American Notes TRAVEL

It was not the traditional homecoming: being confined to the Marine base in Quantico, Va. But Douglas Beane, 39, who was facing a court-martial when he deserted the Marines in Viet Nam in 1970, is not a typical returning traveler. Arrested last December when he applied for a visa at a U.S. consulate in Australia, Beane won a court battle that allowed him to stay in that country. Instead, he voluntarily decided to return to the U.S. so he could visit his ailing father in West Rutland, Vt. But when he landed at Los Angeles airport, U.S. marshals arrested him, and the Marine Corps later officially charged him with desertion and other crimes related to his Viet Nam days. If convicted, Beane could face life imprisonment. Christine Beane, the mother of the former Marine, said, "All I want is to see him get his life together and get some peace."