Title
Army GI, Pacifist CO : The World War II Letters of Frank Dietrich and Albert Dietrich / Frank Dietrich, Albert Dietrich; ed. by Scott H. Bennett.
ISBN
9780823290918
Published
New York, NY : Fordham University Press, [2022]
Copyright
©2005
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource (408 p.)
Other Standard Identifiers
10.1515/9780823290918 doi
Summary
Frank and Albert Dietrich were identical twins whose lives took very different directions during World War II. Drafted into the Army Air Corps and trained as a radio operator, Frank was shipped to the Philippines in 1945, where as a sergeant in the Fifth Air Force he prepared for the invasion of Japan. Albert, a pacifist, struggled mightily to become a conscientious objector and spent two years building dams, saving farmland, and helping the poor at Civilian Service Camps in South Dakota, Iowa, and Florida. Raised in a close, religious, Pittsburgh family, Frank and Albert were inseparable as boys, sharing a strong social conscience. Divided by war, they kept in touch by writing hundreds of letters to each other. The correspondence concerns everything from the daily drudgery of service-loneliness, lousy food-to heartfelt debates about war, peace, and patriotism. This absorbing selection of letters offers fresh perspectives on the American experience during World War II. The first published correspondence between GI and CO brothers, the letters are an uncommonly articulate chronicle of military service and life on the home front, including GI marriage and parenthood. Back and forth, Frank and Albert also argued about the uses of armed force and pacifist nonviolence in the face of fascism and Nazism. Frank Dietrich's letters from Manila are vivid descriptions of a liberated city under an uneasy occupation. Albert provides an insider's view of the pacifist experience, especially the protracted efforts pacifists often had to wage to obtain CO status. Together, the letters bring to life different ways Americans chose to serve their country during one of its most dangerous and demanding times.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 03. Jan 2023)
Series
World War II: The Global, Human, and Ethical Dimension
Available in Other Form
print 9780823223787
Frontmatter
Contents
Acknowledgments
Note from the Editor
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1: 1939-42: "Aren't We Faced with the Choice of a Lesser of Two Evils?"
Chapter 2: 1943: "Crimes Against Humanity"?
Chapter 3: 1944: "Camp Life"
Chapter 4: 1945: "The Devastation and Destruction Is Positively Staggering"
Chapter 5: 1946: "The FOR . . . Is Realistic and Activist"
Appendix A: Albert G. Dietrich, Sample Form 47
Appendix B: Albert G. Dietrich, Request for Presidential Appeal by Conscientious Objector [June 1943]
Appendix C: Daily Schedule and Rules for CPS Camps Administered by the Mennonite Central Committee
Appendix D: Albert Dietrich to Frank and Christine Dietrich, 1986
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
