Stephen Funk

Stephen Funk (born June 15, 1982) is a former United States Marine Corps Landing Support Specialist and Lance Corporal reservist. He was the first person to publicly refuse to deploy in Iraq.

Background Stephen Funk decided to enlist in the United States Marine Corps after 9/11, signing a six-year contract in February 2002. Near the end of boot camp, he shot expert at the rifle range, at 200-, 300- and 500-yards. Despite this, his instructor told him that he would not shoot as well in combat; Funk later said, "I told him he was right, because I felt killing was wrong."

Prior to enlisting, Funk had a background in social activism having attended an alternative high school called The Nova Project. He participated in protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle and the during the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

His period of "unauthorized absence" lasted from February 9, 2003, to April 1, 2003.

On April 1, 2003, Funk held a press conference at the main gate of San Jose Marine Reserve Base and turned himself over to military authorities. During the conference, Funk spoke to reporters and said "There is no way to justify war because you're paying with human lives."

Military punishment Of the two charges Funk was brought up on, a military jury acquitted him on September 6, 2003, of desertion, but convicted him of the lesser charge of unauthorized absence. He had spent 47 days of unauthorized absence preparing his application for conscientious objection and was sentenced to six months imprisonment, reduction in rank from E-3 to E-1 and given a bad-conduct discharge.

Controversy It is noteworthy that the United States punished him "for refusing to report to his unit during the Iraq war," Ferencz is qualified to make comparisons to the Nuremberg Trials because he, himself, was an investigator of Nazi war crimes after World War II and the Chief Prosecutor for the United States Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, one of the twelve military trials held by the U.S. authorities at Nuremberg, Germany. One of the legal principles used during those trials was Nuremberg Principle IV which deals with the responsibility of individuals. It states, "The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him." The precedents and principles of international law that were set during the Nuremberg Trials have legal relevance to all subsequent cases, including that of Stephen Funk.

Aftermath Stephen Funk was confined in the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Brig and served 5 months of a 6-month sentence. During his confinement, anti-war activists organized a major protest outside the base along with a bus tour of speakers traveling the east coast. It was coordinated with rallies in several major cities including San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans, Paris, and London.

Upon release Funk returned to the San Francisco Bay Area enrolling at Stanford University to study international relations. Upon graduation, Condoleezza Rice, now a professor at the school, handed Funk his degree. He continued his peace activism becoming an honorary founding member of Iraq Veterans Against the War in 2004. Funk is also founder and creative director of Veteran Artists, an organization "founded and run by recent military veterans connecting other veterans with community resources to pursue artistic opportunities."