WWII pacifists

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

NY Times, January 13, 2002
 
They Refused to Fight, Even in the 'Good War'

By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN

EARLY in a new documentary about World War II, American soldiers push 
through the Normandy surf under German fire. This scene stands even a 
half-century later as the signal image of the generation that 
defeated Hitler and Hirohito. From the commemoration of D-Day's 50th 
anniversary in 1994 to its cinematic rendering in "Saving Private 
Ryan" to its prominence in books by Studs Terkel, Stephen Ambrose and 
Tom Brokaw, the storming of Omaha and Utah beaches has come to typify 
valor in pursuit of justice.

As the familiar events appear in this particular film, however, the 
off-screen voice of a retired special-education teacher named Asa 
Watkins tells a less known story. While 16 million Americans served 
in the military during World War II, Mr. Watkins counted himself 
among 42,000 conscientious objectors who refused to take arms. 
"Sometimes I think those of us who believe in nonviolence believe 
ourselves to be a separate breed," he said, "and we are wondering if 
somehow or other we are not fully human beings."

Mr. Watkins's words, with their combination of belief and alienation, 
exemplify the spirit of a film that is dissident both by design and 
by coincidence. "The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight It," 
which closely follows the experiences of 10 conscientious objectors, 
runs counter to both the groundswell of gratitude for World War II 
veterans and the popularity of the present war against terrorism. 
Even as the majority of PBS affiliates show the documentary Tuesday 
at 10 p.m., the public-television system in Maryland has indefinitely 
postponed it in deference to the American troops in Afghanistan.
 
"Our original title was `Against the Tide,' " said Rick 
Tejeda-Flores, 57, who produced, wrote and directed the film with 
Judith Ehrlich. "We have this mythology about World War II, which is 
that everyone in the country was going happily in the same direction. 
To find this small group in the opposite direction ? that's drama. We 
felt a lot of sympathy for the stand these men had taken. The 
question was, could we make a convincing case for it, or would we 
look foolish?"

The documentary calls the conscientious objectors "heroes" and dubs 
their resistance "this American story." To that end, it traces the 
tradition of pacifism in the United States from the Revolutionary War 
to the cold war. It emphasizes the contribution that pacifists made 
to World War II, whether as noncombatants serving in the military or 
as home-front volunteers for experiments on disease and starvation. 
And it portrays their lasting influence in the civil- rights and 
anti-apartheid movements.

"This film is about the bravery required to live a life based on 
conscience," said Ms. Ehrlich, 53. "These men made a tremendous and 
positive impact on American society, and they did it with the power 
of love. It is harder to tell the story of these quiet heroes than 
the guys with the guns. But it seemed worth the effort to try."

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/13/arts/television/13FREE.html

-- 
Louis Proyect, lnp3@xxxxxxxxx on 01/13/2002

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