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Aidan Delgado

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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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
  • 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.[citation needed]
  • 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Herbert, Bob (May 2, 2005). "From 'Gook' to 'Raghead'". New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e THE SUTRAS OF ABU GHRAIB by Aidan Delgado. Kirkus Reviews.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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.
  4. ^ a b c Hammond, Dewey (2007-08-05). "A Buddhist soldier at Abu Ghraib". San Francisco Chronicle.
  5. ^ "Soldiers of Conscience". PBS. Retrieved 26 September 2016.

Further reading

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