U.S. Army soldier faces discharge after Asian-American soldier's hazing

U.S. Army soldier faces discharge after Asian-American soldier's hazing

Mon Dec 17, 2012 7:08pm EST

By Colleen Jenkins

(Reuters) - The leader of a platoon whose members were accused of hazing an Asian-American soldier who killed himself in Afghanistan has been punished and will be discharged from the U.S. Army, officials said on Monday.

First Lieutenant Daniel Schwartz was the highest ranking of eight soldiers charged in connection with 19-year-old Private Danny Chen's suicide and the last to have his case resolved.

Chen, the only Chinese-American in his unit, fatally shot himself in a guard tower in southern Afghanistan in October 2011 after enduring weeks of disparaging taunts and physical mistreatment from his superiors, military prosecutors said.

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Schwartz, who faced dereliction of duty charges, was punished through an Article 15 administrative proceeding that was not open to the public, officials at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, said on Monday.

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