More than 300 men of Japanese descent refused to be drafted into the U.S. military in the 1940s, contending that they should not risk their lives for a country that had forced 120,000 Japanese-Americans, including them and their families, into internment camps. They would be willing to fight in World War II only after Japanese-Americans were released from the camps. Their stand led to prison terms for draft dodging and ostracism by other Japanese-Americans, even some of their family members. Critics accused draft resisters of cowardice, laziness, lack of patriotism and even harboring pro-Japan loyalties. University of North Carolina law professor Eric Muller believes the men were largely pure in their motives. He points out that some of the resisters could have made themselves ineligible for the draft by merely disclosing disabilities and chronic conditions. They knew that their imprisonment for draft dodging would create even greater financial and emotional hardships on their families. Some of the draft resisters eventually did don uniforms and fight for the United States during the Korean War, which began after the internment camps closed, says Muller, who has extensively researched government records and interviewed surviving members of that group. Muller's 2003 book, "Free to Die for Their Country: The Story of the Japanese American Draft Resisters in World War II," details the resistance movement of those men. He says many of the men will take their stories to the grave with them, having never told anyone about their role in history.