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186 AppendIx APEX 1 richard Birdwell, “re: the Case of Lew Ayres,” Variety, April 8, 1942. I do not know Lew Ayres. I have never met him, never seen him, do not represent him nor his employers, but I believe it took great courage—courage as great as carrying a gun—for him to stand true beside his kind of a God. He went to his draft board and told the simple truth. He didn’t seek a safe commission . The draft board investigated his religion, his views. If they had been untrue, insincere, Lew Ayres might well be on his way to prison now. We have been out here to pass judgment, quick and cruel to assign a man to disgraceful oblivion—a man whose sin is he cannot kill; a man who does not eat anything that once lived and breathed. Lew Ayres in this case is but one man. It is seldom in a lifetime that any of us meet a man who does not stop to weigh the commercial loss or gain—but simply stands besides his kind of God. May it be suggested that Lew Ayres be assigned to the medical duty for which he studied long, at whatever post to which the army sends him. Let’s not destroy a man who believes in his god, a man who cannot kill but is willing to be killed, unarmed, for his country. Voltaire said it all: “I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” APEX 2 nicholas schenck, “An open Letter to Lew Ayres,” Variety, April 2, 1942. I told my guests (at a dinner party) that you were one of the finest men it has ever been my privilege to know, a person of utter sincerity. I explained to them that you had asked your country to send you to the front lines as an ambulance driver no matter how great the risk that it was your hope to save human lives that you could not kill. In this context I told them a fact which they were not familiar, that you did not eat fish or meat or anything that had to be killed. I told them that in all Hollywood there was no more charitable individual, AppendIx 187 that there was no cause for which you did not give bountifully. I pointed out specifically the splendid work you have been doing for the Red Cross. I told them that you not only made large contributions of money but that day and night, apart from your studio duties, you had devoted yourself to conducting classes in first aid . . . Frankly, I must confess that I have never understood your position. It is a peculiarity beyond my personal comprehension. What you saw in the papers was a distressing misrepresentation, doubtlessly unintentional. I wanted you to know. APEX 3 hedda hopper, “About Lew Ayres recent Conscientious objection,” San Francisco Chronicle (nationally syndicated editorial), April 4, 1942. When Lew Ayres left town to join the Conscientious Objectors, he was a man who had the courage to stand up for his convictions in the face of public criticism and at the sacrifice of his career. That’s all that a man’s God asks of him. It took courage, far greater courage than those who’ve wheedled, pulled strings to secure an officer’s uniform that might not measured up to their courage nor their ability. And heaven knows, we’ve seen plenty of that. Lew could have landed a cushy job. It’s unfortunate that he had to go against the prevailing sentiments, but to crucify a man for standing up to his own convictions, even if it meant national ridicule and professional suicide is un-Christian and un-American. APEX 4 “the Case of Lew Ayres,” New York Times, editorial, April 3, 1942. republished by the national service Board for religious objectors, April 8, 1942. If all Americans believed, as Lew Ayres does, the “creed of non-resistance to evil” the Nazis could do whatever they wish in this country. If all humanity believed the same creed there would be no Nazis and no war. A minute handful of Americans do believe this creed. We have no reason to hope, from what we know of the human mind and human emotions, that the whole world will accept it in any time we can foresee. But let us not on that account hold back an honest tribute...

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