It's time for "Don't Ask Don't Tell" (DADT) to GO!!!

I couldn't say it better than was done by former federal worker in the Stars and Stripes in a letter in Stars and Stripes last week. Read ... with full understanding:

My former supervisor is a veteran of both gulf wars. He's lived in close quarters with gays, fought beside them, been under fire with them. DADT makes him extremely angry; he says, "if the guy covering me knows how to handle a gun, what do I care if he's gay?" Does Marine Mom know how many variances soldiers are fighting under, for mental conditions and criminal records, right next to her son, while men and women whose only crime is their orientation, are being ejected? And is it making an issue of your orientation because your sweetheart's picture is the wrong gender? Ask anyone serving in a unit where somebody has been discharged under DADT, and you won't find relief; you'll find anger that good soldiers are being let go, and that is a morale-buster right there. Anyone brave enough and patriotic enough to wish to serve our country and put his or her life down for it deserves respect, and, just as happened with integrating troops in the past, in a civilized nation, it has to be done even if some people are upset. Further, the real waste of money is on the investigations, lawsuits, and resources spent on trying to expel these good men and women. Ending DADT would save money and resources. Bringing home our soldiers is a worthy goal that wouldn't be set back one minute by ending DADT.

Written by former federal worker
27 September 2010

Although not in uniform, I "served" as a civil servant "in-theater" during both the Vietnam War (1969-70) at Tan San Nhut Air Base adjoining MACV in Saigon and as a military contractor before, during and after the first Gulf War (1990-1991) in Riyadh and share the same thoughts as the letter-writer above.

Although it is probably correct for President Obama to avoid waiting (possibly forever) for Congress to add a repeal of DODT in the Defense Authorization Bill, it seems ludicrous for the White House to have given the "go ahead" for its Justice Department to appeal the court case of three weeks ago wherein the Federal Court stated in words that are almost written right out of the US Constitution that "Don't Ask Don't Tell" has to go!

From the outset, I thought DODT was a dishonest idea, even though it was attempting to right an obvious wrong.