COs

Conscientious objectors have an interesting history in America according to historian, Todd Tucker in The Great Starvation Experiment. The navigation of pacifism and the draft resulted in the establishment of Civilian Public Service (CPS) after WWI which allowed these men to perform "work of national importance under civilian direction." This evolved from the desire conscientious objectors had to serve their country, peacefully, without violating the draft laws and serving jail time. The Historic Peace Churches were pivotal in the establishment of CPS, as they sought this as a solution for their religious stance while recognizing the importance of serving their country. The Historic Peace Churches referred to the Brethern, Friends,and Mennonites, and interestingly, in the end, their men only represented 58 percent of all the denominations constituting the CPS.

Ironically, some of these men chose to go to war in spite of the Churches' official position. This created issues for local draft boards as they sought to approve conscientious objector status consistently.

Brigadier General Lewis Hershey was the head of the Selective Service, and this irritated COs who wanted civilian direction, but this story also has a twist, as General Hershey was raised in Indiana in Amish country and was a descendant from the Anabaptist's. He even occasionally referred to himself as the "Mennonite General." This was significant because he supported the CPS which made it successful. Even more fascinating to me is the fact he went on to serve for 29 years and earn 4 stars--the only man in the United States Army to achieve rank without serving in combat. Despite concerns about leadership under a general, his respect for the COs position enabled the success of the program, as he represented the men politically and militarily.

As America sought to find solutions to the differences of its constituents, the journey was wrought with challenges, but in the end a compromise was negotiated that consisted of work in forestry, firefighting, mental hospitals, and general laborer duties. As a result, despite the drudgery of these positions, improvements were made in all of these areas, including labor issues. The men gained valuable insight and skills that developed these fields; however, some of the men were growing discontent with their options and were anxious to perform work of more significance as the atrocities that people were suffering at the hands of the Nazi's become known.

During this time, the military was working closely with the University of Minnesota and Dr. Keys to create rations that met the nutritional needs of the soldiers. The military also supported additional research concerning the nutritional value of food and needs of the human body. The research was the beginning of understanding food and health in America. However, as the war raged on, it became apparent that the need to understand the needs of starving people was going to be important because of the concern that hunger was a fertile ground for communism and fascism. Thus emerged the request, "Will you starve that they be better fed?"

A starvation study. Unprecedented.