
Vietnam War Deserters Who Sought Asylum in Sweden - raleighm
https://lithub.com/the-vietnam-war-deserters-who-sought-asylum-in-sweden/
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tedeh
All Vietnam war deserters were given a conditional amnesty by Gerald Ford
shortly after he pardoned Nixon in 1974, and all deserters were ultimately
pardoned by the Carter administration in 1977 so that they could return home.

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rurban
This is an extremely interesting and underrepresented story.

I only know of the self-destructive story of the Japanese radical left, the
United Red Army, RAF sympathizers, which is depicted in Wakamatsu Kōji's
masterpiece "United Red Army". Crazy times.

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alkonaut
What was the reason passport holding US citizens had to be “smuggled” to leave
e.g Japan? Was it because US authorities would withdraw their passports as
soon as they were discovered to be missing? In those days I’d expect that type
of information to travel quite slowly.

Or were soldiers not even allow to keep their own passports when based abroad?

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13of40
Passports aren't mandatory in the US so it's common for someone who doesn't
travel internationally not to have one. When I went to Asia in the military in
the 90s, that was the case for me, but they let me in and out based on my
military ID card. I doubt that would have worked if I'd tried to fly to a
third country.

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MrRadar
In 1990 only around 3% of the US population had a passport[1]. These days it's
up to 42% due to a combination of stricter ID requirements (particularly at
the Canadian and Mexican borders) and an increase in popularity of
international travel among Americans in general.

[1]: [https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/01/11/the-
sh...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/01/11/the-share-of-
americans-holding-a-passport-has-increased-dramatically-in-recent-years-
infographic/#16df3a7b3c16)

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buy1get0
> the Japanese radical left ... appealed to me as a classic David and Goliath
> struggle, with a small group of idealistic young anti-war activists

well those 'David's coordinated with N.Korea to kidnap people to North
korea...

One famous example: Japanese Airlines 351 - kidnapped a plane & tried to take
everyone to N. Korea (but S. Korean gov. fooled them into believing Kimpo
airport as a N.Korean one...)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_351](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_351)

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knuththetruth
Yes, a small cadre of extremists did this, after they were kicked out of the
Japanese Communist Party for being violent nut jobs. They were by no means
exemplary of the movement.

At the same time, the right-wing in Japan (who was composed of former war
criminals and had deep ties to organized crime in the country), was
extensively funded and provided counterintelligence on their political
opponents by the CIA. This intentional subversion of Japanese democracy
guaranteed that the country could be used (at great cost to the Japanese
people) as a forward operating base for US imperialism in SE Asia, something
which was, and continues to be, deeply unpopular, even by those who are not
“radical leftists.”

[https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/09/world/cia-spent-
millions-...](https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/09/world/cia-spent-millions-to-
support-japanese-right-in-50-s-and-60-s.html)

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobusuke_Kishi](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobusuke_Kishi)

[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/04/09/national/contam...](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/04/09/national/contamination-
kadena-air-bases-dirty-secret/)

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gedy
I really dislike the characterization of Vietnam as US "Imperialism" when it
was more a proxy war between US and USSR and/or futile involvement in another
countries civil war. Many, many people appreciated the US fighting back
against a communist takeover. Hiding behind "nationalism" was a PR move by
revolutionary leadership, and not the real/main driver for it

~~~
knuththetruth
The country devolved into civil war after the US deposed and had executed the
country’s leader, who they had previously corruptly installed, but I guess
found insufficiently compliant.

If it’s not “imperialism” to fix elections, then overthrow and murder the
people you help elected, pushing the country into horrific violence (which you
then exacerbate), I’d like to know what rises to the level of your definition
of the term.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_South_Vietnamese_coup](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_South_Vietnamese_coup)

~~~
buttcoinslol
The country was undergoing decolonization following WWII and got caught in the
middle of two nuclear powers who couldn't openly fight each other without
risking a nuclear exchange. It's a miracle that Vietnam isn't split in two
like Korea.

I'm not trying to rationalize the conduct of the US, there's plenty of blood
on our hands when it comes to removing/installing foreign leaders, but this
was a very complex situation with many players that lasted for over 30 years
following the end of WWII. It's disingenuous to reduce it to 'American
imperialism'.

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mikeash
I don’t think “American imperialism” has to be a reduction. American
imperialism is one part of a complex picture.

