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Veteran Urges Virginia Senators to Lift the Ban: Now It’s Your Turn

In today’s online edition of The Roanoke Times (“DADT Hurts Military Readiness”) Army Col. Andy Leonard (Ret.) calls on Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) to vote for repeal after members of Congress return to Washington, D.C., Sept. 13.

You can make your voice heard loud and clear to both your senators too. Submit a letter to the editor, schedule an in-state meeting for next week, or make phone calls today. The clock is ticking for repeal!

Read the full text of the letter by clicking here or reading below:

DADT Hurts Military Readiness
The Roanoke Times
September 2, 2010
E.A. Leonard

Leonard, a retired colonel for the U.S. Army, lives in Lexington.

Our Virginia senators, Jim Webb and Mark Warner, will have a historic opportunity as early as this month to vote away the insanity we know as the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law and policy. I hope they take it.

In one week alone, we recently were witness to three high-profile examples of why DADT reduces our military readiness and ruins productive careers for no reasons rationally related to qualifications or performance on the job.

First, Army Capt. Jonathan Hopkins was involuntarily discharged under DADT. He was ranked No. 4 overall out of the 933 graduates of his West Point class in 2001 and later endured three difficult tours in Iraq and Afghanistan where he earned three Bronze Stars, one for valor.

Second, Cadet Katherine Miller resigned from West Point and is transferring to Yale. She was ranked No. 9 overall in her class of more than 1,100 cadets. She wrote that in "attempting to adhere to [the DADT policy] and retain my integrity, I am retrospectively convinced that I am unable to live up to the Army Values as long as the [DADT] policy remains in place."

Finally, Air Force Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach filed a last-ditch federal lawsuit to block his imminent discharge after almost 19 years as a fighter pilot. Suffice it to say of Fehrenbach that, in addition to his having earned nine air medals during 88 combat missions in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq, he was personally chosen to defend the skies over Washington after 9/11.

After spending multimillions of dollars to educate and train these outstanding people, why are we now firing them or forcing them into resigning? I know that I am repeating myself, but the insanity of DADT must be ended, and Webb and Warner have the votes to help make this happen now.

09-02-10 By Elizabeth Shirey, Grassroots/Policy Advocate |