The Massachusetts Board of Rabbis called on President Nixon today to grant amnesty to Americans who are imprisoned or living abroad because they refused to serve in the armed forces during the Vietnam war. A resolution adopted by the Board stated, in part:
“We believe that our concern in healing the wounds of war will come only as we undertake to foster the unity that is lacking as a result of the past decade of war…..Now is the time that these young people be allowed to return to their homes so that our great American family may be reunited. Much would thereby be done to regain the confidence of those American youth who love their country but who, for reasons of conscience, have not agreed with the war policy pursued in Southeast Asia,” the statement said.
The resolution noted that some 75,000 of these young Americans are either in jail or living as exiles abroad. Resistors who fled to other countries face a possible five-year jail sentence and a $10,000 fine should they undertake to return home
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