The old veterans gather nearly every morning in Little Tokyo, where an American flag and black granite sculpture rise in honor of 16,000 Japanese Americans who served during World War II.
The idea of anyone tarnishing their war record doesn't sit well, and that's exactly what some think young soldier Ehren Watada is doing.
"He's a \o7bakatare\f7," said George Ishihara, an 85-year-old Santa Monica resident, calling Watada the Japanese word for fool. "He ought to be ashamed of himself."
Across town, another Japanese American World War II veteran sees the young soldier as a hero. "He's following a higher law, and that's your conscience and the Constitution," said Paul Tsuneishi, an 83-year-old Sunland resident.
Watada, 28, is an Army first lieutenant who earlier this year became the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq, calling the war illegal and immoral. Although other soldiers have refused deployment, his status as an officer sets his case apart. The Honolulu native of Japanese and Chinese descent faces a general court-martial and up to seven years in prison for charges involving his refusal to deploy, criticism of President Bush and "conduct unbecoming an officer."
The soldier, stationed at the U.S. Army's Ft. Lewis base near Seattle, was not available to comment because of ongoing negotiations over his case. But his father, Bob, 66, and stepmother, Rosa Sakanishi, who live in Hawaii, have pressed his case this month in appearances throughout Southern California.
The elder Watada said his son joined the Army to help protect the country after 9/11. But when his superiors told him to study up on the Iraq war, Watada concluded that U.S. officials launched it in violation of U.S. and international laws.
The turning point, the elder Watada said, was in January, when Ehren heard the father of an injured soldier lament on a radio show: "Why can't anyone stand up and stop all of this?"
"He thought the guy was talking to him," Watada said of his son. "He thought he was the person who had to stand up."
Watada's case has stirred national debate over the legality of the Iraq war and a soldier's duty versus conscience. But in the Japanese American community, the case has struck a particular nerve, echoing conflicts of another war six decades ago.
