Petition Launched Asking Congress to Return Dr. Terry Lakin to the Army

DECORATED 17-YEAR VETERAN DISHONORABLY DISCHARGED AFTER QUESTIONING OBAMA’S ELIGIBILITY

by Sharon Rondeau

(Jan. 21, 2017) — One day after the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump and the launch of a new administration, a petition has been posted at whitehouse.gov asking Congress to restore rank, pay and standing to a former Army flight surgeon who was dishonorably discharged for having questioned the constitutional eligibility of Barack Hussein Obama.

In July 2010, Dr. Terrence Lakin, then Lt. Col. Lakin, refused to deploy to Afghanistan for a second tour as a result of unanswered questions he harbored as to whether or not Obama was a “natural born Citizen,” as the U.S. Constitution requires of the president and commander-in-chief.

Lakin had served for 17 years and received a number of commendations when he publicly asked Obama to release his original birth certificate to quell doubts that he was not born in the U.S. or otherwise did not qualify to serve as commander-in-chief.

Before Obama sought the presidency, various narratives of his life were published on the web and in print stating that he was born in Kenya or Indonesia, some of which were later changed to say that he was “born in Hawaii.”  It is well-known that birthplace is at least one factor in determining citizenship, particularly “natural born” status.

Prior to taking his stand, Lakin had contacted his congressman, U.S. senators, military chain of command, and Obama himself to ask for proof of Obama’s identity and eligibility.  At one point, Lakin said that members of Congress with whom he met admitted that they “did not know” who Obama really was.

Lakin ultimately received no response to any of his queries, which did not ease misgivings that as an active-duty Army officer, he could be following illegal orders.

Presiding officer Col. Denise Lind denied Lakin access to Obama’s records because of her contention that releasing them could prove “embarrassing” for Obama.

Interestingly, in 2013, Lind sentenced then-Sgt. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for releasing tens of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks, which later published them.  Three days before leaving office on Tuesday, Obama commuted Manning’s sentence, which is now scheduled to end in May, citing that it was “excessive,” and, according to The Washington Post, “nuts.”

In December 2010, Lakin was court-martialed and convicted of “missing movement” and “disobeying a direct order,” stripped of all future pay and benefits, and sentenced to six months at Ft. Leavenworth.  He was released one month early for good behavior and proceeded to open a private practice with his considerable medical and osteopathic training as a foundation.

As Lakin was completing his prison sentence, the White House released what it said was a scan of a certified copy of Obama’s long-form birth certificate following months of urging by then-businessman and now-President Donald Trump.  Within 24 hours the image was declared a forgery by several experts.

Later in 2011, a criminal investigation of the image by the Maricopa County Cold Case Posse was launched which concluded six months later that the long-form birth certificate image is a “computer-generated forgery,” a contention later confirmed to have been supported by two forensic analysts in different parts of the world.

Early in the five-year probe, investigators also declared Obama’s Selective Service registration form fraudulent.

In 2013, some members of Congress appeared to be responsive to investigators’ findings of fraud and forgery, but none ultimately took action.

Whitehouse.gov petitions require 100,000 citizen signatures in order for Congress to take action.