John J. Becker

John J. Becker was a Mennonite conscientious objector from South Dakota imprisoned during World War I. Court-martialed for refusing military service, he was held at Fort Leavenworth. Sentenced to 40 years in prison, reduced to 25 and later to 1. (Documented in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection's World War I Conscientious Objectors database.) Archival note: registered for draft on June 5, 1917 as a C.O.; drafted in Aug. 1918; classified as 1A; was in Camp Funston until Feb. 1919; refused uniform; interviewed by Board of Inquiry(?) for disobedience of orders at Funston on Sept. 23, 1918 and at the Disciplinary Barracks on Feb. 14, 1919; …