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Army Lt. Discharged Under DADT Writes to Obama: 'I Beg You Today: Do Not Fire Me'

Posted by Ben Armbruster, Think Progress at 10:34 AM on May 12, 2009.


The U.S. Army discharged National Guard Lt. Daniel Choi because he came out of the closet as a gay man.
choiweb05111

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Last week, the U.S. Army discharged National Guard Lt. Daniel Choi — who served in Iraq and is fluent in Arabic — because he came out of the closet as a gay man. “Why didn’t I just shut up and not say anything?” Choi asked. Because “the Army values teach us, have courage, take personal courage, stand up, don’t lie, be honest about who you are,” he said. Choi said he would fight his dismissal “tooth and nail” and now he has written Congress and President Obama “begging” them not to fire him:

As an infantry officer, I am not accustomed to begging. But I beg you today: Do not fire me. Do not fire me because my soldiers are more than a unit or a fighting force – we are a family and we support each other. We should not learn that honesty and courage leads to punishment and insult. Their professionalism should not be rewarded with losing their leader. I understand if you must fire me, but please do not discredit and insult my soldiers for their professionalism.

When I was commissioned I was told that I serve at the pleasure of the President. I hope I have not displeased anyone by my honesty. I love my job. I want to deploy and continue to serve with the unit I respect and admire. I want to continue to serve our country because of everything it stands for.

Please do not wait to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Please do not fire me.

Army officer Sandy Tsao also wrote to Obama after she told her superiors she was gay and asked him to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Obama personally responded, writing, “I committed to changing our current policy. Although it will take some time to complete. … I intend to fulfill my commitment!” (HT: AmericaBlog)

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Tagged as: obama, don't ask don't tell, dadt

Benjamin J. Armbruster is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.


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They won't touch this issue until 2011...
Posted by: CatDad on May 12, 2009 11:04 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Dems are petrified of giving the GOP anything to work with...Barney Frank has said himself that they will most likely repeal DODT after the 2010 midterms...in the interim, more people will be lost to this ridiculous policy.

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this is idiotic!
Posted by: RumbleFish on May 12, 2009 5:06 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What does it matter if this man is gay? Does his "gayness" make him less effective at his job? less loyal to his country?...No.
There always has been, and always will be a percentage of GLBT people in the world...get over it! They're just people like everyone else.

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obama will fulfill his commitment to repealing dadt...
Posted by: undrgrndgirl on May 12, 2009 8:45 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
in the same way he is fulfilling his commitment to end raids on medical marijuana providers in california...

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The saddest thing
Posted by: StillStanding on May 13, 2009 7:54 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
about this case is that Lt. Choi actually harbors the illusion that his Commander-In-Chief has his back. It's time everyone took off the rose-colored glasses with regard to former Senator Obama.

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THE ONLY THING THAT SHOULD MATTER IS HOW WELL A PERSON DOES THEIR JOB
Posted by: joeocho88 on May 13, 2009 9:39 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
So the guy is GAY!

A lot of people in the military past and present have been gay. So what? big deal.
As long as they are not sexually harrassing unwilling persons of subordinate rank I DON'T CARE!

In the past, they KEPT THEIR MOUTHS SHUT ABOUT THEIR SEXUAL PREFERENCE, DID THEIR DUTY AND WENT HOME.

Again, as long as they do their job and don't coerce and harrass unwilling persons including minors -- I DO NOT CARE!

Is this guy trying to be a test case or something?

Obama is up to his neck in political intrigues and problems left over from Bush and I don't think he will take the time to save one gay man who should have kept his mouth shut and just done his job.

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