A Few Small Candles : War Resisters of World War II Tell Their Stories

Some Americans openly refused to enter military service in World War II because of their convictions against killing. In this volume, ten men tell why they resisted, what happened to them, and how they feel about that experience today.

Little is known about those who openly refused to enter military service in World War II because of their convictions against killing. While many of those men accepted alternative civilian service, more than 6000 were incarcerated with sentences ranging from a few months to five years. Some were tried, convicted and reimprisoned for essentially the same offence - resisting induction into the armed forces -after their initial release. In this volume, ten men tell why they resisted, what happened to them, and how they feel about that experience today. Their stories detail the resisters'' struggles against racial segregation in prison, as well as how they instigated work and hunger strikes to demonstrate against other prison injustices. Each of the ten has remained active in various causes relating to peace and social justice. The collection of memoirs should illuminate the American homefront during World War II.