Japanese-American civil rights activists

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 27. Chapters: Ehren Watada, Fred Korematsu, Michio Kaku, Gordon Hirabayashi, Minoru Yasui, Mitsuye Yamada, Paul Igasaki, Wendy Yoshimura, Karen Narasaki, Koji Ariyoshi, Mari Matsuda, Kenji Yoshino, Karl Yoneda, Guy Aoki, Kiyoshi Kuromiya, Sen Katayama, Frank S. Emi, James Otsuka, Richard Aoki, Yuri Kochiyama, Takuji Yamashita, Mike Masaoka, Dale Minami, Jeff Adachi, Bruce Yamashita, Taro Yashima, Mary Yamashiro Otani, Karl Ichiro Akiya, Hiroto Hirashima. Excerpt: Ehren K. Watada (born 1978) was a First Lieutenant of the United States Army. He was the first commissioned officer in the US armed forces to refuse to deploy to Iraq, in June, 2006. Watada refused to deploy for his unit's assigned rotation to Operation Iraqi Freedom, saying he believed the war to be illegal and that, under the doctrine of command responsibility, it would make him party to war crimes. At the time, he was assigned to duty with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, part of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, as a Fire Support Officer. He was brought before a court-martial in 2007 which ended in a mistrial, and was discharged in 2009. Watada was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Robert Watada and Carolyn Ho. His father served for 10 years as executive director of Hawaii's Campaign Spending Commission and himself refused to serve in the Vietnam War. Ehren Watada attended Punahou School, then transferred in his sophomore year to Kalani High School, where he played cornerback on the varsity football team. An Eagle Scout, Watada graduated from Hawaii Pacific University magna cum laude in 2003 with a B.A. in Finance. Watada joined the Army after the war in Iraq had begun, stating that he was motivated "out of a desire to protect our country" after the September 11 attacks. He was commissioned by the Army's Officer Candidate School, on November 20, 2003, at Fort Benning, Georgia as a Second Lieutenant of Field Artillery -- one month after Security Council Resolution 1511 authorized a multinational force in Iraq. Watada served one year in South Korea, and was subsequently reassigned to Fort Lewis, Washington. Soon after reporting to Fort Lewis, Watada discovered that his unit would be deploying to Iraq, in support of ongoing operations there. In preparation to deploy, he began conducting research on the country, its culture, and the reasons for the U.S. involvement in Iraq. Watada claims that, after reading several books and articles about the history of I