This is the story of American heroes; the story of men and women of valor, brave enough to offer up their lives for the national defense of this country.
Lieutenant Colonel Victor Fehrenbach is a 19-year war
Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, a decorated Air Force veteran, is due to be discharged as a result of the DADT policy.
veteran, having served tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, he has deployed six times as a weapons system officer, and flown missions as a decorated Air Force flight officer over Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Captain Jonathan J. Hopkins is a 9-year Army veteran, who, at the time of the 9/11 attacks, was a brand-new graduate from Westpoint, graduating 4th from a class of 933. Recipient of the Fort Knox award, Hopkins quickly climbed the ranks to become a Captain where he served 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and earned 3 bronze-stars, one of which with valor.
Defenders of the United States Constitution, service-members in our nation’s military forces, veterans, American heroes. But these two brave men share something more. Regardless of their committment to the defense and security of this country, these men have been faced with discrimination by the very same people for whom they would lay their very own lives down. Captain Hopkins was officially discharged on Tuesday, August 10, 2010, as Lieutenant Colonel Fehrenbach anxiously awaits his fate with the military.
These veterans have been faced with the threat of longer being able to serve a country that they love. It has nothing to do with faulty military careers, evident through their track records, it’s a matter of their being. These decorated war veterans are being discharged for the simple fact that they’re gay.
Homosexuals have long been prohibited from serving in the military, but the severity of consequences has changed dramatically of the course of the 20th Century.
The amount of service-members that have been discharged as a result of DADT from 1994-2009.
It wasn’t until 17 years ago, after President Bill Clinton took office, that the current law was enacted as a compromise. The issue of homosexuals in the military is explicitly outlined in Section 10 of the United States Code, § 654, which is commonly referred to as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT).
But the debate over the ethics of this clause has risen to new heights this year as President Obama made a promise to repeal this discriminatory policy. Yet the promise seems to be falling short – or at least, to slowly.
Service-members, such as Lt. Col. Fehrenbach, have been forced to take matters into their own hands by hiring legal teams and filing lawsuits so that they may continue to serve in their positions. Rachel Maddow did a terrific exposé on her MSNBC show last night, Wednesday, August 11, where she featured interviews from both the aforementioned service-men as well as a current Westpoint cadet who recently submitted her resignation.
And yet the most upsetting part of this mess isn’t just simply the fact that this bigotry is allowed to persist, but that it exists in a day and age of progression, and it exists in a day and age of patriotism; and all the while it exists, these men and women in uniform continue to love this country, its constitution, and its people – some of America’s finest heroes.
For a veteran is a veteran, no matter their orientation.
When a war is won, do we question whether or not those who won it loved someone of their same sex? When a life is saved, do we appreciate it less because the savior loves someone of their same sex? And when a casket comes home, draped with a flag, do we mourn any less because the person inside loved someone of their same sex?
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