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Fairchild holds Law Day event

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kali L. Gradishar
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  "Liberty Under Law: Empowering Youth, Assuring Democracy" was the theme of Fairchild's Law Day, which was held June 8 in the club ballroom and featured a movie and $100 drawing.

Honoring the theme, the 1955 movie "The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell" was played. The movie, based on a true story in the early 1920s, allowed its viewers to get a glance at what a legal proceeding may be like.

"The intent behind showing that movie was to allow Airmen to get acquainted with the legal process in relation with the court-martial," said Capt. Gregory Yokas, chief of TORT and contract law.

Also within the movie were bits and pieces of Air Force history, military pride and loyalty.

Billy Mitchell, a colonel before the conclusion of the trial, was being chargeD with sending an insubordinate comment to the media. He was found guilty of the charges and suspended from duty, but not before he made a compelling line of reasoning for the creation of an air force.

"The Law Day events were a way to engage the non-legal world and open them up," said Capt. Yokas. "It was also a way to get as many people as possible engaged in the legal system in a non-intimidating environment."

To conclude Fairchild's Law Day, the participants were allowed to enter their name for a $100 drawing. The winner, Lt. Col. Earl Martin, 92nd Air Refueling Wing legal office, walked away with a little more cash in his pocket than when he arrived.