.
...was a good friend of mine in the Army. A bi EXTREMELY
effeminate crossdresser (the most butch thing he'd wear
in civilian clothes would be hot pants and a dress shirt
tied up at the midriff).
.
An excellent soldier and an excellent medic. Even the
ignant teabaggers (of their day) tolerated and even LIKED
Mitch (they gave him his nickname, which he loved and
wore with, well... with PRIDE).
.
Mitch was married to a Russian immigrant woman who was
back in the States. She wrote him and told him that she
could no longer handle their separation and wanted a
divorce.
.
Mitch freaked OUT. He went straight to our commanding
officer and told him that he was gay and wanted out. NOW!!!
.
Our CO (we LOVED this guy - field-commissioned in Viet
Nam and almost literally tough-as-nails but EXTREMELY
fair and judicious) told Mitch that it was obvious that he
was upset... and that if he came back in one week and
told him the same thing, he would help him to get out.
.
Well, of course, in the course of the week, Mitch and his
wife worked things out and everything was fine again.
.
The commander never said another word about it.
.
.
NOBODY CARED!!!!!
.
.
So when I hear that "allowing gays to remain the military
would be bad for 'morale'", I think/holler
"BULLSHIT" and
also (I strongly believe correctly) that the people espousing
that perspective are almost certainly lifelong chickenhawks
without a shred of military experience.
.
.