I graduated from Lancaster High School (J.P. McCaskey) in 1965. I was a so-so student and was raised in the Church of the Brethren, an Anabaptist Peace Church. I registered as a conscientious objector (CO) at 18 in light of my religious beliefs and also as a result of my father’s encouragement. He was a CO during WWII and served as a medic in the European Theatre.
I was not a very good student at Millersville State College. Although I majored in History-Secondary education. I really majored in goofing off. I dropped out of Millersville in the middle of my sophomore year at the advice of the chairman of the history department. As a Brethren youth, I immediately sought the assistance of the Brethren Church offices in Elgin, Illinois.
I was referred to the Mennonite Central Committee in Akron, PA, where Martin Rock shared that there was an opening for alternative civilian service in the “Inhalation Therapy Department” for an Inhalation Therapy trainee at St. Agnes Hospital, Baltimore, MD. I didn’t qualify for other placements.
During my first year in alternative civilian service 1967-68, I was frequently asked why I wasn’t in Viet Nam like other young men. I would do my best to explain my position as a conscientious objector. By 1969, the tone had changed and the draft boards also changed and the requirements for individuals requesting CO status had changed as well. A CO no longer had to be a member of a “peace church” (Quaker, Amish, Mennonite, Brethren etc). Patients with draft age children began to ask me how their male children could register as COs.
I am blessed to have had the opportunity to enter a healthcare profession through my CO service. I spent 39 years as a healthcare professional as a result. I had several cousins who service as COs and several who served in the military in Viet Nam. One cousin returned with an artificial arm and shrapnel imbedded in several places in his body.
I sometimes felt a bit guilty when he and I met as I felt is sacrifice was far greater than mine.