This is the story of Civilian Public Service smokejumpers, who battled against dangerous winds, searing heat, and devastating fires from 1943 until 1945. Fewer than 300 World War II conscientious objectors served their country in this fashion, operating out of CPS bases in Montana, Idaho, and Oregon. But that small band of men helped to keep alive Forest Service operations in the Pacific Northwest and thus sustained a program to fight potentially crippling fires. When the war ended, CPS smokejumpers, like millions of World War II combat soldiers, were "ushered out" of wartime service. Some, like many returning GIs, encountered difficulties in adjusting to civilian life. Nevertheless, the one-time smokejumpers often went on to make other remarkable contributions to their communities, their nation, and the world.

The story of the World War II conscientious objectors who volunteered for Civilian Public Service as U.S. Forest Service smoke jumpers is told in this history that reveals a little-known dimension of American pacifism.

Summary of A Different kind of War Story- a Quaker conscientious objector in WWII The book carries the writer through his experiences in WWII as a draftee into Civilian Public Service ( CPS ), the official structure for handling conscientious objectors ( COs ) . Among his various assignments to CPS camps and projects are that to the Forest Service Smokejumper unit where he parachuted into remote areas of the Rockies to put out small forest fires before they become big. Also , of special interest is his description of transferring 1, 200 wild horses on a cargo ship to Poland as aid for reestablishing Polish agriculture and some observations on Poland under the Soviet occupation during the early years of the cold war .

During World War II, the United States drafted 10.1 million men to serve in the military. Of that number, 52,000 were conscientious objectors, and 12,000 objected to noncombatant military service. Those 12,000 men served the country in Civilian Public Service, the program initiated by General Lewis Blaine Hershey, the director of Selective Service from 1941 to1970. Despite his success with this program, much of Hershey’s work on behalf of conscientious objectors has been overlooked due to his later role in the draft during the Vietnam War. Seeking to correct these omissions in history, Nicholas A. Krehbiel provides the most comprehensive and well-rounded examination to date of General Hershey’s work as the developer and protector of alternative service programs for conscientious objectors. Hershey, whose Selective Service career spanned three major wars and six presidential administrations, came from a background with a tolerance for pacifism. He served in the National Guard and later served in both World War I and the interwar army. A lifelong military professional, he believed in the concept of the citizen soldier—the civilian who responded to the duty of service when called upon. Yet embedded in that idea was his intrinsic belief in the American right to religious freedom and his notion that religious minorities must be protected. What to do with conscientious objectors has puzzled the United States throughout its history, and prior to World War II, there was no unified system for conscientious objectors. The Selective Service Act of 1917 only allowed conscientious objection from specific peace sects, and it had no provisions for public service. In action, this translated to poor treatment of conscientious objectors in military prisons and camps during World War I. In response to demands by the Historic Peace Churches (the Brethren, Mennonites, and the Society of Friends) and other pacifist groups, the government altered language in the Selective Service Act of 1940, stating that conscientious objectors should be assigned to noncombatant service in the military but, if opposed to that, would be assigned to “work of national importance under civilian direction.” Under the direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and with the cooperation of the Historic Peace Churches, Hershey helped to develop Civilian Public Service in 1941, a program that placed conscientious objectors in soil conservation and forestry work camps, with the option of moving into detached services as farm laborers, scientific test subjects, and caregivers, janitors, and cooks at mental hospitals. Although the Civilian Public Service program only lasted until 1947, alternative service was required for all conscientious objectors until the end of the draft in 1973. Krehbiel delves into the issues of minority rights versus mandatory military service and presents General Hershey’s pivotal role in the history of conscientious objection and conscription in American history. Archival research from both Historic Peace Churches and the Selective Service makes General Lewis B. Hershey and Conscientious Objection during World War II the definitive book on this subject.

The Land Speaks explores the intersection of two vibrant fields, oral history and environmental studies. Ranging across farm and forest, city and wilderness, river and desert, this collection of fourteen oral histories gives voice to nature and the stories it has to tell. These essays consider topics as diverse as environmental activism, wilderness management, public health, urban exploring, and smoke jumping. They raise questions about the roles of water, neglected urban spaces, land ownership concepts, protectionist activism, and climate change. Covering almost every region of the United States and part of the Caribbean, Lee and Newfont and their diverse collection of contributors address the particular contributions oral history can make toward understanding issues of public land and the environment. In the face of global warming and events like the Flint water crisis, environmental challenges are undoubtedly among the most pressing issues of our time. These essays suggest that oral history can serve both documentary and problem-solving functions as we grapple with these challenges.

In this text, Piehler and Pash bring together a collection of essays offering an examination of American participation in the Second World War, including a long overdue reconsideration of such seminal topics as the forces leading the US to enter World War II, the role of the American military in the Allied victory and more

This historical survey of Quakers in the United States and their responses to war from World War I through the Vietnam conflict demonstrates that Quakers' responses to war resulted from internal struggles and the influence of the state.