Date: December 22, 2006
Location: Seattle, Washington
Videographer: Don Sellers
Densho ID: ddr-densho-1000-200
01:57:52
30 segments
Male of Japanese and Chinese American descent. Born 1978 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Graduated from Hawaii Pacific University in 2003, and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Received his officer's commission, and served in Korea in 2004 and 2005. While stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington, in 2006, asked for permission to resign his commission based on his understanding that the war in Iraq was illegal, and refused to deploy to Iraq with his unit. Was court-martialed by the Army, and his first court-martial trial in February 2007 ended in a mistrial. A second trial was scheduled but stayed in October 2007. A judge ruled in 2008 that Watada could not be retried on three of the five counts against him. The Army appealed, but the case was dismissed on May 6, 2009.
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