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I can tell you there is a dislike for the shirkers at home that ducked the draft. My dad is 91 and served in the Pacific, his next door neighbor got a deferment for being a farmer, my dad still has little use for him or any other guys that stayed home. Any body that defected to the Nazis or Japs had to be insane, same with Korea and Vietnam. There are still a couple of Americans living in North Korea that defected back in the war. Bet they are living large.
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I recently read, 'The Deserters - A Hidden History of WWII" by Charles Glass. In the European theatre of operations there were approx. 50,000 British and 100,000 American deserters. Many were given a second chance and returned to duty. Many chose prison as preferable to combat. One American soldier was executed for desertion: Pvt. Eddie Slovik.
After the war, virtually all Americans were released from prison. No British soldiers were executed for desertion because the death penalty for that offense had been abolished in the inter - war period. Almost all British deserters were granted amnesty after the war. There were no recorded desertions in the Pacific Theatre because it was not possible. Which is not to say that nobody ran away, they just didn't run far. My former father-in - law,( now deceased) by his own admission, hid out on Guadalcanal for four days and was able to spin a yarn good enough to not only avoid punishment, but to earn the Bronze Star. He was an old regular soldier and knew all the dodges. One American soldier of Japanese or mixed Japanese descent was captured by the Japanese and forced by them to fight in the Japanese Army. He probably was forced, but his explanations didn't do him any good, he was hanged for treason. During the Korean War, a few captured Americans, held by the Chinese chose to refuse repatriation, but I think most eventually came home, and removed no or light punishment. The Germans executed many thousands and the Soviets executed over 100,000 for various offenses. During the Viet Nam War, many draft-age Americans went to other countries to avoid service and even some active duty personnel deserted as well. The civilians suffered no official sanctions and the military personnel received light punishment. So, when the bullets are flying, you make up your own mind about how you want to play your hand. It appears that the death penalty isn't a very effective deterrent, if the numbers quoted in the book are correct. |
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The guys who ran to Canada and other places specifically to avoid the draft broke the law.
Jimmy Carter pardoned heir sorry asses. Vietnam was a mess and there were reasons for not being enthused about it. Pardoning those guys was an insult and slap in the face to those who did obey the law. Complicated times. On Slovik, he was a marginal personality and petty criminal who never should have been in the army. Many others deserted as well, or panicked and fled at the beginning of the Ardennes offensive. On review, some of the judges who sentenced him stated they never thought he actually would be shot. Others were shot or hanged for crimes like murder and rape. There was an incident in VN with some folks I am acquainted with. Some Australians were working in an area with an A Team. They ran into a very hot situation where a lot of casualties were taken and the CIDG fled. One Australian was wounded and left behind. His good friend stated "See you after the war!" and headed back to aid his friend. Next day a larger force went back in and found both, hands tied and a burst of auto fire had been put into their mouths. Absolute true story. |
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During WWII there were approximately 1400 American service personnel interned in Sweden where they were well treated and about 1500 in Switzerland. In Switzerland, if an internee was captured after an escape attempt, they were sent to a criminal penitentiary, which is a violation of the Geneva Convention. Almost all of the above were air crew who landed damaged aircraft.
I have read that internees in Spain were badly treated at first, but after Stalingrad when it was apparent that Germany would lose the war, treatment got better and many were allowed to leave covertly. There were British and maybe some American aircrew interned in Ireland and possibly some made it to Turkey. American aircrew who flew into Russia after attacking Japanese targets in China, were held for a while, then smuggled out. |
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I know that US B-24’s from the first raid on Ploesti (June 1942) landed in Turkey and crews were interned. Besides a B-25 from Doolittle’s Raid that landed in the USSR there were several B-29’s that went there (and kept by the Russians despite US demands for their return) and the crews were kept for some time and interrogated by the Russians. The Russians also used these aircraft to “Reverse Engineer” them and produced their own version of the bomber, the Tu-4. Some of these Tu-4’s were supplied to Communist China in the 1950’s. |
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