"Duty to Serve, Duty to Conscience" Topic

"Being there . . . . to not only broaden one's grasp of the conscientious objector of the past and
present, the draftee who for conscience's sake objects to warfare or military service, but also, if
possible, to accept at a minimum, toleration, at best understanding and appreciation of the
"new breed of conscientious objector", the more political than religious in their convictions.
Jean Mansavage, historian with the US Air Force, says it far, far better than this simple
reviewer, "Duty to Serve, Duty to Conscience – The Story of Two Conscientious Objector
Combat Medics during the Vietnam War" will make a significant contribution to the literature in
the field for several reasons. There are few memoirs by legal Vietnam War noncombatant
conscientious objectors, and Kearney and Clamurro's accounts of their experiences as medics
will provide invaluable source material for future historians writing on this subject. Their keen
attention to historical details of time, place, and action, interwoven with personal recollections,
impressions, and sentiments, provide readers new perspectives on reconciling the duty to serve
one's country with the duty to serve one's conscience." Hence, military buff or not, out of our
common courtesy, human decency, to meet and understand the "new breed"…"

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Armand

Good article.

Here is what the Federal Selective Services states:
link

Stating you are a conscientious objector and going to Canada makes you a draft dodger. The government gives you several choices to serve your country, community, or fellow humans without going into harm's way.

I think the bravest guys on the battlefield are conscientious objectors who chose to be Combat Medics or Corpsman. I volunteered to be a grunt and would have never volunteered to be a Corpsman.

When my son was deployed in the mid-east one of his guys got hit in the kill zone. Only the Corpsman went to help him. They saw him get hit in the lower leg. He quickly checked the wound and called back to the squad, "It's OK, it didn't hit an artery" and returned to work on the WIA. He didn't want anyone coming to his aid. They both made it. I'm a chicken compared to them.

Wolfhag

Thanks

Armand

Yeah, some of my corpsmen were crazier than us marines ! Nothing but the deepest respect for them !

(smile)

Armand

So a guy joins the Navy because he's too smart to join the Marines <grin> and then they make him a Corpsman who lives and works with Marines. What a deal!

Wolfhag

A while ago a read the book Hue 1968. [Recommended although it may offend some Americans especially marines.]

One of the people interviewed for the book was a young guy who dropped out of college in the mid-60s and volunteered for the navy to avoid a combat role in Vietnam…

Once in the Navy they looked at his science background and made him a corpsman…6 months later he was zigzagging across a street in Hue under fire trying to reach wounded marines…

At least he survived..

Thanks

Armand