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For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fireby James Yee
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:In 2001, Captain James "Yusuf" Yee was commissioned as one of the first Muslim chaplains in the United States Army. After the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001, he became a frequent government spokesman, helping to educate soldiers about Islam and build understanding throughout the military. Subsequently, Chaplain Yee was selected to serve as the Muslim Chaplain at Guantanamo Bay, where nearly 700 detainees captured in the war on terror were being held as "unlawful combatants." In September 2003, after serving at Guantanamo for ten months in a role that gave him unrestricted access to the detainees--and after receiving numerous awards for his service there--Chaplain Yee was secretly arrested on his way to meet his wife and daughter for a routine two-week leave. He was locked away in a navy prison, subject to much of the same treatment that had been imposed on the Guantanamo detainees. Wrongfully accused of spying, and aiding the Taliban and Al Qaeda, Yee spent 76 excruciating days in solitary confinement and was threatened with the death penalty. After the U.S. government determined it had made a grave mistake in its original allegations, it vindictively charged him with adultery and computer pornography. In the end all criminal charges were dropped and Chaplain Yee's record wiped clean. But his reputation was tarnished, and what has been a promising military career was left in ruins. Depicting a journey of faith and service, Chaplain Yee's For God and Country is the story of a pioneering officer in the U.S. Army, who became a victim of the post-September 11 paranoia that gripped a starkly fearful nation. And it poses a fundamental question: If our country cannot be loyal to even the most patriotic Americans, can it remain loyal to itself? Review:"Wrongly accused of treason, imprisoned and later discharged, Muslim U.S. Army Chaplain James Yee served at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba-a detention center for War on Terror detainees-for most of 2003 before his Catch-22esque descent into a military inquiry fueled by suspicion of his faith, not evidence of his alleged wrongdoing. A graduate of West Point, Yee later converted to Islam and, upon his assignment to Guantanamo (Gitmo, to the locals), he became the base's third Muslim chaplain in six months, a contentious role that saw him educating soldiers that 'Muslim' and 'terrorist' were not synonymous, leading prayer services and ministering to detainees. He struck up friendships with the small group of Muslims working on the base, and, unbeknownst to him at the time, his group of friends had been dubbed 'Hamas' by other Gitmo soldiers, an anecdote indicative of the accusations of treason that would soon hound him. Sincere almost to the point of naïveté, Yee realizes the distorted view many Westerners have of Muslims, but is constantly surprised he would become a target. A searing indictment of justice gone awry and unchecked, systemic ignorance, Yee's story is sure to stimulate its share of discussion on a volatile subject at a crucial time. Photos." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Book News Annotation:Serving as the Muslim Chaplain of Guantanamo Bay, the US military
base that houses the "enemy combatants" of George W. Bush's "war on
terror," US Captain James Yee was to find himself at the center of
prejudiced suspicions that was eventually to lead to unfounded
charges of espionage and terrorism. In this memoir, Yee describes
that path that took him from West Point to Guantanamo Bay and
recounts his experiences as the Chaplain and, eventually, as a
detainee in the "war on terror" himself. In addition to the inherent
interest of the story, his memoir is also of importance because it
corroborates many of the charges of abuse and religious bigotry that
much of the media has dismissed because they were only coming from
the detainees or their lawyers.
Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Synopsis:What do you believe in? James Yee believed in God and America and one of those got him thrown in jail.
About the AuthorJames Yee, a third-generation Chinese-American and a 1990 graduate of West Point, served in the U.S. Army for 14 years, including a tour in Saudi Arabia during the aftermath of the first Gulf War. His spiritual conversion to Islam in 1991 guided his travels to Damascus, Syria, where he studied for four years. He twice traveled to Mecca to make the Haj, the sacred Muslim pilgrimage. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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