With all the political drama surrounding Don't Ask, Don't Tell, like debate over why John McCain's being such a stick in the mud, or whether Scott Brown will actually vote for repeal, it's easy to forget about the soldiers' various takes, some of which can be quite touching.
For instance, today's edition of The Navy Times includes a letter from a soldier who supports repeal and objects to a colleague's insistence that DADT remain in place.
Writes MA2 Clinton Miller, based in Guam, in his patriotic and earnest missive:
[Gay service members] are people, people who choose like all other members of our military to put their country before themselves. You say they knew what they were asking for when they enlisted or got commissioned: How would you feel if the military said that you could not date, get married or have children because your decision to perform your military service outweighs having any kind of a personal life? That's what the military is telling our homosexual comrades right now.
I call them “comrades” because that is what they are — whether gay, straight or bisexual. They have chosen to better themselves through their service, and we are denying them their basic rights because of whom they choose to love. Who cares, and what does it matter?
Sure, Miller's use of "choose to love" may not be the most up-to-date, but, as we've heard so many times, it's the thought that counts. With the soldiers being broken down into statistics and poll numbers, it's refreshing to hear what the men and the women on the ground have to say on the matter. And, in this case, Miller's speaking from the heart, something often lost in the brutish realities of both war and politics.