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From: "Harriet Imrey" <>
Subject: [BRE] Conscientious objection and Viet Nam
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2004 16:08:19 -0500


The political debate about conscientious-objector status became different in the Viet Nam era because it involved objection to a particular war. (I was teaching political science courses to college freshmen at the time, and it was a matter of considerable interest.) If a draftee stated that he would have been willing to fight against Hitler, but had a conscientious objection to fighting in Viet Nam, then he was not eligible for CO status. A number of young men who had ethical objections to fighting in Viet Nam went to Canada for that reason. Historically, members of faiths with strong opposition to ALL wars have been granted CO status, and they served in other ways. A popular song during the Revolutionary War referred to the "Friendly" shirts worn by the troops: the Quakers/Friends had done a good job of providing necessary fabrics for uniforms. The question during the Viet Nam era was whether or not one could claim CO status for that particular war. Most draft-resist!
ers stated that they would, in fact, have been willing to take up arms against Hitler in WWII. So they were not considered to be conscientious objectors to war, in general.

Harriet Imrey


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