When the “Fort Hood Three” announced their intention to refuse to serve in Vietnam because the war, in their conscientious judgment, was immoral, illegal, and unjust, a spokesman for the Pentagon condemned them on the ground that they could have applied for conscientious objector status before induction.

But under present Selective Service law the Fort Hood Three could not have applied for conscientious objector status, because they are not pacifists. I believe that most American young men who refuse to serve in Vietnam are in the same position: they are not conscientiously opposed to all wars, but they are conscientiously opposed to this war.