"As a soldier, I had signed up to defend the Constitution, not to invade another country."
After spending his day off at Fort Bragg fine-tuning two rifles his superior officers planned to take with them to Iraq later in the month, Army Specialist Jeremy Hinzman crossed the border into Canada with his wife and young son to seek asylum:
In August 2002, Hinzman applied for conscientious objector status. He was not interested in getting out of the Army, but in performing some noncombat role. In fact, he said, he enjoyed Army life.
"I've never felt as close to a group of people as I did when I was in the Army," he said.
When his unit, the 2nd Battalion of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, received orders for Afghanistan several months later, Hinzman said he had no problem going.
"I just didn't want to go in a combat role," he said.
He was required to carry an M-4 rifle wherever he went, and admitted to his superiors that he would use it if his unit or the camp came under attack. In his mind there was a significant difference between offensive actions and defending his home and friends.
"It's premeditated murder as opposed to having your house broken into," he said.
But that admission, he believes, led to the denial of his conscientious objector application. When his unit returned to Fort Bragg after eight months in Afghanistan, he knew it was only a matter of time before it would be sent to Iraq.
Those orders came on Dec. 20, 2003, and by Jan. 1 he had made up his mind to go to Canada.
He said he has no doubts now, and no regrets. He is not encouraging others to join him, but said of his decision: "I'm confident what I've done is the right thing for me."
You can read more about his story at his official site, JeremyHinzman.net. His wife Nga Nguyen was recently interviewed by HipMama.