August 17, 1962
East German border guards shot & killed Peter Fechter, an 18 year old bricklayer, as he attempted to cross the Berlin Wall into the western sector. Fechter was shot in the pelvis in plain view of hundreds of witnesses. He fell back into the death-strip on the Eastern side, where he remained in view of Western onlookers. Despite his screams, he received no medical assistance from the East side, and could not be tended to by those on the West side. Western police threw him bandages, which he could not reach. He bled to death after approximately one hour.
August 17, 1982
The first draft resister since the Vietnam era, Enten Eller, was convicted. A member of the Church of the Brethren, an historic peace church, he received probation with two years’ alternative service for refusing to register for the draft. Support demonstrations occurred all over the U.S. “I have not registered simply because the U.S. Government has asked be to do something God would not have me do,” Eller wrote in a statement describing his position on this issue. Today, the Selective Service System accommodates conscientious objectors by allowing them to apply for CO status at the time of registration.
