Freed Marine Deserter Greets Ailing Father
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WEST RUTLAND, Vt. — Vietnam War deserter Douglas G. Beane, proclaiming “the cloud of fear is gone,” was freed by the Marines Tuesday and went to Vermont for the homecoming with his ailing father that led him to risk court-martial and return to America after 17 years on the run.
Beane’s mother, Christine, cried and hugged Beane before his father shook hands awkwardly with his son, then embraced him.
“(Vermont) looks the same as in my dreams, but now it’s real,” the son said.
The Marine private deserted his post as a cook in Vietnam in 1970 and fled to Australia. He surrendered to U.S. authorities in Australia last Dec. 15 when he applied for a visa to the United States and was held until Tuesday at the Quantico, Va., Marine Base.
Conviction of desertion in wartime carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, but Lt. Gen. Frank Petersen Jr., commander of the Quantico base, agreed Monday to Beane’s request for an administrative discharge.
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