Lifting Ban on Gays in Military
I don’t claim to be an expert on homosexuals in the military, but when I was an executive officer on a ship in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War, at least 10% of my crew were gay and everyone knew it. They slept in the same berthing compartments and showered in the same showers as everyone else. I never heard one complaint about sexual misconduct. At first I wanted to drum those guys off my ship, but then I realized that we wouldn’t get anybody to replace them and we needed everybody we could get. Some of them turned out to be outstanding sailors and our unit was cited by the President.
It’s time for the military brass to realize that the average sailor is not a homophobic bigot.
SAMUEL G. PLATTS
Sylmar
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