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Veterans (dis)Service Organizations

Before the stone-throwing begins, I am a veteran and a member of some of the veterans service organizations (VSO) officially chartered by Congress. I believe in the work many of these organizations do and I believe in supporting ALL of our servicemen and women and ALL of our veterans, regardless of their sexual orientation. Military life is hard and the only way to truly understand it and be able to talk about it properly is to live it (Hello Elaine Donnelly with no military service). For that reason, the VSOs play a valuable role in helping veterans and those about to become veterans (military members about to leave active duty). What I wanted to focus on today were two of these VSOs who, in the run-up to last week’s vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, released statements regarding the possible repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT).

While there may be other statements out there, the two I came across that bothered me were from American Veterans (AMVETS) and the American Legion. The AMVETS statement is here and the Legion’s statement is here. While I do support the full repeal of DADT, I also will respect anyone who comes out and can base their opposition to repeal on sound data and facts. Those who use misinformation, generalizations or fear to bolster their argument against repeal are insulting the men and women in uniform (now and in the past) by implying our military is incapable of enhancing the diversity within its ranks. With the most capable and professional military on this planet, virtually any task is achievable when they put their minds to it. Right now, they are doing just that – figuring out how to implement open service by gays in the military. It isn’t a done deal but, they are plotting the course ahead as directed by the Commander-in-Chief.

AMVETS says they are “[D]edicated to supporting veterans and active military.” The American Legion says they are “[C]ommitted to…continued devotion to our fellow servicemembers and veterans.” As a veteran who lived too many years under DADT, I called it a lot of things but never a symbol of my country’s ‘devotion’ to me and it sure didn’t support me in any way. As the Legion’s statement said, they consider DADT as having served the military well for the last 17 years. With the millions of dollars wasted in recruitment and training and the 12,000+ lives damaged along the way, I am at a loss to describe how that benefited our military, or how its veterans are better off because of it. While the AMVETS statement was slightly less vitriolic, it still fell into the same category as the Legion’s statement. AMVETS, like many others, claimed Congress was ignoring the Pentagon’s ongoing study on this issue. For those that didn’t read the amendment regarding repeal of DADT, I refer you to the statement by Sen. Byrd, who supported the amendment after adding a 60-day Congressional review period. He said, “I did not want to blindly assent to repealing this law without giving the Congress an opportunity to re-examine the concerns of our Armed Forces and the manner in which they are being addressed.”

Aside from the blatant government-ordered discrimination generated by DADT, the law implicitly requires gay, lesbian and bisexual military members to lie to themselves and their co-workers, something that goes against the core values of all 5 of the Armed Forces. Claiming that DADT is something good for our country makes no sense at all. If these VSOs don’t want gays in the military, which means they are only willing to support the straight veterans, I wish they would definitively say so. If AMVETS and the Legion truly support the DoD study, then they shouldn’t make misleading statements based on the fear-mongering that is rampant among the homophobic groups in this country. I would hope no veterans service organization would send polarizing messages that espouse intolerance in any fashion.

While a response from them would be nice, much more valuable than any email response to me would be a change in their behavior to the LGBT veterans who wore the same uniform as them. Happy Memorial Day to ALL!