Clemency for Vietnam draft evaders and deserters
Clemency for Vietnam draft evaders and deserters refers to the policies and actions taken by U.S. government leaders in the aftermath of the Vietnam War regarding individuals who resisted the draft or deserted military service. Following the end of the draft in 1973, there was a growing public discourse on how to address those who avoided service, leading to a conditional amnesty plan introduced by President Gerald Ford in 1974. This plan required individuals to fulfill certain conditions, such as pledging allegiance to the U.S. and completing a two-year period of alternative service, in order to receive clemency.
The creation of a Presidential Clemency Board was a significant step in this process. However, the response to these measures was mixed, with some conservatives viewing the plan as overly lenient and some liberals considering it too harsh. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter further addressed the issue by issuing a blanket pardon for all draft evaders, which affected many but did not significantly alter the status of those who had remained abroad, particularly in Canada. Ultimately, these clemency actions aimed at reconciling the nation and moving past the divisive impacts of the Vietnam War, even as the experiences of draft dodgers and deserters faded from public attention over time.
Clemency for Vietnam draft evaders and deserters
Identification Program of the Ford administration to allow those who had deserted from the U.S. military or had illegally avoided conscription (the draft) to avoid prosecution by surrendering and agreeing to fulfill certain conditions
Date Presidential Clemency Board established on September 16, 1974
As a result of the clemency, around 40,000 Americans who lived outside the United States (primarily in Canada and Sweden) to avoid conscription or because of military desertion could legally return to the country. Although only an estimated 2,500 men earned clemency, Gerald R. Ford’s program was an important step in resolving some of the inequities of the draft and in ending the divisions in society caused by the Vietnam War.
After 1940, the federal government maintained that since draft resisters had broken the law, they should be arrested and tried upon their return to U.S. control; deserters would be court martialed. After the involvement of American ground forces in Vietnam and the draft ended in 1973, public support grew for a change in policy toward draft resisters and deserters. When Gerald Ford became president in 1974, he believed that doing something about the draft resisters would draw a distinction between his administration and that of Richard M. Nixon and would hasten national healing from the Vietnam War. Ford chose a conditional amnesty, which applicants would have to earn.
Ford announced his intentions on August 19, 1974, at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Chicago. Later the plan was fleshed out with the assistance of the Veterans Administration, the Justice Department, and the Pentagon. On September 16, Ford announced the establishment of a Presidential Clemency Board to review the cases of men desiring clemency. Under the plan, applicants had to agree to three conditions to avoid punishment. First, they had to appear before a U.S. attorney before January 31, 1975. Next, they had to pledge allegiance to the United States. Finally, after fulfilling a two-year period of alternative service, they would be granted clemency. Deserters had to pledge allegiance and return for two years of service to their military branch. Afterward, they would receive a clemency discharge, which prevented them from receiving most veterans’ benefits.
Conservatives complained that the plan was too lax, while liberals argued that it was too harsh. On September 23, 1976, during the first debate of the presidential election campaign, Jimmy Carter stated his intention to issue a blanket pardon. In 1977, shortly after becoming president, Carter issued a general pardon for all draft evaders from the Vietnam War era.
Impact
Although Carter’s pardon affected thousands of men, many remained in Canada. In the United States, returning draft dodgers and deserters had little impact as a group and quickly disappeared from public consciousness. As Ford and Carter had hoped, settling of the issue had moved the Vietnam War and the divisions in society that it had created into the past.
Bibliography
Baskir, Lawrence M., and William A. Strauss. Chance and Circumstance: The Draft, the War, and the Vietnam Generation. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978.
Kutch, Frank. All American Boys: Draft Dodgers in Canada from the Vietnam War. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2001.
Surrey, David. Choice of Conscience: Vietnam Era Military and Draft Evaders Resisters in Canada. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1982.