"Conscientious.."

My latest thought in Nonviolence is about the people that called themselves conscientious objectors. After recently viewing the film, The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight It, I am very intrigued by the conscientious objectors and their ways of life. In a time of war and draft, these people had enough passion and will power to not only refuse to join the military, but to also face the consequence of jail-time. After past discussions attempting to define "nonviolence", however, I have to wonder if these conscientious objectors viewed themselves as entirely nonviolent. There is no question that their refusal to fight or kill avoids a violent way of life, but in avoiding the war, they put themselves in situations such as medical experimentation and working in mental hospitals, both of which are quite harmful to their own well-being. Gultung claimed that something is violent if it is an avoidable insult to basic human needs, or something that gets in the way of reaching a full potential, but does this apply if you bring it upon yourself? By no means do I disagree with the way these conscientious objectors acted. They were proving that it was not pain or fear that was keeping them from the war, and all the while helping others, but it is hard to not wonder if they had a "completely nonviolent" state of mind.