Today President Barack Obama signs into law the repeal measure of the ban on allowing gays to serve openly in the military. In a historic vote on Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010, the Senate repealed the 17 year-old Clinton-era policy known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ by a count of 65 to 31. This is a momentous day for our country and our military: the beginning of the end of a blatantly discriminatory law that for years has forced honorable gay men and women to live a lie.
Earlier today, the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen announced the results of the Pentagon’s Comprehensive Working Group Review of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. The 10-month study led by US Army General Carter Ham and DOD General Counsel Jeh C. Johnson concluded that the repeal of the 1993 ban on gays serving openly in the military might have some short-term, isolated disruptions; but there would be no long term or negative impacts on the military.
So why does the media, particularly MSNBC, continue to ask Elaine Donnelly for her opinion on issues affecting the US Military?
When I was interviewing to be the executive director of a healthcare non-profit, the People’s Health Clinic (PHC), members of its board of directors questioned…
The US Army & Marine Corps continue to circumvent the ground combat exclusion policy. U.S. women are fighting on all fronts of the war on…
Veterans Day began in 1919 when President Woodrow Wilson designated November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day to remember the end of the “War to End All Wars” and honor those who have served our great Nation in uniform.
As we observe this Veterans Day, the tenth as a Nation at war, please support our service members. Support is an action verb. It means much more than putting a yellow sticker on your car. It means doing something—volunteering at the Veterans Administration hospital in your area, donating to the USO, VFW, IAVA, Wounded Warriors or one of the hundreds of organizations that focus on veterans. It means voting for candidates that actually write legislation that protect veterans’ benefits. It also encompasses learning about those who have served and our serving our Nation close to home and on foreign soil.
This is the 21st installment in the Honored Role Series.
Not one to rest idly, less than six months after retiring from the Army, Colonel Debra Lewis is taking action on another mission. This one, accompanied by Lt. Col. (ret.) Doug Adams, her spouse, is a 16,000-mile yearlong cycling tour of the United States to help educate and inspire Americans on how to truly help service members and military veterans. Set to deploy on October 8, 2010 with Doug cycling, Debra will be driving the couple’s 34-foot motor coach, Simba, as the “Duty, Honor, America” tour mission’s CEO—Chief Everything Officer.
