The FBI's Hunt for a Draft Dodger

STORY BY: Jim Stimson
YEAR: 1967
LOCATION: Seattle, USA

Jim tells us about his run-ins with the FBI after he fled the USA as a draft dodger. He was born in South Dakota in 1946 to a Canadian father and an American mother. In 1967, he was in Portland, Oregon, when he received a draft notice to fight in the Vietnam war. He got drunk, got on a plane and flew to Edmonton, Alberta. 3 years later, a big Chevy truck pulls up to where he was living, and two men step out - one a plainclothes RCMP officer, the other an FBI agent. It turns out that there was a federal indictment for Jim's arrest for "draft evasion", and they try to convince him to return to the USA. He refuses, but several years later, he has another run-in with the FBI. He's heading to a young people's addiction recovery conference near Seattle, WA. At the border, he's arrested, held in jail, but quickly released by a local Supreme Court judge who "knew something about addiction and recovery". Much to the chagrin of the FBI, the judge arranges for Jim to attend the conference and safely return to Canada, accompanied by a State trooper. He's been free ever since. Thanks for sharing, Jim.