Reflection from M. Franklin Brunk

The following is a reflection from M. Franklin Brunk regarding his CPS experience:

"Before leaving for Massachusetts, I had another experience of note. March 31 was a Saturday, and after work, I had an evening pass to go to EMS. While taking a shower prior to going, a call came over the PA system for men to fight a forest fire below Stuart’s Draft. I volunteered, giving up the pass, and rode a crew truck for an hour and fifteen minutes to reach the fire. Our fire training lessons now paid off.

Men with brush hooks, saws, pulaskis, shovels and McClouds built a fire near the flames. I patrolled the line with a water tank on my back to keep fire from crossing the line. We discovered there were other men fighting the fire—a lot of German prisoners. About midnight when we reached their sector, they were pulled off the line and the government gave them a meal. We did not get fed. The Germans wondered who we were, since we were of military age. The Amishmen with us could communicate with them and explained who we were. The prisoners said that in Germany they would have been shot for refusing service."

--Taken from Stories of Peace and Service, Stanley J. Hill, Jr., 1990, pp. 11,12. Used with permission