Aidan Delgado
Aidan Delgado is an author and a buddhist conscientious objector from the United States Army.[1] His 2007 book The Sutras of Abu Ghraib detailed his experiences during his deployment in Iraq.[2]
Early life
Delgado was born on November 18, 1981. He is an American citizen and grew up in Thailand, Senegal and Egypt.[1][2][3] His father served in the American diplomatic service.[1] During his eight-year stay in Egypt, Delgado learned to speak Arabic.[3][4] His family then moved to Florida, where he attended college.[2][3]
Army career
At 19 years of age, Delgado joined the Army Reserves on September 11, 2001.[1][3] After signing his enlistment contract, he learned of the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the United States.[1]
He was deployed to Iraq in April 2003.[3] Because of his development of buddhist beliefs, he filed for conscientious objector status.[2][3] He continued to serve in Iraq while his request was processed.[1] In November 2003 his unit was redeployed to Abu Ghraib prison.[1]
In April 2004 the Army recognized his conscientious objector status and he was honorably discharged.[1][3][4]
After the Army
He returned to Sarasota, Florida and enrolled in the New College of Florida to continue his religion studies.[1][3][4]
In 2005 Delgado began giving public presentations about his experiences in Iraq.[3] The Associated Press described it as a "grisly roadshow" that gives "a disturbing account of routine brutality that he [Delgado] claims he saw during his year in Iraq."[3] His presentations resulted in military investigations from the 81st Regional Readiness Command and the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command.[3]
In 2007, Beacon Press published a memoir of Delgado's time at Abu Ghraib and his conscientious objection entitled The Sutras of Abu Ghraib.[2]
In the media
- He appears in the film The Ground Truth by Focus Features and the revised edition of Rush to War.
- In February 2006, blues guitarist Robert Cray released a video for his song "Twenty," about the Iraq War, in which Delgado portrayed a soldier coming home.
- Delgado is one of the individuals featured in the documentary Soldiers of Conscience by Luna Productions, broadcast on the POV Series on PBS on October 16, 2008.[5]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Herbert, Bob (May 2, 2005). "From 'Gook' to 'Raghead'". New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 5 THE SUTRAS OF ABU GHRAIB by Aidan Delgado. Kirkus Reviews.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Hettena, Seth (2005-06-12). "Former Soldier Takes On A New Mission". Associated Press via the Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
- 1 2 3 Hammond, Dewey (2007-08-05). "A Buddhist soldier at Abu Ghraib". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ↑ "Soldiers of Conscience". PBS. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
Further reading
- Fleming, Scott (2005). "In Good Conscience". LiP Magazine and AlterNet. Archived from the original on 17 March 2007. Retrieved March 11, 2007.
- Mission Rejected: U. S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq, Chapter 11. Chelsea Green Publishing.
External links
Select speeches and interviews |
Video |