Tod Ensign (d. May 2014Tod Ensign
(paid death notice), New York Times, May 30, 2014. Accessed online 2014-07-21.) was an American veterans' rights lawyer and Director of Citizen Soldier, a non-profit GI and veterans rights advocacy group based in New York City. Ensign held two law degrees, a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

(LLM) from

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

and Juris Doctor (J.D.) from

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

, as well as a BA from Michigan State University.

Veteran's rights activism

Ensign co-founded Citizen Soldier in 1969 to advocate on behalf of GIs and

veterans A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

who work to oppose command-tolerated

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers pri ...

, homophobia and

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

. Currently, the group has 7,500 members nationwide, who provide nearly all of its financial support. As an attorney, Ensign has participated in a broad range of legal cases involving GIs and veterans over the past 35 years. Two notable cases are the Agent Orange

class action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

, which attempted to hold chemical manufacturers liable for the injuries their herbicide caused

Vietnam veteran A Vietnam veteran is a person who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War. The term has been used to describe veterans who served in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States Armed Forces, and ot ...

s and their offspring and the Vietnam-Era Winter Soldier Investigation and National Veterans Inquiry. Following the

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

in 2003, Citizen Soldier attorneys, including Ensign, counseled hundreds of GIs and

reservists A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is ...

seeking alternatives to serving in what many regard as an illegal war. The most celebrated case was Citizen Soldier's defense of Sgt. Camilo Mejia, 28 of Miami, Florida. Mejia was the first US combat veteran to refuse further service in Iraq. He based his refusal on his duty, on

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

, that it is illegal to obey military orders that violate international law. During his five months in Iraq, he claims he witnessed command-sanctioned shooting of civilians, abuse of detainees and other violations. Mejia’s defense team has appealed the military judge’s refusal to allow any expert testimony at his

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

regarding illegal US military operations by his unit. Ensign founded The Different Drummer coffeehouse near Watertown, NY, which strove to connect and inform service members. Beginning in 2000, Ensign served on the executive board of the National Gulf War Resource Center, a coalition of

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

advocacy groups that advocates for research and health care for veterans from both Gulf wars. (He was the only non-veteran serving on this board).

Publications

Ensign was author of two books, ''Military Life: The Insider's Guide'' (Prentice Hall, 2000) and ''America's Military Today: The Challenge of Militarism'' (New Press, 2004). He was coauthor of ''GI Guinea Pigs'' (Playboy, 1980) the first

exposé Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website Film and TV Film * ''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film * ''Exposed'' (1932 ...

of how US soldiers were harmed by

nuclear fallout Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...

during

A-bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

tests and the herbicide Agent Orange that was used during the Vietnam War. He also contributed chapters to four other books, ''Ten Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military'' (New Press, 2006) ''Against the Vietnam War: Writings by Activists'' (Syracuse U. Press, 1999), ''Metal of Dishonor: Depleted Uranium'' (IAC Press, 1997) ''Collateral Damage'' (South Press. He has written dozens of articles for ''The Progressive'', ''In These Times'', ''Radical America'', ''The American Pathologist'', ''The N. Y. Daily News'', ''Toward Freedom'', ''Against the Current'', the ''Weekly Guardian'', the ''Non Violent Resister'', the ''Indypendent'', and several others. He had one daughter.

References

External links

Citizen Soldier's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ensign, Tod Year of birth missing 2014 deaths New York University School of Law alumni Wayne State University alumni Michigan State University alumni American anti–Vietnam War activists American anti–Iraq War activists American veterans' rights activists