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NORTHERN EXPOSURE Draft-dodger tribute facing abandonment Controversial monument honoring Vietnam War evaders now in doubt Posted: September 28, 2004 4:21 am Eastern By Joe Kovacs
A day after WorldNetDaily's story publicizing a proposed monument to honor draft dodgers from the Vietnam War, there is word the project itself is facing abandonment. The bronze tribute slated for Nelson, British Columbia, sparked outrage in both the U.S. and Canada, and now the town's online community bulletin board indicates the project is expected to be dropped: Administrator's note: City officials have now confirmed the monument will not be constructed. The message on Nelson's bulletin board continued: This issue has caused a lot of frustration and division. This website is no longer able to serve its purpose, and has become a discussion about this one topic. The discussion is no longer relevant.
The "landed immigrant" in charge of the project is Isaac Romano, who was very positive when the project was first made public. "This will mark the courageous legacy of Vietnam War resisters and the Canadians who helped them resettle in this country during that tumultuous era," he said.
Mayor David Elliot also seemed delighted when a press conference was held announcing plans to build the monument.
''I think it's the right place for it,'' he told the Nelson Daily News. ''We have a lot of open-minded people in this area and certainly people who are conscious of the efforts that happened in the Vietnam War.'' His office was subsequently flooded with negative reaction, and he's now singing a slightly different tune. "I made an innocent comment, off the cuff,'' Elliot told the National Post. ''Yes, I am a peace activist. But I wasn't speaking as mayor when I said I liked the idea. I wasn't even talking about the sculpture, which I don't support. We don't have a lot of public art here.'' WorldNetDaily has been receiving e-mail about the proposed monument, including the following: It's been estimated some 125,000 Americans fled to Canada during the Vietnam War to avoid the U.S. draft. About half returned to the U.S. when President Jimmy Carter granted them amnesty in 1977. The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. urged President Bush to get involved and express displeasure to the Canadian government. John Furgess, the national commander of the VFW, said his group fully supports freedom of expression and the arts, "But to honor draft-dodgers, deserters, people who brought grief to the families they left behind and anguish to those American men who took their place, is an abomination. You can say what you want about the war – we all did and some still do – but do not dishonor the warrior by memorializing cowards." Previous story: Joe Kovacs is executive news editor for WorldNetDaily.com and author of the No. 1 best-selling book that champions the absolute truth of Scripture, "Shocked by the Bible: The Most Astonishing Facts You've Never Been Told."
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