Why did some Canadians support the Vietnam War?

Answer 1

Most Canadians did not support the Vietnam War and few Canadians were involved. There were few that agreed at first and 1/2 of those changed their minds when the war began to rage on for a longer length of time than the U.S. War Dept., anticipated. In fact, Canadians took in draft dodgers and we were glad to oblige. There were mixed feelings everywhere. We did not look down our noses at any soldier fighting that war nor any draft dodgers. In fact, we have a couple of draft dodgers here now re the Iraq War, and the American gov't wants one of the young men back and we're trying to keep him here. Many Vietnam Vets have said this Iraq War is no different than the Vietnam War and perhaps we should start cleaning out our ears and listen to them. After all, do we ever get the whole truth from our governments! As a Marine Vietnam Veteran that fought with some Canadians who had joined the Marine Corps, the real answer to your question is that some Canadians believed what some Americans believed, that the Communist threat had to be stopped. You have to consider the times. Shortly after WW2, it was common to think that the purpose of the communist countries -mostly the Soviet Union and China-had the goal of taking over other countries by force if necessary. The threat of the spread of communism was a potent reason to fear the communists. Canada and the United States shared this same fear. So when Ho Chi Minh of North Vietnam had designs on re-uniting North and South Vietnam, many people in both countries felt he needed to be stopped. So it was not uncommon to find some Canadians in support of the war.