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The 82nd Airborne soldier who recently crossed the border from Canada and surrendered to U.S. Border Patrol agents for desertion has been identified as U.S. Army Sergeant Christopher Vassey, 38.
Vassey fled to Canada 16 years ago to avoid deploying to Afghanistan for a second time. After completing a 15-month deployment in Afghanistan, he left for Canada in August 2008, hoping to receive refugee status. However, his asylum requests were denied at least twice.
During a 2012 NATO protest in Toronto, Vassey publicly explained that he lost faith in the U.S. military’s mission after witnessing what he described as war crimes during his deployment.
“A lot of my leaders brought the war in Iraq with them to Afghanistan,” Vassey said at the protest. “A lot of our standard operating procedures were built off of what these guys had experienced in Iraq.”
Vassey also accused members of his unit of parading dismembered enemy body parts on their Humvees following the death of Army Sergeant Zachary D. Tellier. Tellier, 31, a paratrooper assigned to the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, Charlie Troop, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, was killed by small arms fire at Firebase Wilderness, Afghanistan, on September 29, 2007.
In Canada, Vassey became involved in the war resistance movement and launched an online petition in 2009 seeking public support for his asylum bid. The petition stated: “Chris asks nothing more than to stay in Canada — to work, to live in peace, to settle into his new life.”
He had a refugee status hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) in 2009 but was denied asylum in 2010. Despite this, he was able to renew his Canadian work permits annually, allowing him to maintain steady employment.
“I’ve had steady work the past few years,” Vassey said in a 2012 video interview in Toronto. “I’m a construction worker up here, iron work. I built hospitals.” Gesturing behind him to University Avenue, he added, “I built that building right there, part of it. So I’m just, you know, doing my part for Canada, trying to build up Canada.”
However, his years in exile were marked by personal struggles. Vassey shared that he was unable to attend his sister’s funeral in the U.S. and that his mother, who has been alone since his father died during his childhood, continues to suffer from his absence.
On December 3, 2024, Vassey surrendered to federal agents at a border crossing in Buffalo, New York. According to Lt. Col. Cesar Santiago, a spokesperson for the 82nd Airborne Division, Vassey has been returned to Fort Liberty, North Carolina, where he is under the jurisdiction of the 82nd Airborne Division.
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