13,500. In the scheme of cities, and the world, that number doesn’t seem like that much. But in the scheme of the army, 13,500 troops is a force to be reckoned with.
13,500 troops constitute nearly a whole division of soldiers. 13,500 is two to three regiments, taking on combat missions. It’s nearly 13 battalions ready for service. It’s 67 companies fighting side by side. It’s 337 platoons taking on critical missions. It’s 1350 squads of soldiers watching out for each other. It’s 3375 fireteams rushing into battle to protect each other.
In reality, 13,500 is a lot. And when I think about the 13,500 soldiers who have been discharged from the military because they are gay Americans, it makes me think that our leaders must not actually care about this country’s national defense. In a time where we are fighting war on two fronts, is it really a good time to be discharging 800 mission critical troops (which, by the way, would constitute one battalion, four companies, 20 platoons, 80 squads and 200 fireteams)?
While our troops are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, is it really a good time to be dismissing troops who have training in Arabic and Farsi? And if a soldier is willing to lay down his or her life for their country, shouldn’t that be enough to prove commitment and patriotism? Straightness is no litmus test for courage, valor, honor or heroism…just ask Mark Bingham of Flight 93.
No one should have to lie about his or her identity in order to fight for and protect the freedoms of others. If there was ever one group that deserved to be honored and respected, isn’t it our troops?
For these reasons, CRANE is marching on Myrick. You can not preach national security with one side of your mouth and then uphold a policy that hurts military readiness with the other. You don’t get to “own” issues of national security and defense while simultaneously going against the recommendations of top military officials who are serving now.
Please help us reach our goal of collecting 13,500 toy soldiers- one for every soldier willing to fight and die for this country but wasn’t considered “fit” due to their sexual orientation. It’s time to stop government sponsored discrimination.
Simple equality
If, perhaps, a similar photo had been made and the fiancee’s name changed to a male name, this hard working soldier would be receiving a discharge.
All we ask for is simple equality. We ask that LGBT servicemembers be given the freedom for which they’ve sacrificed a safe life at home, their families and friends, and for which they continually place their lives in harm’s way. What better way is their to honor these LGBT American patriots than treating them with dignity and respect, just as their heterosexual colleagues are?