The United States Military has a real life and death problem. They seem to be running out of soldiers. In their own words, they are undermanned. We with inquiring minds want to know: how could this be? How could those good ole boys in Washington, DC allow for this to happen?
So we do ask them this question, and we expect them to tell us the truth, the whole truth and the real truth and not just something made up so that this most important question goes unanswered.
Could part of the answer to this question be that the U.S. Military in its arrogance, in its self-righteousness, in its prejudice, and in its homophobia is willing to let go thousands of American soldiers because they were considered to be different by those good ole boys?
Under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, gays and lesbians were allowed to remain in the military. But guess what? Some of them did tell that they are gay and lesbian. Some of them refused to stay in the military closet. So when this happened, or when others were accused by some other military person of being "that way," Uncle Sam and the rest of his good ole boys had them removed from the military.
Thousands of gay and lesbian soldiers, some who were specialists and trained in specialized areas of the military, are now gone! Not only were these soldiers good soldiers, they like all others who enter the military, they were ready to fight and die for their country! But to the good ole boys who run this country, only straight people are good enough to fight for this country, take a bullet, and/or die.
While more can be said on the topic of dying and the many different ways that soldiers can and do die in war, I will leave that unsaid for now. That's because dying is not the point, living is, and especially living freely and being true to one's self, even if you are considered different! This cannot happen within the military until there is a true changing of the guard. Not until new people with a new mindset get into the positions in the military that those good ole boys are now in will there ever be a day when all people, no matter who or what they are, can serve and fight and yes die for their country. Until this happens, the U.S. Military will always be undermanned, understaffed, and not a true representative of all Americans.
I remember when Black people were told that they couldn't serve in the civil war, or the Second World War, and wars before both of those, just because they were "different"! But they ultimately did, if only because like in this so-called war on Iraq, the military was undermanned in those wars and finally decided that Blacks could die and take bullets and get blown apart just as good as any white man! Only after the war they could go back to being treated as second-class citizens! Sound familiar?
In Struggle
>From Death Row,
Kevin Cooper