Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

There's arguably no more enduring image of America than the Statue of Liberty.

The sight of the statue welcomed literally millions of new Americans to the land of the free. Immigrants from the four corners of the Earth seeking a better life.

But historically the traffic hasn't been all one way. During the Great Depression of the 1930s the number of Americans seeking refuge in the Soviet Union out numbered refugees from the communist bloc seeking refuge in the United States of America.

And they were far from last citizens to leave the country for political reasons.

This week on Ideas hear the stories of three Americans who decided to make their lives in New Zealand. Three Americans who all served at different times in the country's armed forces, and three Americans who came to the conclusion that America was no longer the country of their dreams:

Mandi Lynn (pictured below) - a lactation consultant, photographer and blueberry farmer who moved to New Zealand after 9/11.

Don Polly - editor of the Paekakariki Express who packed his bags in disgust after Richard Nixon was re-elected, and:

Lewis Scott - An African American Poet and Vietnam veteran, who settled in New Zealand after being told it was a racial paradise by musician Shona Laing.

Mandi Lynn