Admirals, Generals Call for Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".

I served in the IDF in a combat unit with a gay comrade, and knew of others.  There was minimal friction or discomfort on the part of some, but no notable disruption to the unit.  No one felt threatened in the showers.  No one questioned his commitment to the safety of his fellows or his ability to do his part.

Coming on the heels of Prop H8, this is very good news.  Historical precedent shows that racial integration of our armed forces helped prepare the way for the civil rights movement.  These commanders deserve an extra salute for taking this step.

The statement below via: http://palmcenter.org/press/dadt/release s/104Generals%2526Admirals-GayBanMustEnd .

We - the undersigned -- respectfully call for the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Those of us endorsing this letter have dedicated our lives to defending the rights of our citizens to believe whatever they wish. Scholarly data shows there are approximately one million gay and lesbian veterans in the United States today as well as 65,000 gays and lesbians currently serving in our armed forces. They have served our nation honorably. We support the recent comments of former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General John Shalikashvili, who has concluded that repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy would not harm and would indeed help our armed forces. As is the case with Great Britain, Israel, and other nations that allow gays and lesbians to serve openly, our service members are professionals who are able to work together effectively despite differences in race, gender, religion, and sexuality. Such collaboration reflects the strength and the best traditions of our democracy.

Former Secretary of the Army Clifford Alexander
Admiral Charles Larson, USN (ret.)
Lieutenant General Quinn Becker, USA (ret.)
Lieutenant General Henry Emerson, USA (ret.)
Lieutenant General Robert Flowers, USA (ret.)
Lieutenant General Robert Gard, USA (ret.)
Lieutenant General Jerry Hilmes, USA (ret.)
Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, USA (ret.)
Lieutenant General Donald Kerrick, USA (ret.)
Lieutenant General Ira Owens, USA (ret.)
Lieutenant General Thomas Rienzi, USA (ret.)
Vice Admiral Harold Koenig, USN (ret.)
Vice Admiral Jack Shanahan, USN (ret.)
Vice Admiral James Zimble, USN (ret.)
Major General Anders Aadland, USA (ret.)
Major General Floyd Baker, USA (ret.)
Major General Harry Brooks Jr., USA (ret.)
Major General Leslie Burger, USA (ret.)
Major General Alexander Burgin, USANG (ret.)
Major General Rosetta Burke, AUS (ret.)
Major General William Burke, USA (ret.)
Major General Michael Conrad, USA (ret.)
Major General Eugene Cromartie, USA (ret.)
Major General James Delk, AUS (ret.)
Major General Oliver Dillard, USA (ret.)
Major General John Faith, USA (ret.)
Major General Jack Farris, USAF (ret.)
Major General Fred Forster, USANG (ret.)
Major General Robert Gamrath, AUS (ret.)
Major General Albert Genetti Jr., USA (ret.)
Major General Luis Gonzales-Vales, AUS (ret.)
Major General David Hale, USA (ret.)
Major General Randy Jayne, USANG (ret.)
Major General Lawrence Johnson, AUS (ret.)
Major General Dennis Laich, USA (ret.)
Major General Frederick Lawson, AUS (ret.)
Major General Thomas Lynch, USA (ret.)
Major General Dennis Malcor, USA (ret.)
Major General John Roth, AUS (ret.)
Major General Henry Rasmussen, USA (ret.)
Major General Alan Salisbury, USA (ret.)
Major General Michael Scotti Jr., USA (ret.)

Major General Harry Sieben, USANG (ret.)
Major General Paul Smith, USA (ret.)
Major General Robert B. Smith, USA (ret.)
Major General Charles Starr Jr., USA (ret.)
Major General Story Stevens, USA (ret.)
Major General Joseph E. Turner, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General John C. Adams, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Clara Adams-Ender, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Hugh Aitken, USMC (ret.)
Brigadier General John "Joe" Allen, USAF (ret.)
Brigadier General Patricia Anderson, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General Dale Barber, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General George Baxter, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Robert Baxter, USAF (ret.)
Brigadier General George Blysak, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General Harold Bowman, USANG (ret.)
Brigadier General Douglas Bradley, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General Jack Capps, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Richard Carter, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General Steve Chapplis, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General BG David Cole, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General William Colvin, USANG (ret.)
Brigadier General Joseph Cutrona, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Tom Daniels, USAF (ret.)
Brigadier General Von DeLoatch, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Robert Dilworth, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General George Eggers Jr., USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Evelyn Foote, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Robert Giffen, USAF (ret.)
Brigadier General Robert Hardy Jr., USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Carlos Hayden, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General Edwin Heffelfinger, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General James Hunt, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General John H. Johns, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General J.D Johnson, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Keith H. Kerr, CSMR (ret.)
Brigadier General Douglas Kinnard, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Dean Mann, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General James Martin, USAF (ret.)
Brigadier General William Meehan II, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Harold Miller, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General Kenneth Newbold, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General I.R. Obenchain Jr., USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Phil Peay, USANG (ret.)
Brigadier General Dorothy Pocklington, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General Robert Poirot, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General Philip Pushkin, USANG (ret.)
Brigadier General Virgil Richard, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General William Richter, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General Kenneth Rieth, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General Ernst Roberts, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Murray Sagsveen, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General Norman Salisbury, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Donald Schenk, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Bettye Simmons, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Theodore Vander Els, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Daniel Wardrop, USA (ret.)
Brigadier General Robert Watling, AUS (ret.)
Brigadier General John Weinzettle, USA (ret.)
Rear Admiral James Barnett, USN (ret.)
Rear Admiral Robert Krasner, USN (ret.)
Rear Admiral Charles Rauch, USN (ret.)
Rear Admiral Alan Steinman, USPHS (ret.)

AUS is the Army of the United States.
**General Scotti passed away in September, 2007. His widow asked that his name remain on this statement.



Display:


Positive news (none / 0)

Thank you for posting this diary. Amazing how little attention this positive diary regarding gay issues has gotten compared to other diaries that just wanted to find fault and blame for the passage of Prop 8.


by venician on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 11:17:03 AM EST

Re: Positive news (none / 0)

I guess that would be because Prop. 8 actually impacted our lives.  Petitions are sweet and all...


Stop H8
by mikeinsf on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 02:09:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yes, but the fact that these commanders (2.00 / 1)

all have to be retired before they can put their name to this remains...telling.


by aggieric on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 11:26:13 AM EST

dammit don't start! (2.00 / 1)

the military isn't allowed to do anything political while they serve. matter of sound policy. we do not need them being anything other than apolitical.


yo mir kennen
by RisingTide on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 11:38:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: dammit don't start! (2.00 / 1)

I was trying to force this poster to actually look up the point, but yeah, as I understand it, active leadership can not comment on policies like this.


by bruh3 on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 11:41:19 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Yeah, sorry, but no. (none / 0)

I hear your point, but military leadership has the responsibility and the authority to recommend personnel policy that promotes the military's success and mission.  

Your argument that they're not allowed to engage in politics would be valid, if it weren't already true that active military leaders both in the past and currently have aggressively pushed the idea that gays in the military are unacceptable.  How is that not political, but stating the opposite becomes political?


by aggieric on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 10:10:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Yeah, sorry, but no. (none / 0)

Really. How many active officers testified against allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military when hearings were held? It's a simple Google. Lots of them.


by Jeter on Wed Nov 19, 2008 at 02:55:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Yes, but the fact that these commanders (none / 0)

Not really. You do realize why they are only using retired military leadership?

Outside of this, there is a wide support in the general public for the repeal (70 percent) and a majority support in the military rank and file found in polling.


by bruh3 on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 11:40:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Thanks for trying to "force" me but no. (none / 0)

See my comment above - support for DADT or even banning gays in the military by active military leaders cannot be "non-political" while active military leaders supporting eliminating the ban is nothing but "political".


by aggieric on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 10:13:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Rear Admiral (none / 0)

Of course they want a repeal.

+snicker+

Okay, okay, I'll be an adult.

Obama will totally repeal DADT, and quick, methinks: it's one of those things that requires no consensus.


The pebbles have voted and the avalanche has begun.

President-Elect "That One"

by Dracomicron on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 11:33:23 AM EST

Re: Rear Admiral (none / 0)

Actually, it requires somewhat of a consensus -- in 1992, that democrat with a capital R Sam Nunn was so taken aback by the thought that Clinton might issue an executive order allowing gay people to serve their country that he rammed a law through Congress.

So Obama can't just issue an order repealing it; it has to pass Congress, including enough votes to get by a filibuster in the Senate.

Of course, that was 1992; democrats today would never back-stab their president like that, even if the are the head of the Homeland Security committee...


by fsm on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 03:44:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yes, he can (none / 0)

Obama ran on repealing it, and it's just an executive order.  He can simply do it, and dare Congress to make a big deal of it.


The pebbles have voted and the avalanche has begun.

President-Elect "That One"

by Dracomicron on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 04:43:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Yes, he can (none / 0)

It is not just an executive order; DADT is a federal law. Federal Law 10 USC Sec. 654 01/06/97, in fact.


by fsm on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 05:42:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Hmm (none / 0)

I remembered that incorrectly, then.

The 90's were a haze of efficient government and social disappointments, both personal and national.


The pebbles have voted and the avalanche has begun.

President-Elect "That One"

by Dracomicron on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 05:59:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hmm (none / 0)

Yes, and then the military code of conduct would have to be changed, and disseminated throughout the service. What Obama can relate or any Commander can do is to just ignore to enforce the policy and let the men and women in uniform serve their country without being harassed. Gays have served in the US military since there was a US military. What our service members need is to be protected from religious harassment.


by Jeter on Wed Nov 19, 2008 at 03:01:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Admirals, Generals Call for Repeal (none / 0)


Well, not to be a downer, but don't forget that the names of the retired generals and admirals not on the list also matter, and speak by their apparently refusal to put their names to it.  Though that could have various semiinnocent reasons such as not wanting to put their names on the list when certain important ones are not on it, being actually neutral/undecided or unwilling to commit on the matter, etc.

Missing prominent ones I can think of off the top of my head are Colin Powell, Norm Schwarzkopf, and Wesley Clark, plus all the retired prominent commanders of the Iraq misadventure: Tommie Franks, Ricardo Sanchez, etc.

Maybe it is worth a small public campaign to flush them out into the open or get them to back off tacit support for continuing DADT and claim neutrality in public.


by killjoy on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 01:11:58 PM EST

Re: Admirals, Generals Call for Repeal (none / 0)

It is at least a beginning, when so many high raking officers, retired or not, come out and openly express their political opinions.


by MainStreet on Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 02:17:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]


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