Profiles in Character: Ian Fishback Exemplifies Military Honor

On September 16, 2005, Army Captain Ian Fishback sent a letter to Senator John McCain.  Angry at the abuse he saw of prisoners held in Afghanistan and Iraq, he knew the problem was more widespread than what Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld labeled “a few bad apples.”  He tried working within the system to make changes. In early 2004, he expressed concerns to his company commander at Ft. Bragg, who “insinuated he would oppose me if I made an issue of the matter.”  His battalion commander told him to take his concerns to the Judge Advocate General (JAG).  “I left the JAG’s office profoundly unsettled,” Fishback said.  His next stop was Human Rights Watch where he connected an investigator with service members who could corroborate his reports of ongoing abuse and the lack of Army guidance to stop it.  In early September, 2005, Human Rights Watch issued a report. Soon after, Fishback wrote McCain:

“Despite my efforts, I have been unable to get clear, consistent answers from my leadership about what constitutes lawful and humane treatment of detainees.  I am certain that this confusion contributed to a wide range of abuses . . .”

Fishback had already served a tour in Afghanistan and two in Iraq.  A 2001 graduate of West Point, he told McCain:

“I can remember, as a cadet at West Point, resolving to ensure that my men would never commit a dishonorable act . . . It absolutely breaks my heart that I have failed some of them in this regard. . . . We owe our soldiers better than this.”

He called attention to:

“the most important question that this generation will answer.  Do we sacrifice our ideals in order to preserve security?  Terrorism inspires fear and suppresses ideals like freedom and individual rights.  Overcoming the fear posed by terrorist threats is a tremendous test of our courage . . . if we abandon our ideals in the face of adversity and aggression, then those ideals were never really in our possession. I would rather die fighting than give up even the smallest part of the idea that is “America.””

That letter led Congress to pass the Detainee Treatment Act outlawing the “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment” of any prisoner held by the United States.  Fishback was lauded for his courage.  Sen. Dick Durbin, a co-sponsor, called Fishback a military hero.  McCain said: “I thank God every day that we have men and women the caliber of Captain Fishback serving in our military.”  In 2006, Time magazine named Fishback one of the 100 most influential people in the world. 

Some in the military were not so thankful, including soldiers in war zones who saw Fishback as a “rat” or “grandstander.”  Fishback reported threats to himself and his family.  In a new assignment to command a Special Forces team preparing for duty in Iraq, Fishback reported that “Perhaps the hardest part of all this has been the way many soldiers turned on me.”   Even with a new team, he said: “They wouldn’t follow me as a leader, and they wouldn’t trust me because of what I had done.”

Fishback’s character and education supplied his strength.  Having earned a degree in Middle Eastern studies at West Point, he then earned Master’s Degrees in philosophy and political science from the University of Michigan in 2012.  These preceded his appointment as a West Point instructor from 2012-2015, where his focus was on philosophy and having students grapple with moral issues in combat. His wartime experiences lent him credibility and, as Kevin Schieman, another professor with combat experience said, “Ian had a way of saying this is not some vague intellectual pursuit.”  Fishback left the military in 2015.

Below what seemed an exceptional life lurked growing physical, mental and behavioral problems. According to an excellent article by New York Times writer C. J. Chivers, these began in 2008.  Perhaps a result of his service and experiences, Fishback faced an escalating series of issues.  He would alternately seek help and disregard it.  He was in and out of medical facilities, yet the Veterans Administration (VA), where he should have received the care he had earned, never accepted him as a patient.

Ian Fishback died in 2021 of what the coroner labeled “sudden cardiac death in schizophrenia.”  That same morning, the VA had finally agreed to provide care.  A year later, it informed his family that he had been declared 100 percent disabled by PTSD connected to his military service.

On the wall of his boyhood home, his parents had a poster: “War is not healthy for children and other living things.”  Yet Ian told them “I think I can make a difference in the military and make it a better place.”

Ian Fishback’s cremated remains were laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors on August 8, 2023. His mother didn’t agree with that decision but his father, a Vietnam War vet, wanted his son to be near the nation’s capitol as a reminder of his ethics and sacrifice.

Photo Credit: eastdailyoffice@wordpress.com