Wartime
Wednesday: Civilian Public Service
“I was young and I wanted to show that I was not a
coward,” said conscientious objector Neil Hartman. “So when they offered me
this chance of being a guinea pig, it fit right in with my scheme of things of
proving that I was willing to take risks on my own body, but I just did not
want to kill someone else.”
Neil was just one of nearly 12,000 men who were part
of the Civilian Public Service, a program started to handle the thousands of
men who objected to the war on religious or philosophical grounds. These men
were given the opportunity to perform work of “national importance,” and served
around the country doing soil conservation, forestry, fire fighting, agriculture,
and social and mental health services.
Another area in which approximately men volunteered
was that of being “guinea pigs,” subjects in various medical experiments
conducting at universities and hospitals. Some of the studies included:
Hepatitis: The men were inoculated with infected blood
plasma and drank contaminated water. As a result of the study, a vaccine was
devised to combat the disease, but lives were lost in the process.
Malaria: The subjects allowed themselves to be bitten
by malarial mosquitoes and when the fever reached its peak, were given
experimental treatments. The research documented the effects of the disease and
the time required for complete recovery.
Starvation Experiment: Conducted at the University of
Minnesota, this study is perhaps the most famous of the research done during
WWII. Thirty-six men were placed on a controlled diet. Initially provided with
normal caloric intake for three months, they were then given a diet of 1,800
calories – fewer calories than experienced by the civilian population in
wartime Europe. The study then followed the men’s long recovery as they returned
to a normal died. The war was over by the time the experiment concluded, and it
was a key component in helping shape European reconstruction through the
Marshall Plan.
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A
prostitute, a spy, and the liberation of Paris.
Sold by her parents to settle a debt, Rolande Bisset is
forced into prostitution. Years later, shunned by her family and most of
society, it’s the only way she knows how to subsist. When the Germans overrun
Paris, she decides she’s had enough of evil men controlling her life and uses
her wiles to obtain information for the Allied forces. Branded a collaborator,
her life hangs in the balance. Then an American spy stumbles onto her doorstep.
Is redemption within her grasp?
Simon Harlow is one of an elite corps of American soldiers.
Regularly chosen for dangerous covert missions, he is tasked with infiltrating
Paris to ascertain the Axis’s defenses. Nearly caught by German forces moments
after arriving, he owes his life to the beautiful prostitute who claims she’s
been waiting for the Allies to arrive. Her lifestyle goes against everything he
believes in, but will she steal his heart during his quest to liberate her
city?
Inspired by the biblical story of Rahab, Love’s Rescue is a tale of faith and
hope during one of history’s darkest periods.
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