Lauren Hodges

The room applauds as 71-year-old retired four-star General Stanley McChrystal approaches the podium.

I can't believe he's here, someone whispers.

Almost as if he heard them, McChrystal says this into the microphone.

First off, we shouldn't be here.

Here is a retirement ceremony for five transgender service members who have been forcibly separated from the military under the Trump administration's second ban.

The event has been organized by the advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign

in lieu of a proper Pentagon ceremony.

The playful dig at the military's newest branch gets a laugh from the room full of service members.

McChrystal became a household name in the early to mid-2000s, during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But today, he's here in a suit and tie to preside over this ceremony.

Before the ban, Colonel Bree Fram was the highest-ranking transgender member of the U.S.

Armed Forces.

An astronautical engineer, she deployed to Iraq and Qatar during the Iraq War and later served as an officer in the U.S.

Space Force.

Fram steps up to the podium.

Army Major Kara Corcoran.

Her 17 years of service includes significant combat and leadership experience.

As NPR previously reported, the first Trump administration gave a short window of hope to any transgender person already serving who wanted to keep their job.

Get an official medical diagnosis for gender dysphoria within a few months.

After Trump was reelected to his second term,