Letters to the Editor: Alienating large swaths of Americans will only make our military weaker

To the editor: In my past, I served aboard a destroyer on the “front line” in the South China Sea. I have seen sailors of all genders and races climb under gas turbines, handle lines with small boats, fire machine guns, sit at consoles and push buttons or stand on the bridge and give orders. Did they all do equally well? Of course not. Every person is different and their varied skills, backgrounds and experiences made the ship, and Navy, stronger.

At a time when the military suffers a crisis of recruitment and retention, telling half the population and a significant portion of the remaining half they are not valued for who they are makes our military weaker and country less safe (“Trump and Hegseth declare an end to ‘politically correct’ leadership in the U.S. military,” Sept. 30).

Michael Smallberg, San Diego