Arizona Military Museum CLOSES after Vietnam vet founder, 80, told tour: ‘Eventually they will replace me with some gay, black, woman woke Jew’ and claimed mannequin with hand on its hip represented gay soldiers

A Vietnam War veteran has been kicked out of the military museum he managed for decades for offensive comments, including a suggestion that he be replaced by “a gay, black woman, woke Jew.”

Joe Abodeely, 80, spent half his life overseeing the Arizona Military Museum, which was a personal passion for the Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War — his own uniform was even on display.

But the museum has been closed to the public for more than four months, and the nonprofit that oversees it no longer receives state support.

Brigadier General John Conley of the Arizona National Guard sent Abodeely a letter in February expressing concern about statements the senior made during a tour.

“Eventually they will replace me with a gay, black woman, woke Jew who will ruin the place,” Abodeely said, according to the letter obtained by The Arizona Republic.

The museum was closed after the state cut ties with the nonprofit that oversaw it and ordered them to vacate the building

Abodeely, a Vietnam War veteran, had personal ties to the museum and even showed off his own uniform

He allegedly called “all Americans” stupid and “told the tour group members that they knew nothing about the realities of the Vietnam era because they were too young, brainwashed, stupid, deceived, uneducated or indifferent.”

The 86-year-old museum is run by the Arizona National Guard Historical Society, a nonprofit organization Abodeely led for decades, and is located on military property.

Following the incident, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Military Affairs ordered Abodeely to attend two hours of diversity, equality and inclusion training. He obliged.

Maj. Gen. Kerry Muehlenbeck, the adjutant general of the Arizona Guard, also wanted to meet him.

But the offensive language did not stop there, despite Abodeely obtaining a certificate of completion for the course. In an interview he said noted that a museum mannequin with a “hand on its hip” depicted gay soldiers.

A day later, Abodeely apologized, attributing his erratic behavior to the combined stress of undergoing cancer tests and the museum fiasco.

“I'm arrogant, and I know it,” the 80-year-old said. 'I'm somewhat selfish, but I care about other people. I care about other things. I care about my nation, my state and I care about the museum.”

Abodeely's comments during the tour are at odds with posts on the museum's Facebook page, where he condemned racists and spoke out about the divisions in the country.

Abodeely was reprimanded for telling a tour: 'Eventually they will replace me with a gay, black woman, woke Jew who will ruin the place'

He allegedly told the group that they were “too young, brainwashed, stupid, deceived, uneducated or indifferent” to understand the “reality of the Vietnam era.”

The 86-year-old museum was previously run by the Arizona National Guard Historical Society, a nonprofit organization Abodeely led for decades

“It's not about economics, or politics, or ideology, or the haves versus the have nots — it's clearly about RACE,” he wrote about the motivations behind the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol.

“Those people are just ignorant, despicable racists; and their actions have brought the issue of race to the forefront. It took a racist president and supporters.”

In an interview, he claimed he was pushed out because of a personal vendetta from Muehlenbeck, a claim her spokesperson denied.

Mike Snozek, a veteran of the U.S. Army and National Guard, served on the board of the Arizona National Guard Historical Society for more than a dozen years before the unrest.

He said Abodeely misrepresented Muehlenbeck's views on the museum to the board and the public.

Snozek said he acted at the request of the majority of board members when he called a meeting last summer and they chose him as the new leader to replace Abodeely.

Abodeely, in turn, believed the vote was illegal and appointed his own new board.

The security guard banned him from interacting with guests at the museum, but spokesperson Captain Erin Hannigan said he continued to use “unprofessional language.”

“In turn, the Adjutant General lost confidence in Mr. Abodeely's ability to interact professionally and respectfully with the public,” she said.

The Army veteran was removed from his leadership role at the Arizona National Guard Historical Society (photo: Abodeely, third from left, and his platoon)

When he refused to resign alongside the newly appointed leader, the state announced it would find a new group to oversee the museum and reopen it.

The nonprofit must submit a written plan for the removal of its property from the museum by December 18

While Snozek expressed his understanding as to why Abodeely would not want to part with the museum, he added, “There is a way to behave and a way not to behave, and we have rules, and we follow them.

'And there is what is socially acceptable and there is what is absolutely not socially acceptable.'

In an effort to keep the museum in its current location, Snozek volunteered to resign if Abodeely would do so as well. But the Vietnam veteran, who later in life served as a deputy district attorney and criminal defense attorney, refused.

Muehlenbeck finally announced her decision to sever state ties with the group on November 17.

Now the nonprofit must provide her with a written plan for the removal of her property from the museum by Dec. 18, a spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that the Arizona National Guard plans to find a new group to run and reopen the museum.