Henry had taken a patriotic vow to disarm the enemy in any way necessary while being fully aware that he was gambling with his own life. Albert chose incarceration, and separation from his wife and baby daughter, rather than be faced with the need to take another’s life.”

On Sept. 16, 1940, the Selective Training and Service Act went into effect as the first peacetime draft in the history. Like every other American male between the ages of 21 and 35, brothers Albert and Henry Schiavino were called to add their names to the database.

Twenty-three-year-old Albert and 20-year-old Henry lived with their parents, Charles and Angelina (Scetta), on Power Road in Pawtucket. Blonde, blue-eyed Albert had worked as a newspaper boy to earn extra money before graduating from Pawtucket High School, while raven-haired Henry – known to friends and family as “Hank”- excelled in football and baseball while a student at East Side High School and expected to engage in a radio career.

By spring of 1941, Henry was working as a photography salesman for Loring’s Studio in Providence and had been elected the new president of the Sixth Ward Italo-American Club. Albert had gotten married and was working for the George Fuller Company. Both boys were called by the draft board.

Albert, who had settled on King Street in Johnston with his new wife, wrote to the board explaining that he had recently become a husband and was the sole support of his spouse. He requested that he be reclassified as someone not able to serve in the military. His request was denied and he was ordered to report for induction into the army on April 9, 1942.

By Feb. of 1942, Albert had become a new father and wrote another letter to the draft board stat-ing, “I am informing you that I will not be present for induction on Thursday, April 9, 1942. My humanitarian convictions and conscientious beliefs cannot permit me to take active participation in war or to take part in anything contributing to its support.”

Albert’s unwillingness to kill another human being as a means of settling differences was a value Henry greatly understood but didn’t personally share. At a meeting of the Italo-American Club, he predicted, “I feel this Hitler is not going to accept peace terms. He’s got to be beaten first.” Albert felt the time for peaceful debate was over.

On the day scheduled for his induction in April, Albert did not show up. As per the required protocol he was offered a judicial hearing and the opportunity to have an attorney represent while he made his explanations to the court. Albert surrendered himself to the authorities on April 11 and he was arrested. The $2,000 bail hanging over his head was paid by his wife’s parents and he was released until the hearing.

Later, before the judge, Albert’s claims of being a conscientious objector were shot down by the prosecution who pointed out that Albert’s concerns were of a philosophical nature and not born from religious teaching. The judge offered Albert a deal – he would sentence him to a mere two years of probation if he readily agreed to induction into the armed services. Albert refused the offer. On May 27, 1942, the federal grand jury returned an indictment against him for evading the Selective Service and, on June 2, he was sentenced to serve two years in prison, followed by three years of probation.

Only twenty-four hours earlier, Henry had enlisted in the Army. A few weeks prior, he scheduled a military exam in Providence with the hopes of training to become a fighter pilot. The exam showed that his math skills were not up to par and he was rejected from the program. As part of the Army Air Force, he was accepted into glider pilot training.

The brothers, each holding close to his own convictions, faced the consequences of their personal concerns and values. Henry had taken a patriotic vow to disarm the enemy in any way necessary while being fully aware that he was gambling with his own life. Albert chose incarceration, and separation from his wife and baby daughter, rather than be faced with the need to take another’s life.          

On Dec. 23, 1947 President Harry Truman granted pardons to 1,523 Selective Service Act violators. Albert was among them. Earlier that year, Henry was honorably discharged from the military, having risen to the rank of staff sergeant. Putting his teenage dream into motion, he secured a job as a radio disc jockey at WFCI in Pawtucket. Through the 1950s, he was known as Carl Henry, a popular DJ hosting rhythm & blues radio shows on stations WRIB and WPAW. He also opened a record store called “Carl’s Diggins” which he ran until a year before his 1986 death. Albert died 12 years later.