Pardon Lt. Ridge Alkonis – WSJ

Japan helped mend a diplomatic sore before Christmas when Tokyo transferred an imprisoned U.S. Navy lieutenant back into American hands. But this international incident isn’t over, and the outcome matters to U.S. troops wondering if they’re vulnerable to rough justice while stationed abroad.

Lt. Ridge Alkonis was assigned to a Navy destroyer in Japan in 2021 when he fell unconscious while driving, and two Japanese nationals died after the attendant crash outside a restaurant. Lt. Alkonis maintains he experienced a medical emergency—acute mountain sickness—while driving his wife and children back from a daytime hike.