Today is November 11, 2010. Across the United States Veteran's Day has been observed in many honorable ways. I am a Christian pacifist. I oppose war and the horrors that accompany it. I affirm the position of my Church that "all war is sin".
This does not mean, however, that I do not honor the veterans who have served their country faithfully and valiantly. My own father served four years in the 82nd Airbourne of the United States Army during World War II. In those four years he served in North Africa, Sicily/Italy, The Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Bulge. He was hospitalized twice upon being wounded in action. He is a Purple Heart recipient.
I can easily become quite emotional when I think of my father, a man I greatly admire and deeply love, enduring the most tragic and dangerous years of modern history. How he ever survived is a mystery to me. I am very proud of him and I honor him for his sacrifice.
Interestingly, it was my father who had the strongest influence upon my life with regards to my pacifist views. You see, he was drafted at the age of 21 (I think) with no knowledge of Conscientious Objection, pacifism, or any such concept. He was raised in the Lutheran Church and in his world, when you were drafted, you served. Period. So that is what he did. Several years after the war he met my mother who was brought up in the Church of the Brethren. After they married he eventually came to join mom's church. He always knew that war was wrong and considered it to be a terrible, evil thing. But he had no theological or even social framework within which to understand that. Until he met the Brethren.
For as long as I can remember my father consistently taught me that war was wrong. Not many fathers wish for their sons to march off to war, but dad was adamant about it. He did not like his experience in the Big One, and he made no excuses for it. As I grew older and began to develop my own faith convictions the teachings of my Church, the example of my pastor, and the words of my father all came together in a way that I could really relate to. I did not fully embrace the position of pacifism until I reconsecrated my life to Christ at the age of 23. It was a deliberate, individual decision that became a defining moment in my life.
I do honor our veterans, like my father, for they made a tremendous contribution to this country at great risk to themselves. But there is a misconception that the only veterans to be honored are the ones who wore the uniform and carried the weapons of war. I humbly submit to you the belief that we must not forget those who served in Alternative Service, too. These men and women likewise rendered a tremendous service to their country, in many cases at great risk to themselves. They, too, deserve our respect.
Alternative Service is an alien term for most people under the age of 50, I suppose. Since the return to the all-volunteer army the need for an alternative to military service is just not as prominent as it once was. Prior to that, however, those who objected to military service due to deeply held religious convictions found an appropriate response in Alternative Service. This was exactly what the name implies: Alternative - it was an option that could be chosen in place of the more conventional response of serving in the military. Service - one was bound by the same terms and arrangements as was the soldier. It was a two-year commitment and the Alternative Service-worker was expected to remain loyal and obedient to his/her superiors in exchange for the pledge that their service would in no way contribute to the destruction of life and property. Instead, the Conscientious Objector or Alternative serviceworker served in constructive and/or humanitarian projects. Those who chose this option were permitted by the federal government to avoid conventional military service doing this instead.
I have been blessed to know and befriend several persons who served in Alternative Service. There were several options available to the Conscientious Objector. Many served in Civilian Public Service, a national system of workcamps administered and paid for by the three historic peace churches: the Quakers, the Mennonites, and the Brethren. Such persons risked their lives as fire jumpers or medical guinea pigs who underwent a host of experiments. Other worked in mental hospitals and institutions, helping to transform them form shameful, unhealthy care facilities into meaningful, humane places of true healing and compassionate care. It is no exageration to say that our modern mental health & behavioral care facilites owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to these pioneers who blazed a costly, risky path to improved mental health.
There is so much more to say. I really do not like these posts to get too long and boring. If you want to study more about the history and reality of Alternative Service you may want to check out this production from the Public Broadcast Network, or PBS. It is entitled "The Good War: And Those Who Refused To Fight It." To read about it go to http://www.pbs.org/itvs/thegoodwar/alternative.html.
Yes, I can honor the veteran soldier today. But I can only do so when I also honor the men and women who chose to offer themselves to the betterment of their nation by providing us with "An Alternative View on Veteran's Day. I welcome your comments and your thoughts.
-gdgehr
11.11.10
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