Teacher License Safe for Gulf War Resister

Schoolteacher John M. Dickinson, an Air Force Reserve lieutenant who was jailed for refusing to fight in the Persian Gulf War, will not lose his teaching credential because of his act of resistance, state officials announced Tuesday.

Dickinson, 35, who teaches fifth grade at Jackson Elementary School in Santa Ana, was in danger of losing his license on the grounds of moral turpitude.

“It’s a victory for the freedoms and rights our country really stands for,” he said. “This is about freedom of speech, freedom of belief, not just in what’s politically popular, but what you really believe in.”