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Walter W. Oliver

Released
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1910s
State:Iowa
Support
Anti-War Conscientious Objection
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Biography

Walter W. Oliver was a World War I conscientious objector who refused military service and was court-martialed and confined at the Fort Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks in Kansas. When the U.S. Army's Board of Inquiry examined him at Fort Leavenworth on January 4–5, 1919, it concluded that he was a sincere conscientious objector who would have qualified for a furlough.

Walter Winfred Oliver was a Church of the Brethren conscientious objector from Iowa imprisoned during World War I. Court-martialed for refusing military service, he was held at Fort Leavenworth. (Documented in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection's World War I Conscientious Objectors database.) Archival note: Sent to Camp Dodge; put in guard house there; named on Judge Advocate file card entitled CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR: "Orders to draw military clothing and wear the same and to report for instruction in physical training and military courtesies were lawful and proper, and the accused …

Cases

United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth
Charges: Disobeying orders; refusal of military service (World War I court-martial of a conscientious objector)
Released: Feb 2, 1919
Sentence: Held at Fort Leavenworth. Released 1919 (Feb. 2).
Convicted: Yes
Institution State: Kansas
Fort Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks
Charges: Disobeying orders; refusal of military service (World War I court-martial of a conscientious objector)
Sentence: Verdict as recorded: Yes — court-martialed for refusing military service.
Convicted: Yes
Institution State: Kansas