{{Short description|American former United States Army chaplain}} {{family name hatnote|Yee|lang=Chinese}} {{Infobox person | name = James J. Yee | image = James Yee.JPG | caption = Yee at Lancaster University, 2007 | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1968}} | birth_place = New Jersey, U.S. | other_names = {{lang-zh|t=余百康}} <BR>Yusuf Yee (Arabic name) | occupation = Former US Army Chaplain | known_for = Serving as the Muslim Chaplain for Muslim detainees held at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, a U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.<br/>Author, ''For God and Country''. }}
'''James Joseph Yee'''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.westpointaog.org/FindaGradDisplay?reid=DJZe54Ai%2fCHGiG0W1ciMXg%3d%3d&bbsys=0&bbrt=0 |title=James Joseph Yee |publisher=West Point Association of Graduates |access-date=2022-04-14}}</ref> ({{lang-zh|t=余百康}} or 余优素福, also known by the Arabic name '''Yusuf Yee''') (born c. 1968) is an American former United States Army chaplain with the rank of captain. He worked as a Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay detention camp and was subjected to an intense investigation by the United States for espionage and other crimes, but all charges were later dropped. Yee later authored a book about his experiences as chaplain, ''For God and Country''.
== Early life == Yee, a Chinese American, was born in New Jersey and raised in Springfield Township,<ref>Rivera, Ray. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002144979_yeechapter1.html "A Rising Star"], ''The Seattle Times'', January 9, 2005. Accessed April 7, 2008. "Jimmy, as his parents called him, grew up Lutheran in the small New Jersey town of Springfield."</ref> where he attended Jonathan Dayton High School.<ref>Fonda, Daren. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071229003010/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,490718,00.html "Were They Aiding The Enemy?"], ''Time (magazine)'', September 28, 2003. Accessed November 19, 2007. "One of five children born to devout Chinese Lutherans, Jimmy, as he was known at Jonathan Dayton High School in Springfield, N.J., was a champion wrestler, an ace student and "a low-maintenance guy," according to his coach."</ref> Yee graduated from West Point in 1990.<ref name="World Socialist Web Site">{{cite web|url=http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/dec2003/yeee-d17.shtml|title=Military's "espionage" case against Guantanamo chaplain collapses|publisher=World Socialist Web Site|date=2003-12-17|accessdate=2008-05-01}}</ref> He converted to Islam in the early 1990s and studied religion in Syria, after which he obtained a letter of equivalency from Leesburg, Virginia's Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences, which enabled him to qualify for certification as a military chaplain.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Goodstein |first1=Laurie |last2=Kershaw |first2=Sarah |last3=Lewis |first3=Neil A. |date=September 25, 2003 |title=Army Chaplain in Detention Sought to Teach About Islam |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/25/us/army-chaplain-in-detention-sought-to-teach-about-islam.html |work=The New York Times |location=New York, NY}}</ref>
== Career == === Guantanamo === In his appointed role as chaplain, Yee ministered to Muslim detainees held at Guantánamo Bay detention camp and received commendation from his superiors for his work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theportlandalliance.org/2006/jan/jamesyee.htm|title=James Yee: an unlikely enemy of the state|publisher=The Portland Alliance|date=2006-01-08|accessdate=2008-05-01}}</ref> <!-- (The source cited here is unclear exactly which medals Yee was awarded, as they were certainly not the "Distinguished Service Medal", which is the third highest medal for combat service the US can award. Yee's service at Guantanamo would not have qualified him for the "Distinguished Service Medal" but may have qualified him for the award of lesser awards such as the "Army Commendation Medal".) --> When returning from duty at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, he was arrested on September 10, 2003, in Jacksonville, Florida, when a U.S. Customs agent found a list of Guantanamo detainees and interrogators among his belongings.<ref name=cnn>[http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/11/muslim.chaplain.resigns/index.html "Muslim chaplain proposes to resign"], by James Polk and Bob Franken, ''CNN'', 5 May 2004</ref> He was charged with five offenses: sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage, and failure to obey a general order. These charges were later reduced to mishandling classified information in addition to some minor charges.<ref name=cnn /> He was then transferred to a United States Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina. The government did not name the country or entity for whom it suspected Yee was spying.
All court-martial charges against Yee were dropped on March 19, 2004, with Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller "citing national security concerns that would arise from the release of the evidence,"<ref>[http://www.southcom.mil/pa/Media/Releases/PR040319Yee.pdf "Charges dismissed in Yee case"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327115458/http://www.southcom.mil/pa/Media/Releases/PR040319Yee.pdf |date=2009-03-27 }}, ''United States Southern Command Public Affairs Office'', 19 March 2004</ref> and he was released to resume his duties. Yee was then accused of adultery and storing pornography on a government computer; and non-judicial punishment under Article 15, UCMJ was imposed. His appeal to General James T. Hill, Commander, United States Southern Command, was granted in April 2004. He left the US military with an honorable discharge in January 2005.<ref name="Mitchell">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |last=Mitchell |first=Melanthia |date=October 17, 2005 |title=Vindicated Army Chaplain Recalls Ordeal |url=https://products.kitsapsun.com/archive/2005/10-17/73404_vindicated_army_chaplain_recalls.html |work=Kitsap Sun |location=Bremerton, WA}}</ref>
=== After Guantanamo ===
In October 2005 Yee published his book, ''For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire.''<ref>Yee, James (2005). ''For God And Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire''. New York: PublicAffairs. {{ISBN|1-58648-369-2}}.</ref><ref name=JamesYeeBook> {{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ocffRA39NI8C&q=McQueen&pg=PA74 | isbn=978-1-58648-369-2 | title=For God and country: faith and patriotism under fire | publisher=Perseus Books Group | date=2005-10-10 | author=James Yee, Aimee Molloy | accessdate=2010-01-18 }}</ref> In it, Yee described an escalating series of problems, including the role he says was played by Adolph McQueen, then the commander of the Joint Detention Group.<ref>For God and country, pages 74, 107, 119</ref> Yee wrote that he was kept in solitary confinement for seventy-six days, and that he was forced to undergo sensory deprivation. He also wrote that General Geoffrey Miller routinely incited the guards to hate the detainees. He alleges being told of mistreatment of prisoners.<ref name="NYReviewOfBooks2005">{{cite web |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=18550 |title=The Strange Case of Chaplain Yee |publisher=The New York Review of Books |date=2005-12-15 |accessdate=2008-05-01 }} {{cite web |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2005/12/04/international.htm |title=reprinted |publisher=The Daily Star (Bangladesh) |date=2005-12-23 |accessdate=2009-01-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212192422/http://thedailystar.net/magazine/2005/12/04/international.htm |archivedate=2008-02-12 }}</ref> Yee argues that most of the detainees had little or no intelligence value about Osama bin Laden or al-Qaida's inner circle:
{{blockquote|The people down in Guántanamo probably know as much about Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida as any private in the military would know what's going on inside the Pentagon.}}
In July 2006, Yee was stopped at the border while returning from a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, to see Cirque du Soleil. It was Yee's first trip outside the U.S. since he was discharged from the army. He was detained at the border for 75 minutes. Yee commented, "Perhaps this is an indication I'm still of interest to the federal government."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/24/us/24yee.html?_r=2&oref=slogin|title=Former Army Chaplain Is Stopped at Border|work=The New York Times|date=2006-07-24|accessdate=2008-05-01}}</ref>
On October 19, 2007, Syrian television broadcast its interview with Yee, in Arabic, where he discussed Koran desecration on the part of the U.S. military.<ref name="MEMRI1610">[http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1610.htm Former Muslim Chaplain of Guantanamo Prison, James Yee, Tells of the Desecration of the Koran during Interrogation], [http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1610.htm transcript], Middle East Media Research Institute, October 19, 2007</ref>
In December 2007, Yee made a statement on Australian Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks, who he regularly counselled while working at Guantanamo Bay. He said that he did not feel Hicks was a threat to Australia, and that "Any American soldier who has been through basic training has had 50 times more training than this guy."<ref name='ABC20071231_HicksCase'>{{cite news | url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/31/2129131.htm?section=australia | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113022540/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/31/2129131.htm?section=australia | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 13, 2008 | title=Hicks not a threat: chaplain | publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | work=ABC Online | author=Tom Miletic | date=2007-12-31 }}</ref>
Yee was a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention from Washington's 9th congressional district, pledged to support Barack Obama.<ref>[https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080520/ap_on_re_us/guantanamo_chaplain_delegate_3;_ylt=AgOLn1PBlyno.0uPTdRTgo9h24cA "Ex-Army chaplain cleared in Gitmo spy case is Obama delegate"], Associated Press published on Yahoo News, 2008-05-20, retrieved 2008-05-20.</ref>
Yee has spoken about what he witnessed at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to audiences around the world.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.todayonline.com/articles/288549.asp |title=INSIDE GUANTANAMO BAY |publisher=Singapore Today |author=Nazry Bahrawi |date=2008-11-22 |accessdate=2008-11-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20081127164356/http://www.todayonline.com/articles/288549.asp |archivedate=2008-11-27 }} <!-- [https://web.archive.org/web/20081203151625/http://www.todayonline.com/articles/288549print.asp mirror2] this might be the better mirror, if the article goes 404, because it shows the whole article. But it is also one of those pesky URLs that sends the current page to your printer... --></ref>
== Personal == In 1991, Yee converted from Lutheran Christianity<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-05-16-yee-cover_x.htm The Ordeal of Chaplain Lee]</ref> to Islam. Yee underwent religious training in Syria, where he met his wife Huda, a Palestinian. Yee is the father of a daughter, Sarah.<ref name="World Socialist Web Site"/><ref name="Mitchell"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * [http://www.justiceforyee.com JusticeForYee.com] * [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week906/interview.html Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly Deborah Potter interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310143916/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week906/interview.html |date=2013-03-10 }} PBS October 7, 2005 * ''[https://www.democracynow.org/2005/10/6/fmr_army_chaplain_james_yee_on Fmr. Army Chaplain James Yee on the Abuse of Prisoners at Guantánamo, His Wrongful Imprisonment and Anti-Muslim Sentiment in the Military]'' - Democracy Now (audio/video) (1 hour) * [https://archive.today/20130105062640/http://news-nybooks.c.topica.com/maaefScabmoUubcG39lcafpMbU/ The Strange Case of Chaplain Yee], ''New York Review of Books'' (December 15, 2005) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060810033303/http://www.chinapressnewyork.com/20040310/shequ/sqimg/200403100193.htm 余上尉父母纽约筹款] chinapressnewyork.com. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20040411152733/http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/8254643.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp Mercury News article on the dropping of charges against Yee] * [https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-05-16-yee-cover_x.htm USA Today cover story on the dropping of charges] *[https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-05-16-yee-cover_x.htm The Ordeal of Chaplain Yee] ''USA Today''. (May 16, 2004) *[https://web.archive.org/web/20040811061030/http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5861746 Muslim U.S. Army Chaplain Resigning, Wants Apology], ''Reuters.'' (Aug 3, 2004) *[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/19/politics/19gitmo.html How Dubious Evidence Spurred Relentless Guantánamo Spy Hunt], ''New York Times.'' (Dec 19, 2004) *[http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-guantanamo-muslim-chaplain,0,206250.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines Muslim Chaplain Recalls Guantánamo Ordeal]{{dead link|date=May 2026|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, Newsday, October 4, 2005 (or [http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/12817254.htm] *[http://www.amafandvac.org American Muslim Armed Forces and Veteran Affairs Council (AMAF and VAC)] *[http://www.progressive.org/radio_yee06 Download MP3 or listen to James Yee interviewed by The Progressive magazine] *{{C-SPAN|1012946}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yee, James}} Category:1968 births Category:Living people Category:Jonathan Dayton High School alumni Category:People from Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey Category:United States Military Academy alumni Category:United States Army officers Category:American military personnel of Chinese descent Category:Converts to Islam from Lutheranism Category:American expatriates in Syria Category:Muslims from New Jersey Category:Cordoba University alumni Category:United States Army chaplains Category:Imams in the military Category:Guantanamo Bay detention camp Category:American political writers Category:American male non-fiction writers Category:Guantanamo detainees known to have been released Category:American extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Category:American former Protestants