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Conscientious
Objectors

U.S. War Resisters In Canada

By Gerry Condon

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Five days a week, Jeremy Hinzman, a native of South Dakota, rides his bicycle through the busy streets of Toronto. Since receiving his Canadian work permit this winter, he has been employed as a bicycle messenger, a job he had “been wanting to try for eons.� Hinzman is 26 and in excellent shape. He is a long distance runner and has run a couple of marathons since he arrived in Canada in January 2004.

This philosophical attitude and the stamina of a long distance runner have served Hinzman well since August 2, 2002 when, as a soldier in the U.S. Army, he asked to be classified as a Conscientious Objector (CO) and to be reassigned to a non-combat job.

It takes a lot of fortitude for a soldier to declare himself a Conscientious Objector. Although military law makes provisions for soldiers who decide they are pacifists, many soldiers are not informed of this option. Pursuing Conscientious Objector status is frowned on, especially in a gung-ho unit like Hinzman’sâ€â€