I’m not going to travel 10,000 miles to kill other poor people.

The late boxing legend Muhammad Ali gave this haunting response in an interview when pressured to fight in Vietnam or go to prison, which he did: „

„I’m not going to run away. I’m not going to burn any flags. I’m not going to Canada. I’m staying here. You want to send me to prison? Fine. I’ve been in prison for 400 years. I could stay there another four or five years, but I’m not going to travel 10,000 miles to kill other poor people. If I want to die, I’ll die here, fighting you if I have to. You are my enemy, not the Chinese, not the Viet Cong, not the Japanese. You are my opponent if I want freedom. You are my opponent if I want justice. You are my opponent if I want equality. You want me to fight for you? But you won’t even defend my rights or my religious beliefs here in America. You won’t even stand up for me at home.“

Donald Trump (Wikipedia) was exempted from the draft during the Vietnam War due to a claim of bone spurs in his heels.