From AWOL to Exile

The military is getting better at curbing deserters, but a small number are fleeing to Canada. Here's why

Only a few months after Army Specialist Darrell Anderson received a Purple Heart last summer for his service in Iraq, his heart wasn't in it anymore. By Christmas, while on leave at his parents' home in Lexington, Ky., Anderson, 22, was dead set against the war. Haunted by memories of civilian casualties, he had become a nervous wreck. So early last month, a few days before he was due to return to his unit's base in Germany and prepare for a redeployment to Iraq later this year, Anderson rented a car and drove to Toronto. Since arriving, Anderson has joined several...

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