Tod Ensign

Tod Ensign is a lawyer,  is Director of Citizen Soldier, a non profit GI and veterans rights advocacy organization based in New York City.  Tod began his career as a full time organizer and advocate when he helped to mount the first Winter Soldier investigation in late 1969, just after news of the My Lai massacre was publicly disclosed.

Since then, he and his organization have worked on a wide range of issues and cases, including being the first public advocate for military veterans who were exposed to toxic levels of TCDD dioxin contained in the millions of gallons of the Agent Orange herbicide that was dumped all over southern Vietnam during our war there.  They also worked actively on the campaign to provide health care and compensation for thousands of "atomic veterans" who were exposed to low level radioactive fallout generated by dozens of atmospheric nuclear bomb tests conducted by the US military and the AEC

More recently, Ensign has helped organize the legal defense of Iraq war resisters such as Sgt Camilo Mejia and PFC Brad Gaskins.  He has also worked to challenge the military's long standing policy of discriminating against gay and lesbian servicemembers by helping defend female Air Force members who faced involuntary separation because of their sexual orientation.

Ensign is author of three books, "GI Guinea Pigs" (with Michael Uhl) Playboy Press, 1979, "Military Life: The Insider's Guide" ARCO/Prentice-Hall (1990) and "America's Military Today: The Challenge of Militarism" The New Press (2004) He has also written chapters for six other anthologies which also deal with military-related issues.  Finally, he is currently working on a book which will explore the problems faced by mentally stressed Iraq and Afghan veterans and their families today.