Our warships have very close quarters — some have bunk beds stacked four persons high, and the “beds” are nothing more than webbed hammocks, with just about a foot of clearance between bodies. Again, placing a gay man or woman in this situation is unfair to all.
While I can certainly feel some empathy toward the plight of Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, I know that during my Air Force career, many fine officers and NCOs left the Air Force involuntarily because they failed to meet Air Force standards, or, as in the case of Fehrenbach, blatantly chose to disobey them.
Contrary to some people’s perception, the U.S. military is not an “equal opportunity employer.” You cannot join or remain in the military if you are too tall, too short, too fat, too skinny or too dumb.
Comparing the current ban on homosexuals within the military with the integration of the Armed Forces is not just faulty logic; it is offensive to all of us who worked so hard for justice during the civil rights battles in the ’60s.
William West
Fairborn