James Yee

James Joseph Yee
Born	circa 1968 New Jersey, U.S.
Other names	余优素福, Yusuf Yee
Occupation(s)	Former U.S. Army chaplain, author
Years active	1990–2005 (military service)
Known for	Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay detention facility; subject of espionage investigation; author of For God and Country
Notable work	For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire

James Joseph Yee (also known as 余优素福 or Yusuf Yee) (born circa 1968) is a former American United States Army chaplain who held the rank of captain. He served as a Muslim chaplain at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and was subjected to a government investigation on espionage allegations, which were ultimately dismissed. Yee is the author of For God and Country, a memoir recounting his personal experiences.

Early life

Yee, an American of Chinese American descent, was born in New Jersey and grew up in Springfield Township, where he completed his education at Jonathan Dayton High School. He graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1990. After embracing Islam in the early 1990s, Yee pursued religious studies in Syria and obtained a letter of equivalency from the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences located in Leesburg, Virginia, which qualified him to serve as a military chaplain.

Guantanamo

Yee provided spiritual support to Muslim detainees at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp during his tenure as chaplain and earned praise from his commanding officers for his dedication. After completing his assignment, he was detained on September 10, 2003, in Jacksonville, Florida, when U.S. Customs officials discovered a list containing names of detainees and interrogators among his possessions. Initially facing serious accusations including sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage, and disobedience of orders, these allegations were later scaled back to charges involving improper handling of classified materials and lesser infractions. He was confined at a United States Navy brig located in Charleston, South Carolina. The government never revealed the specific target of the alleged espionage.

On March 19, 2004, all court-martial proceedings were dismissed due to concerns related to national security. Subsequently, Yee faced accusations of adultery and possessing pornography on a government-issued computer; he received non-judicial punishment under Article 15 of the UCMJ. His appeal succeeded in April 2004, and he was honorably discharged from military service by January 2005.

After Guantanamo

In October 2005, Yee released For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire, which chronicles his ordeal including seventy-six days in solitary confinement accompanied by sensory deprivation. He openly criticized military leadership figures such as General Geoffrey Miller for fostering hostility among guards toward detainees and for being aware of prisoner abuse. Yee asserted that most detainees provided minimal intelligence value concerning Osama bin Laden or al-Qaida operations.

In July 2006, upon returning from Vancouver—the first international trip since his discharge—Yee was briefly detained for 75 minutes at the U.S.-Canada border, underscoring continued governmental scrutiny. In October 2007, he appeared on Syrian television to address claims regarding the desecration of the Koran by U.S. military personnel.

In December 2007, Yee offered commentary on Australian detainee David Hicks at Guantanamo whom he had counseled; he stated that Hicks did not constitute a threat to Australia and possessed less military training than an average American soldier.

Yee served as a delegate representing Washington's 9th congressional district at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, endorsing Barack Obama.

Since then, he has delivered speeches internationally about the conditions he observed at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.

Personal

In 1991, Yee embraced Islam, transitioning from his previous Lutheran Christian faith. During his religious studies in Syria, he met his spouse Huda, who is of Palestinian descent. Yee is also a father to a daughter named Sarah.

External links

• JusticeForYee.com
• Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly Deborah Potter interview PBS October 7, 2005
• Former Army Chaplain James Yee Discusses Guantánamo Prisoner Abuse, His Unjust Detention, and Anti-Muslim Bias in the Military - Democracy Now (audio/video) (1 hour)
• The Unusual Case of Chaplain Yee, New York Review of Books (December 15, 2005)
• 余上尉父母纽约筹款 chinapressnewyork.com.
• Mercury News coverage on the dismissal of charges against Yee
• USA Today feature on charges being dropped
• The Experience of Chaplain Yee USA Today. (May 16, 2004)
• Muslim U.S. Army Chaplain Steps Down, Seeks Apology, Reuters. (Aug 3, 2004)
• How Questionable Evidence Fueled the Persistent Guantánamo Intelligence Search, New York Times. (Dec 19, 2004)
• Muslim Chaplain Reflects on Guantánamo Experience, Newsday, October 4, 2005
• American Muslim Armed Forces and Veteran Affairs Council (AMAF and VAC)
• Listen to or download James Yee’s interview with The Progressive magazine