Isn't one of the greater questions here whether or not a country has the right to force its citizens to participate in war? If the draft itself is wrong, then avoiding the draft, through whichever means you choose, cannot be described as cowardice. It's about your priorities. If you believe that whatever the government tells you is equal to the word of God, then you should probably go and fight if you're drafted. If you believe that the government is made up of fallible politicians who quite often make mistakes, then maybe agreeing to go to war anyway is violating your principles.
I'm not sure why someone would be obligated to tell the government 'no' and be thrown in jail rather than go to Canada. I don't see how cowardice has anything to do w/ it. These people valued their 'freedom'. Part of their 'freedom' was that they were free not to fight in a war. In order to protect their 'freedom', they did what they had to do; they left the country of their origins. A painful, difficult thing to do.
I don't support a monument to 'heroes', but i have no problems commemorating a historic event. I'm sure there are monuments to that ship that blew up half of Halifax, were those people heroes? (other than the guy that stopped the train) And yet, despite their having little/no evidence of bravery, they've got a monument.
Does the monument specifically say 'Hero' on it? Otherwise, I think a lot of people are blowing this way out of proportion.
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