(( Title: US MARINE OBAMA

HEAD: US Marine Discharged for Criticizing Obama

DATE: 04/25/12

PUBLISHED AT: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 7:00:31 PM

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NUMBER: 2385697

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TYPE: CN

The U.S. Marine Corps is discharging a nine-year veteran for criticizing President Barack Obama on the Facebook social network.

Sergeant Gary Stein will get an other-than-honorable discharge for violating Marine Corps policy, meaning he will lose benefits.

Stein wrote on Facebook that he would refuse to follow the president's orders. Stein later amended his comment to say that he would not obey unlawful orders.

Stein persisted in criticizing the president even after his superiors told him that he was breaking the rules.

Stein says he was exercising his constitutional right to free speech.

But the Marines say that when recruits take an oath to the Corps to obey their commander-in-chief, some of their rights are limited.