Has there been a soldier who refused a direct illegal order and was not prosecuted for insubordination (post-1945)?
score:4
Yes
Per This article, it appears to have happened at least once. The article is about disobeying unlawful orders in general, but this particular section seems to best answer your question.
The defense of superior orders in cases of reprisal attacks is so weak that it is hardly ever attempted. In the spring of 2008, soldiers of Alpha Co, 1-18th Infantry lined four Iraqi prisoners up near a canal and executed them. The Iraqis were captured during a raid of a house found to contain weapons. They denied knowing anything about where the weapons came from, which was almost certainly a lie. The company’s first sergeant ordered that the Iraqis be transported to a nearby canal, where he instructed his men to shoot them, saying it was revenge for fallen comrades. Some of the men in the unit balked and refused [emphasis mine] , but others participated in the killings. When the incident was finally exposed, those involved in the killings were tried by court-martial....No one involved pretended that the first sergeant’s order excused their conduct because that defense had no realistic chance of success.
At no point in the article (or any related articles I could find on the matter) does it say the soldiers who "balked and refused" the order to execute the Iraqis were court-marshalled or otherwise punished for insubordination. Probably because the order was so egregious there even the First Sgt. who ordered it knew there could only be one reasonable outcome if their disobedience came to trial. In general the Manual of Courts-Martial for the US Armed forces lays out that any discipline/refusal of orders/insubordination matter is brought up by (or at least requires the support of in terms of affidavits etc) the person who issued the order. If your order was "Shoot these civilians" and somebody disobeys it, the odds seem pretty good you aren't going to go to your JAG office or superior officer and tell them "I ordered private Joe to shoot unarmed detainees and he refused so I want him charged with failure to obey a direct order."
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