Question: Whatever happened to former Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, who refused to fight in the Iraq War?

Answer: Watada, a 1996 Kalani High School graduate, became famous in 2006 for his refusal to deploy to Iraq, a war he denounced as illegal and unjust.

Watada, who said he would have served in Afghanistan, was the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq and his stance drew support and opposition.

Watada is getting to be somewhat famous again — only this time with a lot less controversy.

Ehren’s father, Bob, a former Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission executive director who lives in Oregon, said Ehren and his brother, Lorin, are now Las Vegas restaurateurs, serving up "Asian fusion" burgers at Bachi Burger.

The brothers opened a Bachi Burger at 470 E. Windmill Lane, and another at 9410 W. Sahara Ave.

Watada said his sons were in the process of opening a ramen shop in Las Vegas called Shoku, and around the end of the year or early next year plan to open a restaurant in Los Angeles.

"They’ve had a lot of requests to open up a restaurant in Los Angeles. So they finally decided to do it," Watada said.

Las Vegas Weekly wrote in April that even "among the glut of gourmet burger joints, Bachi stood out for its creative flavors and quickly became one of the most innovative casual restaurants" in the area.

Celebrity chef Guy Fieri featured Lorin Watada, who was described as "culinary director," making a banh mi burger on the Food Network’s "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" show.

"We were down there a couple weeks ago and he (Ehren) had bought a house down there," Watada said. "So I was helping him out. Yeah, he’s happy."

Ehren Watada was charged by the Army with missing his unit’s deployment and conduct unbecoming an officer for denouncing President George W. Bush and the war.

He faced up to six years in prison, but his court-martial ended in a mistrial and he was assigned a desk job at Fort Lewis in Washington state.

He was discharged in 2009 under other than honorable conditions and said he planned to attend law school. Ehren Watada said then that he was "grateful of the outcome."

Some in the military believed Watada violated his oath as an officer and that he had no right to decide whether the Iraq War was just or unjust.

Ehren Watada could not be reached for comment. A Bachi Burger employee said he spends a lot of time at the Windmill Lane restaurant.

Bob Watada said "the boys are working like 16 hours a day, long hours."

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This update was written by Star-Advertiser reporter William Cole. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To…” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.