Ernest L. Meyer

Joins Howard Moore's "Plowing My Own Furrow" as an important and detailed memoir of a WWI CO whose stance was not grounded in religious belief. His father, a German immigrant, was a dedicated labor organizer in Chicago, and infused Meyer with convictions about the value of workers, of men, of humans, and a stalwart distrust of the military or business interests. Meyer became a successful columnist / journalist after the war, and his writing is crisp and vivid. Particularly interesting are his descriptions of the various ways military officers, draft board members, and fellow conscripts responded to his position, conversed with him, threatened him, and tried to change his mind. The faith-based CO's found him incomprehensible and just offered to pray for him. As Meyer agreed to perform basic jobs around the camp (K.P., grounds work, etc.), he was not subjected to the worst of the abuse heaped on the "absolutists" who would not do any sort of work under military authority, but the threat of years in prison and even execution always loomed. A plucky, cheerful, staunch fellow who thought out his decisions and stuck by them to the end.… (plus d'informations)