immigrantscanada.com

Independent topical source of current affairs, opinion and issues, featuring stories making news in Canada from immigrants, newcomers, minorities & ethnic communities' point of view and interests.

Vietnam

Vietnam: King spent the next 10 months at two army bases before fleeing the night before he was to be sent off to Vietnam, according to CTV. He then hitchhiked to Canada, joining thousands of other draft dodgers between 1965 and 1975 who made the journey north of the border. King father, a Second World War veteran who landed at Normandy, helped negotiate a deal with the agents, who had been travelling around the United States looking for Vietnam War draft dodgers. "If I agreed to go in the military, agreed to drop the charges of draft evasion," King, 68, said in an interview from Toronto ahead of the 40th anniversary of the end of the war on April 30. While it is still unclear how many men and women sought sanctuary in Canada -- the country labelled draft dodgers as immigrants, as opposed to refugees -- the federal government estimates up to 40,000 made the journey. King, an award-winning musician, producer and broadcaster, said the stories he heard from returning soldiers convinced him that he had to leave. Most stayed after the war, "making up the largest, best-educated group this country ever received," says an archived report on the Citizenship and Immigration website. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.