Vietnam War deserter arrested at border

[tuvor]

Arrest highlights urgency of Canadian sanctuary for U.S. war resisters

TORONTO, March 11 /CNW/ - On Thursday, March 9 Allen Abney, a US Marine
who deserted and came to Canada in 1968, was detained by US Border officials
as he crossed the border from British Columbia into Idaho. Abney, a dual
Canadian/ US citizen, was held in Idaho until he could be transferred to US
Marine Corps custody and sent to Camp Pendleton, California, where he faces
penalties under military law.

Abney, 56, lives in Kingsgate, BC, close to the Canada/US border, which
he crossed often to go shopping, to do errands, and for other purposes. He is
retired. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Abney came to Canada with his
family in 1959. In 1968 he enlisted in the US Marines. Later that year, he
joined thousands of others who fled to Canada because of their opposition to
the Vietnam War. He has lived here ever since.

Abney's daughter, Jessica Abney, is shocked and worried by what has
happened to her father. "It's been so long since my dad left the military. Why
have they suddenly decided to do this now?" she asked. "My dad is not a young
man, so of course I'm worried about what's going to happen to him." Ms. Abney
is also concerned about the seeming lack of interest shown so far by the
Canadian government. "When we called the 800 number, they seemed to just shrug
their shoulders. But isn't it their job to help out in these cases?" she said.

"The War Resisters Support Campaign is deeply concerned about what has
happened to Allen Abney. Many of our supporters are, like him, Vietnam War
resisters. We will do what we can to support him and to help him regain his
freedom as soon as possible," said Lee Zaslofsky, Coordinator of the Campaign.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2006/11/c1286.html

[David Dunham]

1. A decent president would pardon him.

[babylonsister]

Sure am glad they're smoking out

them terraists. :sarcasm:

[zreosumgame]

2. Did the AWOL in Chief feel threatened?

[tanyev]

10. Zing! Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[northofdenali]

15. Excellent Shrub-zap!!

:hi:

[zreosumgame]

20. thanks for the welcome

:toast:

[Mika]

3. I thought Jimmy Carter had pardoned them all. n/t

[mountainvue]

5. So did I. This doesn't make any sense. n/t

[tuvor]

8. I thought so too. But not deserters.

Just a day after Jimmy Carter's inaguration, he followed through on a contentious campaign promise, granting a presidential pardon to those who had avoided the draft during the Vietnam war by either not registering or traveling abroad.

The pardon meant the government was giving up forever the right to prosecute what the administration said were hundreds of thousands of draft-dodgers.

(snip)

Meanwhile, many in amnesty groups say that Carter's pardon did too little. They pointed out that the president did not include deserters -- those who served in the war and left before their tour was completed -- or soldiers who recieved a less-than-honorable discharge. Civilian protesters, selective service employees and those who initiated any act of violence also were not covered in the pardon.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/vietnam/vietnam_1-21-77.html

[Nailzberg]

11. Close.

Carter pardoned draft dodgers. This case is about a deserter.

Ford did offer clemency to Vietnam draft resisters and deserters, but few deserters applied for the clemency.


Seeing the moral drop in the today's military, the Marines have stepped up this dragnet on Vietnam deserters as a message. I find it quite immoral and unethical to chase down senior citizens to scare 20 year olds, especially since Ford offered them all clemency. These guys would be beyond the reach of military law if they had applied for it, but you have to imagine a great number of them were suffering from mental illness, post traumatic stress, or perhaps even paranoia that the clemency application was a trap to find them, so you can understand why not everyone took the offer.

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1583997.php


on edit: Isn't there some other manhunt we're supposed to be concentrating on? I forget.

[benburch]

13. You've nailed it. It's a message. nt

[ConcernedCanuk]

18. "Isn't there some other manhunt we're supposed to be concentrating on?"

.
.
.

hmmmmm

you referring to catching those responsible for 911?

aw heck - that was just used as an excuse to get billions of bucks and bombs into the Middle East

Are they searching for them 911 perps? I mean, after sacrificing a few thousand American soldiers, massacring tens of thousands Afghans, hundreds of thousands of dead and maimed Iraqis

And they still haven't found this Usama Bin Laden guy?

That's cuz they ain't really looking methinks . . . .

(sigh)

[leftchick]

19. he has been forgotten

osama bin forgotten. Now why don;t the freepers fumigate about that?

[BrotherBuzz]

36. He pardoned draft dodgers...NOT AWOL or deserters...

This poor guy falls under the jurisdiction of UCMJ.

[NanceGreggs]

4. I'm an American living in Toronto ...

... and I'd personally like to invite G.W. Bush to come up and visit me.

Well, as long as they're arresting DESERTERS at the border ...

[Perky]

6. Desertion is waaay different then Dodging

He enlisted and then decided he was opposed to the war?????? WTF. Sorry I am fine with a pardoned. But he is guilty of desertion. I don't see any mitigation in the article.

Time will tell.

[laheina]

38. But after so many years?

And when he has been in and out of the country so many times before?

I'm not saying that what he did is right, btw. It just doesn't seem to be worth prosecuting an old man. Especially not when our energies should be focused elsewhere.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

7. He's not a deserter- he's a Presidential Hopeful

They have standards, you see, and it's real hard to find someone who has them....

[sam sarrha]

9. i believe is up to 4000 deserters from Iraq now... setting an Example

[Perky]

12. That might well be it.

But volunteer for service and then leave because you don't like the war is a criminal offense anywhere.

[president4aday]

16. Waging an immoral is criminal. Deserting it is not.

[Perky]

25. That is not what the law says...

unfortunate as it may be.

[Perky]

26. That is not what the law says...

unfortunate as it may be.

[NYC]

17. That has to be the reason.

This happened 38 years ago.

[raysr]

14. They were all given

Amnesty for Christs Sake! What the fuck happened to that? Wasn't it Carter, which one? Nevermind, read the post before.

[Nailzberg]

23. I've written to all my elected officials about this.

Others should as well. I have good senators, so I hope whatever staffer reads the emails gets these in front of Obama or Durbin's eyes. Hopefully some legislation can end the dragnet on Vietnam deserters.

Ford offered them all clemency. And as I stated above, I believe the reason many did not take it can be traced to the mental health issues that these deserters suffered from as a result of their experiences in Vietnam. It's time we healed the wounds from that war and stop punishing Vietnam vets.

On a sidebar: When Bush was nominated in 2000, I started to get a sickening feeling that I would be activated and deployed to some immoral conflict, so I stopped going to drills and informed my reserve unit that I was no longer interested in serving. I had my MD write up some BS reason why I couldn't medically continue to serve in the reserves, and was discharged. I'm sure such a discharge would not be granted today. So I have some empathy, perhaps even some guilt, over the punishment of deserters from Vietnam. Why do I get off scot-free because I worked the system during peacetime, when they are being being prosecuted for desertion during an immoral war?

Back to the point, if these guys were offered clemency, they should not be punished now for failure to apply. The clemency should have been a blanket clemency that did not require application. It's time we stopped punishing Vietnam vets.

[lovuian]

21. I thought they were given pardons

evidentally not... Bush must be setting an example!!!

Amazing for a Awol soldier himself...

[davidinalameda]

22. there's no statute of limitations on deserting?

interesting

[bluestateguy]

24. What a waste of time

At some point you have to let bygones be bygones. 38 years? If he robbed a liquor store using a gun the statute of limitations would have already passed.

What's that expression the other side always uses with us? Well, I'll use it with the Vietnam War: "You lost. Get over it!"

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. I thought Carter pardoned all the Vietnam era deserters.

[dflprincess]

28. I think he only gave amnesty to those who refused to be drafted

I don't know if deserters were included in that or not.

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. Yep now that I think about it

I do believe it was just draft dodgers.

[OKNancy]

30. kick

[Ernesto]

31. Vietnam deserter held at Camp Pendleton following arrest

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) - A man who deserted from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968 was being held in the brig here following his arrest as he tried to enter the country from Canada, officials said.
Allen Abney, 56, was arrested Thursday when he and his wife tried to cross into the United States from their home in Kingsgate, British Columbia to attend a social function in Reno. A routine computer check revealed an arrest warrant for the father of three, officials said.
http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/14229540p-15052643c.html

[Sammy Pepys]

32. Wow. n/t

...

[Richard Steele]

33. Weren't all those guys given a blanket pardon 30 years ago? nm

[BikeWriter]

34. Draft resisters, yes. Deserters, no.

[Richard Steele]

35. That's right! Thanks, BikeWriter. nm

[LeftHander]

37. they shoot people who refuse to shoot people...

Makes pefect Bush logic....