Veteran told he’s not American, loses driver’s license

David O’Connor was born to two American citizens in Canada. His parents moved back to the United States where O’Connor grew up and eventually joined the Navy. He also engaged in being a commercial truck driver. O’Connor had no problems obtaining a driver’s license in New York, New Hampshire, and in Vermont. However, Tennessee pulled his driver’s license saying that he was not a U.S. citizen.

From News Channel 5, Nashville

The 77-year-old had been driving for the last 61 years. He’s had driver’s licenses in New York, New Hampshire, Vermont and then eight years ago, when he moved to Tennessee, he got a license here.

But last month, Tennessee canceled O’Connor’s driver’s license.

“They told me I shouldn’t have had the license in the first place ’cause I couldn’t prove that I was a citizen,” O’Connor explained.

“It just blows my mind,” Jean O’Connor told NewsChannel 5 Investigates.

Jean is David’s wife.

“I am flabbergasted. I am outraged that, at 77 years old, he is now considered a non-citizen by the country that he has lived in his whole life,” Jean said.

It all started in early June when O’Connor went to the Driver Service Center in McMinn County to not only renew his driver’s license but get one of the new enhanced or Real IDs.

O’Connor took his birth certificate with him. It’s a Canadian birth certificate.

But.

“Your father was a U.S. citizen?” We asked O’Connor.

“He was,” he told me.

And I asked, “Your mother was a U.S. citizen?”

“She was,” he replied.

And since both of his parents were U.S. citizens, and you can see that right there on his birth certificate, the law stated O’Connor is a U.S. citizen, too.

His American-born parents had temporarily relocated to Canada and soon after O’Connor was born, the family moved back to the U.S.

“I’ve been here for 77 years,” O’Connor said, adding, “None of this (situation) makes any sense to me.”

And no one, he said has ever questioned whether he’s really an American.

Until now.

“Now?!” Jean O’Connor exclaimed. “That’s the thing. Why now? At 77 years old? Are you kidding me? It’s unbelievable,”

Jean found it all especially unbelievable because her husband was able to join the U.S. Navy. He was just 17 when he enlisted. He served four years and was a sonar tech.

And if you look closely at his military discharge form, it asks if the person is a U.S. citizen. There’s a box for yes and a box for no. On O’Connor’s form, the “yes” box is checked.

Additional Reading:

Kraus, J. (2024, July 3). State of Tennessee tells U.S. Navy veteran he’s not an American citizen and cancels his driver’s license. News Channel 5, Nashville. Link.

Category: Veterans in the news