Ambiguity over Pacifism in the Stone-Campbell Movement: Diary of an Army Air Force Chaplain's Assistant

Although early leaders in the Stone-Campbell Movement held strong pacifistic positions, the rise of Hitler and the start of World War II tested these views as never before. The author—a 95-year-old WWII veteran—provides a firsthand account of his experience as a student at Harding College in the 1940s and as a chaplain’s assistant in the Army Air Forces after being drafted in 1944. His recollections from that momentous time provide a unique insight into Stone-Campbell history, particularly the tensions caused by the clash between the strident nationalism of the early 1940s and traditional Stone-Campbell Movement values.