Decorated Fromer Marine Speaks Out Against Don't Ask Don't Tell

Staff Sgt. Eric Alva -- the first Marine wounded in the Iraq war and who was visited by Pres. Bush, Rumsfeld, etc., was clearly a war hero. What they didn't know at the time was that he was gay.

Now he is speaking out in support of Rep. Marty Meehan's (D-MA) efforts to repeal the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy.

Supporters of DADT argue that allowing out gay and lesbian Americans to serve openly would disrupt unit cohesion. Staff Sgt. Alva puts the lie to that -- unlike recent pro-sport athletes who only come out after leaving their jobs -- Alva came out to "tons" of people. Quote of note, from what Alva told ABC News:

"I told tons of people," he said, with a laugh. "A lot of my friends, my buddies, my closest Marines, people I had served in combat with. Straight guys, married, with children and everything, three of them which I have become their sons' godfather now. Everybody was just respectful and was just like ordinary. 'That's it? That's your big news?'

So much for the unit cohesion theory. And -- backers of DADT never explain how forcing gay men and women to hide, lie and worry and constantly look over their shoulders to protect their forced secret gay life promotes unit cohesion. It takes an amazing amount of energy to stay hidden in the closet. Ask anyone who has done it. And look at some recent examples of men who have stayed in the closet for a prolonged period of time and the havoc it causes. Ted Haggard, Jim McGreevey...

The other argument for ending DADT is the military can hardly afford to lose these men and women, who are disproportionately serving in specialty positions in the military. For example:

Of 742 such dismissals in fiscal year 2005, the highest number than in any category — 49 — were medical personnel. An additional 40 were law enforcement officers, along with 14 intelligence officers, 35 infantrymen, and seven nuclear, biological and chemical warfare specialists.

This generally squares with the Government Accountability Office's 2004 study, which found that of the 9,488 service members who at that point had been discharged from the military for gay and lesbian conduct since 1993, approximately 757 — or 8 percent — "held critical occupations," meaning the kinds of jobs for which the Pentagon offers selective reenlistment bonuses.

That number included 322 with "skills in an important language such as Arabic, Farsi or Korean."

How much intelligence has been lost because we didn't have the translators necessary to make use of it? How many soldiers ended up needlessly in harms way because the military yanked a Farsi translator out of service because he or she loves someone of the same gender?

My final comment: If we're going to risk blood and treasure to promote freedom and democracy in distant lands, we better end un-democratic practices on our shores and extend fairness to the men and women who sacrifice to bring freedom to foreign lands and protect all of us here at home.

The final word goes to Staff Sgt. Alva. (via John)