Overlanders
Americans who came to Canada during the Vietnam War
I’m working for the longreads section at the National Post this summer, and recently published my first piece. It’s about the ~50,000 American migrants who came to Canada during the Vietnam War, either to evade the draft or as an act of political resistance. The article is available here.
I was fortunate to speak with nine American war resisters, most of whom are now in their seventies. Here are a few interesting tidbits—all from one unexpectedly wide-ranging conversation—that didn’t make it into the piece but have stayed with me nonetheless.
On women: “If you want to put something in there that’s notorious and that they’ll probably censor—as you know, women were very free in the late sixties, early seventies, and very curious. And draft dodgers were very interesting. If there were 50,000 draft dodgers, I would guess that each of us slept with at least 10 women.
“So you could open your piece with: at least half a million Canadian women know these guys, and this is what they’re really like. I’m sorry. I’ve been reading too much literary nonfiction.”
On communism: “My girlfriend in Canada was convinced that we went to war in Vietnam because they wouldn't sell rubber to us if they became Communist. I mean, how crazy is that? I mean, they were poor. They’d have sold rubber to everyone.”
On the FBI: “By the way, the FBI showed up for several Christmases outside my parents’ house in Wichita Falls and then in Texas. And once my mom went out and gave them hot chocolate. They were sitting there with their crew cuts in the car, waiting for me to come home so they could nab me … This is how clueless they were. They didn’t even realize I was Jewish.”
On life: “I thought I would die at 36. You know? And here I am at 78, and I’m still being useful to people. It’s incredible. But sometimes I’ll put my hand on [name of wife]’s stomach. You know, she’s had kids of her own. And I just wish to God that we could have had kids, or that I could have had kids with other people I loved along the way.
“Most of my friends never did [have children] because we were trying to save the world. I mean, it turns out that life is very long. Even with children and a family, it’s almost infinitely long.”
Proud of you for your work! This is so interesting
Congrats on the article! It was great.