What would be some arguments for and some arguments against the Vietnam Conditional Amnesty?

Question

What would be some arguments for and some arguments against the Vietnam Conditional Amnesty?

Answer 1

With my Dad being a Vietnam Veteran and my uncles who served in ARVN and fought against the NVA and Viet Cong (one died in combat), I'm not going to be a good resource for an argument supporting the Vietnam Conditional Amnesty (VCA) or any draft dodger amnesty program. I was barely in junior high school at the time, but I still remember when Gerald Ford announced the program. Basically, the program gave amnesty to Vietnam War draft dodgers if they served two years in the service that they evaded.

Let’s start with the arguments against VCA:

- The draft dodgers made their choice and they should live with it. Have fun living in Canada!

- If you though pardoning Nixon for Watergate was a bad idea, pardoning draft dodgers just a short time after we lost the Vietnam War was even worse.

- Pardoning draft dodgers is a slap in the face of every person who served in Vietnam.

Arguments for VCA:

- It was an attempt to close the door on the Vietnam War era so the country can start rebuilding again.

- At least Ford made the draft dodgers earn their citizenship back instead of giving it away like Carter did.

I hope this helps…