Erling H . Lunde

Born in Chicago (IL); a Lutheran until he joined the People’s Church in ca. 1908-1909; earned a Ph.B. [his words] in Efficiency Engineering at the University of Chicago in 1914; very much influenced by his father; registered as a C.O. on June 5, 1917; after enlistment, was sent to Jefferson Barracks for a few weeks, and then to Ft. Leavenworth to appear before the Board of Inquiry, which judged him as sincere and classified him as 1-A; nevertheless, he was transferred to Ft. Riley where he was expected to do noncombatant work and when he refused to participate in the “camp police” he was court-martialed at Camp Funston (KS) on Oct. 15, 1918, and sentenced to 25 years of hard labor at Ft. Leavenworth; his father, Theodore Lunde, was part of Dec. 1918 delegation that visited Secretary of War Baker to plea for release of C.O.s in prison at Ft. Leavenworth; reasons for being a C.O. = at first, because he was an independent Christian pacifist, then because of political, moral and economic reasons; not part of any political party; according to Julius Eichel: "By the time Erling Lunde was imprisoned, he was already married to Laura, a pacifist activist who barnstormed across the country denouncing conscription and war. Erling, Laura and her father-in-law were an active effective trio, and their Chicago home was open to all Conscientious Objector sympathizers." (p. 75 or 76 of The Judge Said "20 Years").