Deserter Discharged, Can Return to Canada

A 48-year-old Marine Corps deserter from the Vietnam era escaped a prison sentence Tuesday when a military judge gave him a bad-conduct discharge and permission to return to Canada.

Randall J. Caudill was sentenced after a brief hearing that summoned up the bitterness and division that were prevalent in America in 1968, the year Caudill deserted.

“He made a mistake in 1968, but so did many, many people who dodged the draft or deserted,” said Maj. Daniel Lecce, Caudill’s attorney, as he asked the court for leniency.

Caudill, who has lived in Winnipeg since deserting, told the judge his desertion was not a political statement or an indication of disdain for the United States.

“I was 19 and not very pleased about the Corps at the time,” said Caudill.

Caudill could have received three years in prison on the desertion charge, but Marine Corps officials did not recommend a prison sentence.

The prosecutor “wasn’t asking for a pound of flesh; he just wanted a discharge,” said Capt. Joe Lisiecki, the base legal affairs officer.

Caudill answered the judge’s questions meekly and declined an opportunity to elaborate on why he deserted.

Caudill, a radio operator, had been in the Marine Corps for less than a year when he deserted shortly after being given orders to go to Vietnam.

Now severely crippled by rheumatoid arthritis, the balding, round-shouldered Caudill sat quietly during the hearing.

Asked by the judge why he had enlisted in the Marine Corps, Caudill said joined to “serve my country and go to Vietnam.”

He had already been court-martialed once for an unauthorized absence when he deserted in mid-1968.

To the relief of his family in Winnipeg, Caudill is expected to leave Camp Pendleton by Friday, when administrative paperwork will be completed.

The judge, Lt. Col. John Blanche, meted out the bad-conduct discharge, but the prosecutor, Maj. John Scott, had asked for the more severe dishonorable discharge.

“Although the passage of time may have tempered the public’s view of desertion,” Scott said, “it does not temper the severity of the offense. . . . There is no doubt that 1968 was a difficult time for the country. And very few service members in the late 1960s wanted to go to Vietnam. But they went when they were ordered.”

Caudill worked as a mechanic until arthritis forced him to take a disability retirement in 1986. He then received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Manitoba and has done volunteer counseling for families in crisis situations.

In Winnipeg, he married a schoolteacher, and the couple has three daughters and two granddaughters. Family members, friends and even some Vietnam veterans submitted letters on Caudill’s behalf, asking that the Marine Corps allow him to return home and avoid prison.

“I’m relieved, but I’m not happy yet,” said Caudill’s wife, Twylla, at their modest home after the court decision. “I just want it to be over. We’re a very private family, and this has really disrupted our lives.”

Caudill was apprehended Sept. 9 at the Canadian border with Washington when a routine Immigration and Naturalization Service computer check found his 1968 desertion warrant.

Under a pretrial agreement, Caudill pleaded guilty to desertion, and the Marine Corps did not seek a prison sentence. The agreement was approved by Maj. Gen. C.W. Reinke, commanding general of the sprawling base. The agreement means that Caudill, who still has relatives in Ohio, is now free to visit the U.S. without fear of arrest.

Lecce said that younger Marines, most of whom are young enough to be Caudill’s children, were curious about the 48-year-old private in their midst and asked him what things were like in 1968. One young Marine put it best, Lecce said: “He’s a relic.”

During his brief time in the Marine Corps, Caudill was awarded a military ribbon for having served during the Vietnam War. At Tuesday’s hearing, he wore that lone ribbon on his baggy uniform. One final irony of Caudill’s service is that he will be paid for the time between his arrest, Sept. 9, and his discharge.