Posted on 04/11/2014 8:32:03 PM PDT by ConservativeStatement
Jesse Winchester, an American singer-songwriter who moved to Montreal in the 1960s to dodge the Vietnam War draft, died in his sleep Friday morning at the age of 69 after a lengthy illness.
Born in Louisiana and raised in Tennessee, Winchester developed his musical talent while living in Montreal. He often played at a hotel in Morin Heights, Que., run by several Tennessee transplants during the 1970s.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbc.ca ...
Well, he’s good and dead now.
I’m a Vietnam veteran and, praise God, I’m still alive.
Thanks for putting this in. A little obscure; but I still break out my favorite of his, and maybe some of our friends in the northerly climes can give a witness:
“I was tunin’ in the six o’clock newscast
When the weatherman mentioned ‘snow’;
As soon as I heard that four-letter word
I was makin’ my plans to go.
If I were a bird I could fly back south,
And then maybe I could go to sleep.
Anything rather than hang around here
When the snow starts gettin’ deep.
Well now you know what they say about snowflakes,
How there ain’t no two the same.
Ah, but all them flakes look alike to me,
Every one is a dirty shame.
My ears are cold, my feet are cold,
Bermuda stays on my mind;
And I’m here to say that if winter comes,
The spring can’t be far behind.
Etc
Cute song. I liked that one, and still belt it out sometimes.
“75 % of those who fought in Vietnam were volunteers, not draftees. I agree that any war we fight should be declared and fought to win. I am not, however, a Milton Friedman in my view of the draft.”
You need to provide support for that claim.
Do you think less of a draftee who served/died in Vietnam for his country?
I have a friend that was drafted, and retired 37 years later as a Lt. General in combat arms (3 star).
The draft and historical amnesia
VFW Magazine, March, 2003
“No 20th century war could have been waged, much less won, without draftees. During WWI, 72% of servicemen were drafted—50% of the men in France’s trenches were conscripted.
In WWII, 66% of all U.S. forces were drafted. Of the 10.5 million Army personnel, a whopping 93% were draftees. A poll taken in 1941 showed that just more than half of Americans would be willingly drafted for overseas service.
From 1946 to 1973, 5,077,185 men were drafted. During the Korean War era, 30% of total troops were drafted. In December 1950, 82% of the Army in Korea was made up of regulars. Exactly two years later, the ratio was 37% regular to 63% draftee in the war zone.
During the Vietnam era, 1,728,344 men were drafted. Of the forces who actually served in Vietnam, 648,500 (25%) were draftees. Draftees (17,725) accounted for 30.4% of combat deaths in Vietnam.”
No reason he couldn't have come back to the USA at any time he wished.
But he didn't.
“Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter granted him amnesty in the late 1970s, allowing Winchester to return to his home country to tour. However, the accomplished and revered country, roots and folk musician only moved back to the United States in 2002, after spending many years in Canada.”
He wasn’t interested in his country, at any level.
A really very ordinary, derivative song sung by a talent-less voice.
“Mitt Romney Faces New Scrutiny Over Vietnam War-Era Draft Deferments”
Romney was a draft evader and spent a lot of his draft avoidance living in France, while his dad ran to be President and lead us in the Vietnam war, Romney was on a Church issued deferment, only available to Mormon white men.
Mitt’s father, who was running against Reagan and Nixon, dropped out after claiming to have been “brainwashed” by the American military.
Correction- not only “Mormon white men”, just not Mormon black men.
Black Mormons were not eligible for the Romney deferment.
Thanks for that information. WWII was the last war we waged, that resulted in decisive permanent victory.
I love Folk music, so of course I have to listen to people who I don’t agree with and that I would like to drown in a bucket of Granola in real life, luckily, this guy sucks, and he isn’t one that I like.
The generations that participated in WWII, are the ones that managed to give up Vietnam, even though our young warriors won all the major battles, and defeated the enemy on the battlefields.
I served in the Pacific in WWII and my brother was killed in the battle for Okinawa. Like so many who fought and died in WWII we did it to pay homage for goodness and opportunity in a great Nation established by some great free people. I reject your attitude about service in WWII. I do get a bit of your argument since that war because I do believe our latest ‘wars’ have been for other things dearer to presidents than the survival of the USA as intended by the Founders.
Why would anyone think less of a draftee?
http://www.ussboston.org/Neat_Stuff/VietnamMyths.html
http://www.veteranshour.com/vietnam_war_statistics.htm
Were you Army or navy?
Didn’t Jimmy Carter drop the prosecution of draft dodgers?
Why didn’t he run away to Castro’s paradise in Cuba?
Both were in the Airforce.
My dad got out when his hitch was up, but my uncle made a career out of it.
And both are proud of their service.
And do NOT ask them what they think of draft-dodgers, unless you want to hear an earful.
You would have to read the article, or the thread, to know the answer to that.
God Bless them both. My Dad was drafted during the Korean War, but never saw combat. He was an MP and feels the same way about draft dodgers.
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