ABSTRACT
The Vietnam War era was a defining period for the cohort of men born directly after the end of World War II, members of the first wave of the baby-boom generation. The war increased political awareness and moral consciousness for many young people. For some young men, the way in which the necessity of war was perceived, as well as the reasons for going to war, changed. In this environment the number of men declaring themselves conscientious objectors (COs), opposed to war and their participation in it, greatly increased when compared to earlier American involvement in foreign wars. COs were men officially classified by the Federal Selective Service System as being exempt from military service on religious and/or moral grounds. This chapter describes the CO experience from initial declaration of CO intention and the process involved, the alternative aspects of CO life and living, the social and political environment that led thousands of young men to declare themselves COs, and finally the denouement, when, at the close of the war, men whose lives had been altered sought to move on. This chapter was influenced by my own experience as a CO, beginning with the declaration and petitioning process, through the granting of CO status in September 1970, and assignment to alternative service begun in January 1971 and completed in January 1973.
