Unwilling troops obtain legal aid, solace in Canada

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http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/06/RESISTERS.TMP

<snip>Ryan Johnson, 22, of Visalia (Tulare County) is pretty confident Canada will let him and his wife, Jenna, stay, but just in case, they are researching options -- like going to Sweden.

He said he had told his Army recruiters that he didn't want to fight, so they signed him up for a job in automotive supplies.

"They told me no problem, I could get a noncombat position and serve from the United States. I was lied to," he said.

Given a deployment date for Iraq, Johnson went underground in December 2004, returning to his mother's house in Visalia. Although the Army called the house and sent two letters home, no one came looking for him.