On August 6, 1970, a New York Times front page headline read: "West Pointer Seeks Discharge as a Conscientious Objector." A Wrinkle in the Long Gray Line is the story of that West Pointer, Cary E. Donham, who after three successful years at the military academy, chose to follow his religious and moral beliefs despite the overwhelming odds against him from the military establishment. This memoir is well sourced from a range of materials including news articles, numerous contemporaneous letters to his parents, data obtained through Freedom of Information requests and of course his own experiences.
Review :
"The author's experience is a unique one, and his reflection on it is thoughtful and forthcoming.
An engrossing memoir written with admirable candor and incisive self-reflection. . . .Get it." Kirkus Reviews.
Reviewed by Bryone Peters for Readers' Favorite
A Wrinkle in the Long Gray Line: When Conscience and Convention Collided by Cary Donham is a riveting memoir of his time in the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he applied for conscientious objector status. Donham's conviction was that the Army training is to kill and yet not be a sinner, which is morally ambiguous. . . . I enjoyed the prologue that links with current events. It drew me into the narrative immediately and emotionally. Donham had a sincere personal tenet against killing and everything about war. However, the reaction of the Army was reprehensible. Donham describes the legal proceedings and the events that followed, which were not without drama. The result is a highly moving but intellectually stimulating read. By the final court case, I was sitting on tenterhooks.
Midwest Review of Books, January 2023,
Diane Donovan Bookshelf:
"From gambits to indoctrinate, educate, and shape the minds and bodies of young men to West Point's tolerance of hazing, the struggle to make it through training to graduation, and the confrontations Cary Donham faced as he found his lessons challenging the core of his beliefs, readers receive a "you are here" feel of the West Point milieu and the experiences of young men and women who are students at the academy."
On August 6, 1970, a New York Times front page headline read: "West Pointer Seeks Discharge as a Conscientious Objector." A Wrinkle in the Long Gray Line is the story of that West Pointer, Cary E. Donham, who after three successful years at the military academy, chose to follow his religious and moral beliefs despite the overwhelming odds against him.
