Biography
Lance Corporal Stephen Funk was the first U.S. service member to publicly refuse to participate in the Iraq War. A Marine Corps reservist, he failed to report when his unit was activated in February 2003 and held a press conference in San Francisco announcing his refusal on conscientious-objector grounds. He was court-martialed in New Orleans in September 2003, convicted of unauthorized absence, and sentenced to six months in the brig, hard labor, forfeiture of pay, and a bad-conduct discharge. His public refusal helped catalyze the wider Iraq War resistance movement among U.S. service members. He was imprisoned at the Camp Lejeune brig in North Carolina and released on February 4, 2004.
Case
Camp Pendleton brig
