In Defense of Enlistees

As the wife of a Marine Corps corporal, Janet Thompson’s letter (May 19), made me very angry. She is not only bashing Sen. Nunn for what I think is the right approach to this issue, but she also unfairly stereotypes the enlisted man.

She stated that “our hired guns” are paid to take orders and they need to “remember their place, which is the barracks, not a Senate committee hearing.” She seems to be advocating the rights of gays, yet not giving military personnel any of the rights which we are all entitled to.

What really bothered me the most was that these men and women are the people who endanger their lives protecting us and our country, and the freedom that comes along with it. If (they) don’t belong at a Senate committee hearing about their own working conditions, then who does? Definitely not Janet Thompson, because without these “meathead enlistees” she, nor anyone else, would not have the freedom to speak, or write, his/her own opinions.

SHANNON BENNET

Irvine