substitute parent, the caring friend who helps a soldier to safety?
In August 2005, the Johnsons welcomed Sgt. Patrick Hart, 32, who deserted the Army after nine years.
He'd served with the 101st Airborne Division in Kuwait and was horrified by the stories he heard from soldiers who'd served in Iraq. They showed him videotape of soldiers lighting cigarettes off burning bodies and told him stories of killing civilians and torching cars with children in them. He watched one too many beheadings on the Internet.
He always thought he could handle war atrocities, but when his 10-year-old son was diagnosed with epilepsy while he was in Kuwait, that changed. All of a sudden, it became much more important for Hart to stay alive.
His unit was transferred to Kentucky, to train for duty in Iraq. As his deployment date approached, Hart was granted permission to see one last Buffalo Bills game. Instead, he met his parents, who drove him over the border to Canada.
There are at least 200 AWOL US service people in Canada, and they have legal help available. Plus other support:
Once across the border, they are met by a network of Vietnam War-era draft evaders, Quakers and anti-war activists, who are waiting with lawyers, free housing, job offers and organic groceries.
Did you know? Did you know there is that much support for troops who make it across the border?
More at this article: Unwilling Troops Obtain Legal Aid, Solace in Canada by Meredith May San Francisco Chronicle
Also please see, there's a fantastic movie out now about the Vietnam war resisters:
Sir, No Sir Let's spread the word about that movie -- only $19.95 a copy. Get one, watch it, pass it around.
Did you know that there was an informal network of people getting young men (in that case draftees) across the Canadian border during the Vietnam war? Well there was... and perhaps it's time to reactivate it.
God bless these parents, for caring enough to help their children make it across the border to safety.
At the least, we need to pass the word on. It's really happening. Troops are really making it across. There's help when they get there. Pass it on. Save a life. Pass it on.