May 17, 1948
“I’ll admit that it is rather difficult for me to look upon a conscientious objector with patience…While your four sons and my three nephews were risking their lives to save our government, and the things for which we stand, these people were virtually shooting them in the back. I ran across one conscientious objector (Desmond Doss) that I really believe is all man…I decorated him with a Congressional Medal of Honor….the majority with whom I came in contact were just plain cowards and shirkers.”
(from Eleanor and Harry, The Correspondence. 2002)
This letter was addressed to Eleanor Roosevelt in response to her request that he reconsider pardons for COs. Letter was saved but not sent, and he later mailed Eleanor a copy of the Attorney General’s statement regarding the report in question, including a personal note that there would be no review because the report was complete and he approved it
Doss was generally reviled during most of his military service as a medic because of his religious conscientious objection to killing. Even though there is absolutely no evidence that he ever failed to pursue his duties, he was generally considered cowardly simply on the basis of his anti-war beliefs. When he happened to be assigned a position of great danger and responded bravely, he became the public “exception.” Had his assignments kept him shipboard, he would surely have remained one of Truman’s assumed cowards.
It could be said that to hold to your principles when the world is against you is what requires the greatest bravery.
Conscientious objectors had a noble record in WWI Red Cross ambulance units (including a deceased colleague of mine, Ray Moore, whose partner was shot dead in their ambulance). In WWII, the British Friends Ambulance Unit saw much combat and suffered many casualties. There was a recognized need for ambulance units in WWII, but the U.S. Congress specifically voted against allowing conscientious objectors to serve under the Red Cross or any other non-military command in Europe. WWII conscientious objectors unable to serve in the military were hated by most everyone, and were unemployable after WWII. Those in uniform fared slightly better, but not always. Conscientious objector medics wanted to treat all including wounded enemy, who were sometimes shot before their eyes. Often in combat emergencies they were ordered to carry ammunition or messages. They were put on a “slippery slope” that got them into a lot of trouble. This is what Truman (who did not understand this at all, nor did he want to, it would appear) called cowardice. They could serve in uniform and follow military orders, or they were deemed not fit to serve at all. However, wearing a military uniform and following military orders, even if unarmed, was against the religious belief of many. Few Congressmen would ever acknowledge that the First Amendment’s freedom of religion clause was written with conscientious objectors specifically in mind (check this out, you constitutional history buffs). Many (including a friend of mine, Russ Tuttle) volunteered to participate as human guinea pigs in medical experiments to test the effect of drugs on disease. They did this because they knew that in the WWI, many more people died due to war-related disease than were killed by the war itself. Unlike those in uniform, they received no pay for their services. A number of conscientious objectors died, either as a result of medical experiments, as fire jumpers or in other dangerous occupations, or simply from abuse by those who hated them and what they stood for.
I feel privileged to have known a number of these men. They are my heroes.
Comment by admin — November 22, 2009 @ 1:48 am
“The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and to humanity as is the most brutal wrongdoer.”
“There is room here for only 100% Americanism, only for those who are Americans and nothing else.”
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
(At least Teddy Roosevelt finally got it right in the last of these three quotes from him. Remember, the pacifist has to be the strongest kid on the block, because this is what he regularly faces.)
Comment by admin — December 17, 2009 @ 9:51 pm
Catch-22 for CO application by soldiers. They re-assign you during the lengthy process, but at some point you may be told to pack material that includes ammunition or weapons, or to maintain military equipment or the like. If you refuse an order, you’re up for court martial; if you do it, your willingness demonstrates the insincerity of your claim.
Comment by admin — June 13, 2010 @ 12:26 am