Marine Charged With Reduced Form of Desertion in 1968 Case

The Marine Corps on Monday filed charges carrying a maximum sentence of three years in prison against a 48-year-old deserter from the Vietnam era, but there were indications that he may avoid going to prison.

Randy Caudill, a private who fled to Canada shortly after his unit was ordered to Vietnam in 1968, was charged with desertion “terminated by apprehension,” rather than the more serious charge of desertion “with intent to avoid hazardous duty or shirk important service.” The maximum penalty for that charge is five years in prison.

Caudill was apprehended by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service on Sept. 9 while crossing the border between Canada and the state of Washington. A routine computer check found the decades-old desertion warrant. He was brought under guard to Camp Pendleton on Sept. 11.

In charging Caudill with desertion, the Marine Corps rejected a request from Caudill’s military attorney to resolve the case by merely discharging him, possibly with a status other than honorable discharge.

Now that Caudill has been charged, the next step in the military justice system could be a court-martial.

As in civilian courts, however, military cases are often handled by pretrial agreements in which a defendant pleads guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence or probation.

“I don’t feel any push here to see Mr. Caudill incarcerated, either on the small unit level or by the general,” said Maj. Daniel Lecce, Caudill’s attorney.

One indication that the Marine Corps is preparing to discharge Caudill--possibly after he pleads guilty and accepts an other than honorable discharge--is that he was ordered Monday to undergo a complete physical. It is standard procedure for the corps to administer a physical to any Marine awaiting discharge.

Caudill, who has lived in Winnipeg since deserting from Camp Pendleton, spends his days in a private room in the bachelor enlisted quarters. Because of severe arthritis in his hands, he has been unable to maneuver the buttons on a Marine uniform and is allowed to wear civilian clothes.

Marine spokesmen have emphasized that he is being accorded the same respect as any Marine on the base. He has been befriended by a Marine chaplain who invited him home for dinner.

“He’s holding up very well under the circumstances,” Lecce said. “Getting him home is our first priority.”

Caudill was 19 and had been trained as a radio operator when he deserted to avoid going to Vietnam. His family says he made his decision after talking to Marines returning from combat service. In the early part of 1968, Marines took part in some of the bloodiest fighting of the war during the Tet offensive and the siege of Khe Sanh.

Caudill, born in Oklahoma and raised in Ohio, has a wife, three grown daughters and two granddaughters in Canada. He worked as a farm equipment mechanic and now receives disability payments. His wife, who sponsored him for resident immigration status in Canada, has begged the Marine Corps to let her husband return home.

More than 10,000 military personnel deserted and fled to Canada during the Vietnam war. In Sept. 1974, President Gerald R. Ford issued clemency for deserters who turned themselves in, but that lapsed in March 1975.

Caudill’s fate rests largely with Maj. Gen. C.W. Reinke, commanding general at Camp Pendleton. Reinke was a company commander in Vietnam for the 3rd Marine Division.