Fallen Soldier: Florence Choe

Navy Lieutenant Florence B. Choe, from El Cajon, California was assigned to Camp Shaheen, Mazar-E-Sharif, Afghanistan, a medical station that served US troops as well as Afghan troops and civilians. She was mentoring the Afghans as they devised a healthcare system for their army. On March 27, 2009, an Afghan National Army soldier opened fire, fatally wounding Lt. Choe and another Navy officer. She was 35 years old.
Lt. Choe attended elementary and high school in the San Diego suburb of Spring Valley. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology (1997) at UC San Diego and a master’s degree in Public Health and Healthcare Administration (2001) at San Diego State. Days after 9/11, she went to a Navy recruiting office and signed up to serve and follow in her father’s footsteps as a career sailor. Lt. Choe was commissioned as a Medical Service Corps officer in the Navy in 2002.
An avid snowboarder and runner, Lt. Choe met her husband, Naval Academy graduate, Navy Lt. Commander Chong “Jay” Choe while working at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. The two married in 2004 and shortly after were assigned to Okinawa, Japan for a general medical officer tour. While stationed there, the couple’s daughter was born. After Okinawa, the young family was transferred to San Diego where Lt. Choe served as a medical service corps officer.
Lieutenant Choe’s daughter is the recipient of the Folds of Honor Children’s Fund scholarship.