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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > July > 04 > Entry
Editorial: Fehrenbach was right to confront Obama
Air Force Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, a Wayne High School graduate, was doing his duty when he confronted President Barack Obama on Monday about the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on gays.
Lt. Col. Fehrenbach, 39, was among 250 to 300 gays and lesbians who came to the White House on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion that helped launch the gay rights movement. In his two-minute discussion with the president, the highly decorated aviator said he emphasized that his comrades didn’t care about his sexual orientation, that they saw it as a “non-issue.”
The son of an Air Force lieutenant colonel, Lt. Col. Fehrenbach, who was born at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and once served there, has had a distinguished career, serving the country for 18 years as a navigator. After Sept. 11, he was handpicked to join a team charged with protecting Washington, D.C.’s air space.
Even so, commanders at his Idaho air base are trying to drive him out of the service for one foolish reason: a civilian acquaintance told them he is gay.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court chose not to hear a challenge to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in an appeal filed by former Army Capt. James E. Pietrangelo II, who was dismissed based on his sexual orientation.
In its decision, the court deferred to the executive branch, noting that the Obama administration has asked for a review of the policy. President Obama said he was against Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell during his campaign. The administration is still saying it plans a reconsideration.
Any change by this administration, though, will likely come too late to help Lt. Col. Fehrenbach, who could be dismissed by September.
Though the court declined to rule on the constitutionality of the policy in the Pietrangelo case, there are respectable arguments that discharging gay military personnel is unconstitutional. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell codifies overt discrimination. But, after all, the Constitution has a guarantee of equal protection under the law.
Another case working its way toward a Supreme Court appeal that opponents of the policy believe presents a better case for overturning it on constitutional grounds.
In that case, a San Francisco court ruled the Air Force must prove “troop readiness” and “unit cohesion” would be damaged (part of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’s rationale) unless a gay flight nurse is removed from duty.
The logic of that decision is seen as similar to the logic the Supreme Court used in striking down Texas sodomy laws as an invasion of privacy in 2003, according to a Washington Post story.
A court decision is not the best way to resolve this question. Better that elected officials take account of changing times and take responsibility.
Lt. Col. Fehrenbach can do his job every bit as effectively today as before his superiors discovered he was gay. But Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell forces the Air Force to waste time and money pushing good people like him out of the service.
Any way you look at it, the case for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is weak. And it’s getting weaker all the time, as fewer and fewer people care about anybody else’s sexual orientation.
Every time a quality individual like Lt. Col. Fehrenbach is chased away, the military is weaker.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment | Categories: Civil Rights, Editorials, Scott Elliott, Wright Patterson Air Force Base
Comments
By Jane
July 4, 2009 7:06 AM | Link to this
I totally agree! This stupid (in my opinion) don’t ask, don’t tell policy opens any individual service member up to the potential of blackmail. It is past time to get rid of the policy and get the public nose out of adult’s private lives!
By Bill
July 4, 2009 7:49 AM | Link to this
THe argument that our troops arn’t mature enough, or brave enough, to live alongside people of different orientation is absurd. (mostly). In wartime, the only thing that counts is weather the other person will stand shoulder to shoulder with you, and not run. Or are only civilians brave enough to live alongside gay people?
By Quentin Durrstein
July 4, 2009 11:27 AM | Link to this
Having served 11 years, I have no problems with gays but at the same time I can understand the rational for the rule. The military discriminates and HAS to even in cases where most don’t think it makes any sense to the outside. Also while in you are military PROPERTY so claiming rights really does not apply since you sign away a lot of them when you join. Freedom of speech is one example for those who do not know but people do not complain about that being ignored and it is higher on the list than this.
By Quentin Durrstein
July 4, 2009 11:28 AM | Link to this
Having served 11 years, I have no problems with gays but at the same time I can understand the rational for the rule. The military discriminates and HAS to even in cases where most don’t think it makes any sense to the outside. Also while in you are military PROPERTY so claiming rights really does not apply since you sign away a lot of them when you join. Freedom of speech is one example for those who do not know but people do not complain about that being ignored and it is higher on the list than this.
By Quentin Durrstein
July 4, 2009 11:28 AM | Link to this
Having served 11 years, I have no problems with gays but at the same time I can understand the rational for the rule. The military discriminates and HAS to even in cases where most don’t think it makes any sense to the outside. Also while in you are military PROPERTY so claiming rights really does not apply since you sign away a lot of them when you join. Freedom of speech is one example for those who do not know but people do not complain about that being ignored and it is higher on the list than this.
By ironmyke
July 4, 2009 8:42 PM | Link to this
I’m disappointed that the Obama administration isn’t providing more leadership in eliminating the practice of Don’t ask;don’t tell. Our military have a proud history of leading society in matters of equal opportunity for different social groups. Continuing this system unnecessarily traps the military into inefficiencies that society and business have already abandoned. Homophobia is obsolete. Move on.
By Dismayed
July 5, 2009 4:09 PM | Link to this
We are fighting two wars and we are kicking out trained, experienced military personnel. That’s insane! The military should not “ask” because it is irrelevant, and someone should have to “tell” because it’s nobody’s business.
By wiggles
July 15, 2009 11:50 AM | Link to this
Just a reminder of who she really is!!!!! SHE REALLY WAS A TRAITOR!! ; ; In Memory of my brother -in- law LT. C.Thomsen Wieland who spent 100 days at the Hanoi Hilton IF YOU NEVER FORWARDED ANYTHING IN YOUR LIFE FORWARD THIS SO THAT EVERYONE WILL KNOW!!!!!! She really is a traitor A TRAITOR IS ABOUT TO BE HONORED KEEP THIS MOVING ACROSS AMERICA This is for all the kids born in the 70’s who do not remember, and didn’t have to bear the burden that our fathers, mothers and older brothers and sisters had to bear. Jane Fonda is being honored as one of the ‘100 Women of the Century.’ BY BARBRA WALTERS Unfortunately, many have forgotten and still countless others have never known how Ms. Fonda betrayed not only the idea of our country, but specific men who served and sacrificed during Vietnam The first part of this is from an F-4E pilot. The pilot’s name is Jerry Driscoll, a River Rat. In 1968, the former Commandant of the USAF Survival School was a POW in Ho Lo Prison the ’ Hanoi Hilton.’ Dragged from a stinking cesspit of a cell, cleaned, fed , and dressed in clean PJ’s, he was ordered to describe for a visiting American ‘Peace Activist’ the ‘lenient and humane treatment’ he’d received. He spat at Ms. Fonda, was clubbed, and was dragged away. During the subsequent beating, he fell forward on to the camp Commandant ‘s feet, which sent that officer berserk. In 1978, the Air Force Colonel still suffered from double vision (which permanently ended his flying career) from the Commandant’s frenzied application of a wooden baton. From 1963-65, Col. Larry Carrigan was in the 47FW/DO (F-4E’s). He spent 6 years in the ‘Hanoi Hilton’, the first three of which his family only knew he was ‘missing in action’. His wife lived on faith that he was still alive. His group, too, got the cleaned-up, fed and clothed routine in preparation for a ‘peace delegation’ visit. They, however, had time and devised a plan to get word to the world that they were alive and still survived. Each man secreted a tiny piece of paper, with his Social Security Number on it, in the palm of his hand. When paraded before Ms. Fonda and a cameraman, she walked the line, shaking each man’s hand and asking little encouraging snippets like: ‘Aren’t you sorry you bombed babies?’ and ‘Are you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent captors?’ Believing this HAD to be an act, they each palmed her their sliver of paper. She took them all without missing a beat. At the end of the line and once the camera stopped rolling, to the shocked disbelief of the POWs, she turned to the officer in charge and handed him all the little pieces of paper. Three men died from the subsequent beatings. Colonel Carrigan was almost number four but he survived, which is the only reason we know of her actions that day. I was a civilian economic development advisor in Vietnam , and was captured by the North Vietnamese communists in South Vietnam in 1968, and held prisoner for over 5 years. I spent 27 months in solitary confinement; one year in a cage in Cambodia ; and one year in a ‘black box’ in Hanoi My North Vietnamese captors deliberately poisoned and murdered a female missionary, a nurse in a leprosarium in Ban me Thuot, South Vietnam , whom I buried in the jungle near the Cambodian border. At one time, I weighed only about 90 lbs. (My normal weight is 170 lbs.) We were Jane Fonda’s ‘war criminals.’ When Jane Fonda was in Hanoi , I was asked by the camp communist political officer if I would be willing to meet with her. I said yes, for I wanted to tell her about the real treatment we POWs received… and how different it was from the treatment purported by the North Vietnamese, and parroted by her as ‘humane and lenient.’ Because of this, I spent three days on a rocky floor on my knees, with my arms outstretched with a large steel weights placed on my hands, and beaten with a bamboo cane. ; I had the opportunity to meet with Jane Fonda soon after I was released. I asked her if she would be willing to debate me on TV. She never did answer me. These first-hand experiences do not exemplify someone who should be honored as part of ‘100 Years of Great Women.’ Lest we forget…’ 100 Years of Great Women’ should never include a traitor whose hands are covered with the blood of so many patriots. There are few things I have strong visceral reactions to, but Hanoi Jane’s participation in blatant treason, is one of them. Please take the time to forward to as many people as you possibly can. It will eventually end up on her computer and she needs to know that we will never forget. RONALD D. SAMPSON, CMSgt, USAF 716 Maintenance Squadron, Chief of Maintenance DSN: 875-6431 COMM: 883-6343 PLEASE HELP BY SENDING THIS TO EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK. IF ENOUGH PEOPLE SEE THIS MAYBE HER STATUS WILL CHANGE
By ColonelDan
March 4, 2010 10:36 AM | Link to this
The truth is often bad enough, w/o making stuff up…. This is NOT TRUE This is an hoax… old news… this already happened, back in 1999.. and much of it is NOT true… She was a traitor… the truth is bad enough without all the falsehoods see this web site.. pownetwork.org/fonda/fonda_index.htm… truthorfiction.com/rumors/h/hanoijane.htm In 1999, Jane Fonda was profiled in ABC’s A Celebration: 100 Years of Great Women: True snopes.com/military/fonda.asp