| We Have Just Begun to Not Fight: An Oral History of Conscientious Objectors in the Civilian Public Service During World War II Contributor(s): Frazer, Heather T. (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0805791345 ISBN-13: 9780805791341 Publisher: Twayne Publishers OUR PRICE: $48.31 Product Type: Hardcover Published: January 1996 Annotation: World War II stands, for most Americans, as the "good" war; it was a necessary war fought for a just cause. Yet more than 40,000 American men refused to fight the war. Citing principled opposition, they declared themselves conscientious objectors. Rejecting combat duty, the men served as noncombatants in the military, performed alternative civilian service, and in some cases took an absolutist position and went to prison. "We Have Just Begun To Not Fight" is devoted to the nearly 12,000 men who entered Civilian Public Service (CPS) with the intent to perform "work of national importance" as an alternative to combat duty. CPS men worked as aides in mental hospitals, volunteered as smoke jumpers in forest fires, and participated in grueling medical and scientific experiments. They were a remarkably diverse group - blue-collar workers, college professors, Amish farmers, and Pulitzer Prize winners - motivated by a wide range of philosophical and political beliefs. Religious fundamentalists, anarchists, absolutists, socialists, and Father Coughlinites came together in the 151 CPS camps scattered throughout the country. The communities they created in the camps, as well as their encounters with the local, often hostile communities surrounding them, are a largely unexamined aspect of wartime America. Authors Heather T. Frazer and John O'Sullivan record the oral histories of 15 CPS men and 2 CPS wives whose recollections and reflections impart a rich understanding of this exercise of conscience in wartime. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Military - World War Ii - History | United States - 20th Century - History | Historiography |
| Dewey: 940.531 |
| LCCN: 95020068 |
| Series: Twayne's Oral History |
| Physical Information: 1.11" H x 6.34" W x 9.51" (1.42 lbs) 268 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Uses an oral history to illuminate the experience of conscientious objectors in the Civilian Public Service (CPS) during World War II. The CPS program was set up by members of the historic peace churches (Mennonites, Brethren, and Quakers) and participated in by pacifists from other churches, of no specific religious persuasion, and, in the case of a few, no persuasion except not to fight in that particular war. Includes interviews with 17 CPS veterans and others. |