Edward makes a choice, and Mary makes a vow.

In the fall of 1941, debates about duty to conscience and obligation to country simmer in the taverns of working-class Philadelphia, and on the pages of Dorothy Day's The Daily Worker. With a troubled heart Catholic pacifist and aspiring artist Edward Hohlfeld grudgingly complies with the draft. Weeks later, his principled stance on the bootcamp firing range turns Edward's life into a nightmare, landing him in a barbaric mental asylum.

Edward's baffling fall from grace alienates him from family and sets his devoted sister Mary on a mission to figure out how his promising life went so awry. While Edward struggles for justice with his mind and humanity intact a world away, Mary follows clues to a dark truth about her brother's fate and the wages of family secrecy as well as the nation's shame.
This true family story dovetails with a national scandal concerning dubious military policies and corrupt U.S. mental asylums, shedding a much-needed light on a dark corner of American history. "The Faithful Ones" reminds us of the damage wrought by long-held family secrets and unchecked institutional authority. It also testifies to how a few earnest people of conscience that stand up to institutional injustice can and do make a difference.