Proposal to Create a Monument to Vietnam War Draft Dodgers(cowards)

Peace activists in Canada have revived plans dropped in 2004 to create a monument to Vietnam War draft dodgers from the U.S. who fled to Canada. The activists said the proposed monument is needed to warn people in both countries about the dangers of militarism. They are also organizing a July reunion for U.S. draft dodgers to be held in British Columbia at which the speakers will include former U.S. Senator George McGovern. The organizers say both the monument and reunion are to honor the Americans who resisted the war and the Canadians who helped them build new lives in their country.

The plans for a monument in Nelson, British Columbia, was originally announced in 2004, but was quickly abandoned after it was denounced by the U.S. Veterans of Foreign Wars and conservative media commentators, and a U.S. boycott was threatened of the area's tourism industry. A site hasn't yet been chosen for the planned monument, but proposals are being welcomed from communities in both Canada and the U.S. The proposed sculpture would show two Americans -- one man and one woman -- crossing an imaginary border where a Canadian waits to welcome them.

An estimated 125,000 Americans fled to Canada to avoid Vietnam, about half of whom returned to the U.S. after President Jimmy Carter granted amnesty in 1977.