This is Lt. Daniel Choi, a 2003 graduate of West Point and a veteran of the Iraq war. From his bio:

Choi serves in the Army National Guard as an infantry platoon leader, a job that allows him to lead soldiers on the ground level and fully utilize his combat training and experience. While at West Point, he majored in Arabic Language and Environmental Engineering and volunteered as a leader in the Cadet Chapel Choir and the Officers’ Christian Fellowship. Choi is pursing graduate studies at Harvard University and resides in Orange County, California.

Choi by all accounts is a fine officer respected by his men.  He could have had a distinguished career in the Army.  There’s only one problem, at least as far as the Army is concerned:  he told the truth.  He told the Army that he is gay.  Under existing law, that is enough to get him discharged.

Here’s what Choi himself wrote in a letter to President Obama:

I have learned many lessons in the ten years since I first raised my right hand at the United States Military Academy at West Point and committed to fighting for my country. The lessons of courage, integrity, honesty and selfless service are some of the most important.

At West Point, I recited the Cadet Prayer every Sunday. It taught us to “choose the harder right over the easier wrong” and to “never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won.” The Cadet Honor Code demanded truthfulness and honesty. It imposed a zero-tolerance policy against deception, or hiding behind comfort.  Following the Honor Code never bowed to comfortable timing or popularity. Honor and integrity are 24-hour values. That is why I refuse to lie about my identity.

I have personally served for a decade under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: an immoral law and policy that forces American soldiers to deceive and lie about their sexual orientation. Worse, it forces others to tolerate deception and lying. These values are completely opposed to anything I learned at West Point. Deception and lies poison a unit and cripple a fighting force. . . .

I refuse to lie to my commanders. I refuse to lie to my peers. I refuse to lie to my subordinates. I demand honesty and courage from my soldiers. They should demand the same from me. . . .

The Department of the Army sent a letter discharging me on April 23rd. I will not lie to you; the letter is a slap in the face. It is a slap in the face to me. It is a slap in the face to my soldiers, peers and leaders who have demonstrated that an infantry unit can be professional enough to accept diversity, to accept capable leaders, to accept skilled soldiers.

My subordinates know I’m gay. They don’t care. They are professional.

Further, they are respectable infantrymen who work as a team. Many told me that they respect me even more because I trusted them enough to let them know the truth. Trust is the foundation of unit cohesion.

After I publicly announced that I am gay, I reported for training and led rifle marksmanship. I ordered hundreds of soldiers to fire live rounds and qualify on their weapons. I qualified on my own weapon. I showered after training and slept in an open bay with 40 other infantrymen. I cannot understand the claim that I “negatively affected good order and discipline in the New York Army National Guard.” I refuse to accept this statement as true.

The problem here is, of course, the law colloquially known as Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.  The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines are obligated to remove soldiers who publicly acknowledge that they are gay.   President Obama can’t change the law — only Congress can do that.  But Daniel Choi cannot wait for Congress.  So what is possible?

Suspending enforcement (h/t).

The President has the authority to issue an executive order halting the operation of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Under 10 U.S.C. § 12305 (”Authority of the President to Suspend Certain Laws Relating to Promotion, Retirement, and Separation”), Congress grants the President authority to suspend the separation of military members during any period of national emergency in which members of a reserve component are serving involuntarily on active duty.

It’s a simple step that would give Congress the time it needs to reverse the policy.

But when Congress reverses it — and I think they will, given the fact that an overwhelming majority of Americans favor it (as do many in the military) — that is not the end of the fight.  There’s one more important step.

President Obama make sure that those (including Daniel Choi) whose honor and integrity were impugned have the opportunity to clear their names.  That means taking administrative measures that will allow those discharged in the past as a result of DADT to a) be reconsidered for an honorable discharge and b) be given the opportunity to re-enlist.

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