Veteran Won’t Face Trial for Desertion
A Vietnam veteran who has lived in Canada since deserting his Army post in Alaska in 1972 has been granted a special discharge and will not face a court-martial.
Richard Allen Shields was driving a lumber truck when he was arrested March 22 at the U.S.-Canadian border after a background check alerted U.S. Customs to an old warrant that charged Shields with desertion.
Shields, 47, was returning Saturday from Ft. Sill, Okla., to a celebration at the Castlegar, British Columbia, home he shares with his fiancee and her 12-year-old daughter.
“He’s pleased,” said his fiancee, Christine Paradowski. “He just wants to be with his family again.”
Shields, 47, thought he was cleared in 1977, when President Carter signed a pardon for Vietnam draft dodgers and deserters. But he didn’t fulfill the requirement to apply for the discharge review.
Shields became a Canadian citizen in 1978, Paradowski said.
Maj. Gen. Toney Stricklin, post commander at Ft. Sill, accepted his request for Chapter 10 status, which is usually reserved for deserters, an Army spokesman said.
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