The American Veterans of Foreign Wars are protesting a monument that a Canadian group plans to put up in British Columbia honouring Vietnam war resisters who came to Canada to escape the American draft. According to John Furgess, VFW head:
"You can say what you want about the war, we all did and some still do, but do not dishonour the warrior by memorializing cowards."
(The story is in the Vancouver Sun.)
The monument is the private endeavour of a group called Our Way Home, but the VFW is apparently trying to get BushCo to lodge a protest anyway. Maybe they think Ashcroft also runs the RCMP.
The town of Nelson, Britich Columbia (where the monument will go), has been getting a fair share of email since the story broke on Fox last week, and apparently some potential tourists are boycotting the town, even though it has nothing to do with the monument. A couple of choice bits of email, quoted in the Sun story linked above:
After all of the things the United States has done for you people I am outraged that you would build a monument to the cowardly acts of a few. Then as I think more on the subject I realize that you are just stupid, and backward thinking ingrates mimicking whatever Frances (sic) way of thinking is at the moment.
Say what you want about us Yanks, you should know one thing, we're smarter than you, tougher than you, and we will kick your inbred ass.
Just a few thoughts.
- Americans sure can be cute sometimes. ;)
- Do they really think of Vietnam as a foreign war?
- The people who came to Canada to stay out of the Vietnam War were obviously not cowards. Actually, for the most part they turned into good Canadians, and we're happy we got them. I thoroughly approve of the monument.