Smoke Jumping On the Western Fire Line: Conscientious Objectors In World War II (Hardcover)
By Mark Matthews
amazon.com
Tempered by Faith, Tested by Fire
WWII Smokejumpers Still Working for Peace and Justice
afsc.org
In July 2004, surviving members of Civilian Public Service (CPS) Unit 103 gathered in Hungry Horse, Montana, to share fellowship, renew their commitment to peace and justice, and honor individual and institutional benefactors (including AFSC, the Mennonite Central Committee, and Brethren Service).
Kay Whitlock, AFSC Community Relations staff, attended the reunion on behalf of AFSC and shares the following reflections.
Growing up in southern Colorado, I dreamed of adventure. This included being a smokejumper, one of those courageous people who parachute from airplanes into otherwise inaccessible terrain threatened by wildfire. They were my heroes then—and still are.
So I enthusiastically accepted the invitation of Tedford Lewis, member of St. Louis Friends Meeting, to join a gathering of World War II conscientious objectors who were smokejumpers in Civilian Public Service Unit 103.
Now in their 80s and 90s, this vibrant mix of Quakers, Brethren, Mennonites, Methodists, Assemblies of God members, and others remains filled with conviction and compassion, with a penchant for wry observation, and an endless supply of laughter.
As young men, they saved the new smokejumper program from being mothballed when the United States entered the war. Enlistments and the draft had depleted the small ranks of experienced smokejumpers. Recruiting produced no new candidates who could pass the rigorous physical, but CPS worker Phil Stanley saw a terrific opportunity. A call went out to existing CPS units, and CPS 103 was formed in 1943 and continued until 1946.
When I asked several men about being conscientious objectors, they described the decision as a natural outgrowth of their religious convictions, which were nurtured daily by family and their faith community. Nonviolence was a way of life and sustained them in difficult times.
The men of CPS 103 have been risk-takers all their lives. They are, as Tedford put it, “ordinary men who do un-ordinary things,” in order to follow the injunction to “love thy neighbor as thyself.”
In accepting the award and a financial contribution to AFSC, I said that we should thank these men for their courage, compassion, and decency. A phrase that appears on the award says it best: They Also Serve Who Hearken to a Different Drummer.
You men of CPS 103 have served our country well. We accept the baton of nonviolence you have passed to us and, in turn, will pass it to new generations.
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