Air Force Fighter Now Seeks a Defense : Military: Capt. James Wang will face a court-martial in a fatal ‘friendly fire’ incident that he says is not his fault. He is raising funds for his cause.

Air Force Capt. James Wang isn’t comfortable with his newly acquired celebrity status.

Dressed in blue jeans and a blue-striped shirt, Wang stood before a crowd of reporters Wednesday at Los Angeles International Airport and fielded questions about his role in one of the most tragic “friendly fire” incidents in U.S. history.

Wang, 29, faces court-martial proceedings over the April 14, 1994, downing of two American helicopters over a no-fly zone in northern Iraq. Twenty-six American, French, British and Kurdish military officers were killed in the incident.

Although other Air Force officers--including an F-15 fighter pilot who fired one of the fatal shots--were initially charged with crimes ranging from dereliction of duty to negligent homicide, only Wang now faces court-martial. He is charged with three counts of dereliction of duty.

Wang says he is innocent of the charges. Many of his high-powered supporters contend he is being made a scapegoat for the unfortunate incident.

“It’s hard for me to go anywhere without people coming up to me and saying, ‘I’m following your case and what [military officers] are doing is out of line,’ ” Wang said Wednesday.

“I am not used to having microphones in my face,” Wang told reporters at the airport. “It’s definitely not anything I would have asked for. But this is a good opportunity to get the word out.”

In the next few days here, thanks to the financial support of prominent Chinese American civil rights groups, Wang will take to the airwaves and dinner speaker circuit to tell his story.

On that day over Iraq, Wang served as a senior weapons director on an AWACS surveillance plane. Wang has been charged with failing to adequately supervise his radar controllers and failing to maintain a “current and accurate” radar picture of the area.

The Air Force, Wang contends, is responsible for the breakdown in the chain of command that led to the downing of the two Black Hawk helicopters, which the F-15 pilots mistook for Iraqi aircraft.

“We [radar monitors] didn’t control the intercepts [of the helicopters by the two F-15 fighters]. We didn’t agree with the interceptions. We just monitored it,” Wang said. “They [the two fighter jet pilots] are the ones who made the incorrect identification and made the decision to deploy weapons.”

Wang’s case has attracted national attention. Prominent Capitol Hill legislators and Chinese American political leaders, most notably the politically influential Committee of 100, have championed Wang’s cause.

While in Los Angeles, Wang will attend receptions and news conferences and will appear on TV and radio programs, all designed to raise funds for his legal expenses, which Wang estimates at $35,000 to $60,000.

The Taiwan-born Wang, now a U.S. citizen, graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1988. His wife and two children live in Oklahoma.

Wang contends that about the only ones ignoring his pleas for understanding are his military commanders, who have sealed most of the documents relating to the investigation of the incident.

Col. Howard Altschlager, the judge who will preside over Wang’s court-martial starting June 1, has imposed a gag order on everyone involved in the case, except Wang.

Wang said he cooperated fully with the military investigation that was launched soon after the incident. As months passed, and as charges against the other officers--including an F-15 pilot who was once charged with 26 counts of negligent homicide--were dropped, Wang’s suspicions mounted.

At first, Wang refused to believe the case being built against him had racial overtones. But now that he is on the final leg of a yearlong series of legal proceedings, Wang and some of his supporters are having second thoughts.

“I never did think that [the military prosecution was racially motivated],” Wang said. But now, after seeing charges dismissed against all of the other officers involved, and listening to his military friends at Tinker Air Force Base express concerns about racial bias, “I am convinced that it could have been.”

“There is really no evidence to show this is racial,” said David Ma, president of the Monterey Park-based Chinese American Civil Liberties Organization. Ma’s group is sponsoring Wang’s tour of Los Angeles. “But that isn’t being ruled out. We want people to look at this as a public issue, as someone who is being charged with a crime that may not be his fault.”

Sam Chu Lin, a freelance journalist who is media spokesman for Wang’s local visit, said: “I don’t think this is racially motivated. The military just has to find a scapegoat.”

Henry Teng, co-chairman of the New York-based Committee of 100, said race may not have initially fueled the decision to prosecute Wang. After all, 1st Lt. Joe Halcli, who is Japanese American, was charged but was later exonerated. But Teng worries that if Wang is convicted, the officer and his Chinese ancestry will forever be associated with causing the tragedy.

The committee, along with other prominent Chinese American groups and family members of some of the officers killed in the incident, is pushing for Congress to open investigations into the incident.

“It has never been explained why the other people were never held for trial and the charges dismissed,” Teng said. “Somebody should answer that question. And we are raising that question.”

An Air Force spokeswoman said administrative action “has been taken against numerous other officers involved” but that further release of information is restricted by privacy provisions.

If convicted by a military jury, Wang could be sentenced to nine months in jail and be denied Civil Service benefits. He could also be dishonorably discharged.