Military Deserters In Canada

"Nelson has again become a sanctuary for American soldiers like Snyder who are avoiding the battlefield in Iraq."

By Reina Gonzales
April 12, 2007

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When members of the United States armed forces have been absent without leave for 30 days, and show "no intent to return to the military" the military re-classifies them as "deserters." Instances of desertion from the US Army went up 27 percent in 2006, to a total of 3, 301 desertions. Between 2002 and 2006, the Army’s average annual rate of prosecution for desertion tripled compared to the previous five-year period. Once a soldier becomes a deserter, their choices are: jail time, returning to the military or seeking refuge in another country. Youth Radio reporter Reina Gonzales traveled to Canada to meet two young men who are seeking refuge from both the US military and the consequences of being classified as deserters.

Nelson is a small town nestled at the foot of the Kootenay mountain range in British Columbia...

It’s the kind of place where folk singers perform on the main street, people smile and say hello to complete strangers and look out for neighbors...even neighbors like Kyle Snyder, an American soldier who deserted the U-S military.

KYLE (on tape)
We live right by the mountains. You can see the Kootenay Lake. It’s just the place if you want to isolate yourself. It’s magic.

REINA
The Kootenay region was magic back in the 1960’s and 70’s for thousands of Americans who crossed the border to avoid the draft. Many have made Nelson their permanent home.

The town proudly remembers the area’s history as a sanctuary for Vietnam War resisters. Nelson hosts a reunion for them each summer.

Today, Nelson has again become a sanctuary for American soldiers like Snyder who are avoiding the battlefield in Iraq. This time, there’s no draft to dodge. Snyder signed up voluntarily.

SNYDER (on tape)
I didn’t just wake up one day and say, “I think I’m gonna leave Iraq. I think I’m gonna' leave my job. I think I’m gonna' leave the United States and everything that I knew. I think that I’m gonna' leave..."

REINA
Snyder’s decision to desert came after four and a half months of perilous duty in Mosul, Iraq.

SNYDER (on tape)
The turning point was I saw a fellow squad member shoot an innocent civilian right in front of me, with no repercussion whatsoever to him. He kept going on missions, they actually promoted the man.

REINA
Two weeks later, Snyder deserted the military while on leave in British Columbia. There he befriended 23-year-old Ryan Johnson, another U-S army deserter.

Johnson says he joined the military to get money for college and health care. He claims U.S. Army recruiters offered him that care, in exchange for a non-combat position close to home. But after a few months stationed at a base nearby, he got a deployment order...to Iraq.

JOHNSON (on tape)
So I talked to my supervisors and told them when I signed up I was gonna' be put in a non-deployable position and they said that "Your recruiter lied to you, they lied to a lot of guys. You’re just gonna have to suck it up and deal with it.” So I did. I actually packed my bags - I had a bag sent to Iraq.

REINA
Johnson never went to Iraq. Instead, he says he began to question all the military’s promises. And watching the Iraqi civilian death toll skyrocket, he became skeptical about the war itself. On the day he was to deploy, Johnson went AWOL, ultimately settling in Nelson.

Army spokesperson Major Anne Edgecomb says war deserters like Johnson knew what they were signing up for.

MAJOR EDGECOMB (on tape)
Everyone who signs up and wants to join the army did so voluntarily. The folks who came in the army after 9/11 knew there was a war.

REINA
Major Edgecomb says desertion cases are handled seriously...because the military has made a huge investment in soldiers’ training.

MAJOR EDGECOMB (on tape)
You know it really degrades unit readiness when a soldier who’s been training with a unit decides that he or she doesn’t want to deploy and just leaves. So it's important to try that the soldier gets reintegrated back to the unit.

REINA
If a deserter stays in the U.S., they face punishment through the military justice system. The punishment varies by case, but jail time, reintegration into the military, and dishonorable discharge are the most common penalties.

NELSON (on tape)
I believe that if you really believe in your cause, the place to fight it is at home...

REINA
Like most of Nelson’s residents, Mayor John Dooley is sympathetic to military deserters. But he wonders if Canada is the right place for soldiers like Snyder and Johnson. The mayor was there more than 30 years ago when American war resisters settled in the area to escape Vietnam.

NELSON (on tape)
In some cases it was an easy way out for some people just to come across the border and not face the music at home.

REINA
In their living room in Nelson, Kyle Snyder and Ryan Johnson look back at pictures from Snyder’s time in Iraq.

KYLE (on tape)
This is in Mosul, this is a foot-recon in Mosul, this is in Kuwait, before we went to Iraq.

REINA
Kyle Snyder and Ryan Johnson say it was a tough decision to escape to Canada. And Johnson says that choice came with a high price.

JOHNSON (on tape)
It would have been very easy for me to deploy to Iraq and just be a soldier even though I don’t agree with it. This would have been over by now.

Now I can live with myself in that respect, knowing that I stood up for what I believed in, however the consequences of that is that I may never get to see my mother again, or my brother or sister.

REINA
Johnson and Snyder say as military deserters, even though they could come home to the United States to see their families, the risk is too great. So while they wait for their immigration cases to be resolved, Canada is home.