All American Boys

FRANK KUSCH is author of All American Boys: Draft Dodgers in Canada from the Vietnam War (Praeger, 2001). He holds degrees in history from Ohio University and the University of Saskatchewan. Historian and editor, he is currently working on a book about Richard Nixon and the antiwar movement.

This unique study argues that the draft dodgers who went to Canada during the Vietnam War were not always the anti-war radicals portrayed in popular culture. Many were the products of stable, conservative, middle class homes who were more interested in furthering their education and careers than in fighting in Southeast Asia. The conflict in Vietnam was just one cause among many for their deep sense of disaffection from the land of their birth. These expatriates remained quintessentially American, because evading the draft was in their opinion consistant with the very best American traditions of individualism and resistance to undue authority or state servitude.Although the war was not the only or even the primary reason for their immigration to Canada, it was the final action in response to an increasing sense of alientation from America that many had felt since childhood. Kusch's work also raises questions about what it means to be an American. Intriguingly, it suggests the actions of these expatriates should be seen not merely as a drastic response to the Vietnam war, but as a commitment to the core ideals of American and European thought since the Enlightenment.

Looks at the experiences of American draft dodgers in Canada during the Vietnam War, arguing that many of these young men were motivated not only by their opposition to the war but also by their sense of alienation from American society as a whole.

PrefaceIntroductionThe Draft in American History: Balancing Liberty and NecessityChildhood: The Origins of DisaffectionAdolescent Philosophers: From Teens to DrafteesSelective Service and Vietnam: Deferments, Loopholes and Class PrivilegeNorthern Bound: Dodging the Deferments--Evading the Country"Boys without a Country" Exiles or Émigrés?Traitors or Quintessential Americans? Reflections From Across the BorderEpilogueAppendicesBibliographyIndex