Sarvis Says Thanks, Bids Farewell to DADT Repeal Champion Gates
Today, the SLDN family – staff, Board, and Military Advisory Council – pauses to thank and honor a remarkable American, our outgoing Defense Secretary, Robert Gates. What an extraordinary and unassuming man.
Melvin Laird was the first Secretary of Defense I saw somewhat up close as a very young Senate staffer during Vietnam and Cambodia oversight hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) in the early 1970s. Those were tough and sometimes contentious hearings, and it was clear many senators did not think that the Secretary was being entirely forthcoming.
By contrast, few, if any, on Capitol Hill ever accused Secretary Gates of not being candid and answering the tough questions. Mr. Gates was unusually honest, sometimes blunt, always loyal, and no one doubted his commitment to and concern for the men and women in uniform he led. For him, they were not abstractions, charts, or a body count – and it showed. Secretary Gates was humbled to be their leader, and although he was honored to serve several presidents, I think the greatest honor for him was to lead and represent our troops.
At SLDN, we were particularly proud when Secretary Gates testified before SASC in February 2010 to announce that he and Admiral Mullen had their marching orders on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) and were moving out. Without his support and his calling upon the Senate in December 2010 to vote to repeal DADT, I doubt that we would have gotten repeal through Congress.
I believe Mr. Gates is proud of the way the military is moving toward open service. I know we are proud of him. We want to share with you the Secretary’s simple and caring farewell message to the troops, which he issued today without fanfare or marching bands – all very typical of this modest man.
As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, The Pentagon, Wednesday, June 29, 2011
To the Men and Women of the United States Armed Forces: Tomorrow, 30 June 2011, I will retire as Secretary of Defense. It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve and to lead you for the past four and a half years. All of that time we have been engaged in two wars and countless other operations.
It has been a difficult time for you and for your families, from long and repeated deployments for those in all four services -- and the associated long separations from loved ones -- to the anguish of those of you who have lost friends and family in combat or those of you who have suffered visible and invisible wounds of war yourselves. But your dedication, courage and skill have kept America safe even while bringing the war in Iraq to a successful conclusion and, I believe, at last turning the tide in Afghanistan. Your countrymen owe you their freedom and their security. They sleep safely at night and pursue their dreams during the day because you stand the watch and protect them.
For four and a half years, I have signed the orders deploying you, all too often into harm's way. This has weighed on me every day. I have known about and felt your hardship, your difficulties, your sacrifice more than you can possibly imagine. I have felt personally responsible for each of you, and so I have tried to do all I could to provide whatever was needed so you could complete your missions successfully and come home safely -- and, if hurt, get the fastest and best care in the world.
You are the best that America has to offer. My admiration and affection for you is without limit, and I will think about you and your families and pray for you every day for the rest of my life. God bless you.
06-29-11 By Aubrey Sarvis, Army Veteran and SLDN Executive Director |
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