General Pace, Gays, And Women

by Mary Pitt
4/15/07

Poor ole General Pace is not getting the respect he deserves. He is opposed to having gays in the military because he feels it is "wrong and immoral" and demoralizing to the other troops who have to share facilities and sleeping quarters with them. It must be greatly disturbing to know that there are people in your fighting group who regard you as "a piece of meat", to be fantasized and slavered over. It would be hard to sleep at night for the fear that you would be attacked in your sleep and raped, or worse. You are there for one pupose, to "defend your country" by killing other guys and trying to stay alive until it is time to go home. Yet there you are, huddled in sleeping mats or army cots, thousands of miles from home, surrounded not only by "bad guys" who want to kill you for your skin color or nationality, but you have to constantly worry about your own comrades who may be just lying in wait for your one unguarded moment when they can pounce on you and defile your body.

The danger in the field is all-consuming. Your body is full of adrenalin, your mind on high alert with every step you take, knowing that a bullet with your name on it could collide with a vital body part in an instant as you are riding in a HUMV, looking in all directions at once, aware that, at any instant, an IED could blow you, your vehicles, and all your comrades to Kingdom Come. The night will be welcome, getting back to your compound for some chow, taking off your boots, and unwinding a bit, giving the mind and body some rest. But wait! Your mental warning system cannot turn off. You are still in danger. The latrine is some distance from your sleeping quarters, a long walk in the dark, and predators are lurking and watching you; not the enemy but your own comrades who are almost as big a danger. When did you have that last drink of water? Three o'clock? Four? Shouldn't have drunk anything that late in the day, might not be able to get rid of it before dark. But, God! it was so hot out there! Bad enough lying awake, listening for footsteps in the dark without having to do it with a full bladder!

No, my friends, I am not talking about male American soldiers, doing their duty for God and country, living in fear of an attack from a homosexual. This is the real life, right now, of a female American soldier serving in Iraq. Rapes, even murder, are a constant danger for them and they are painfully conscious of it at all times. Worse yet they know that, if it happens, they are on their own. Reporting an attack is useless. The military cannot be bothered with doing anything about it, not do they take any measures to prevent it. The men know there is no disciplinary action for such "minor" offenses and any attempt at "prevention" is entirely up to the woman. That is why they continue to do their assigned jobs in 110 degree heat, denying themselves liquids after the middle of the afternoon and, according to Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, some eighty women were reported to have died in their sleep from dehydration before the military stopped reporting them!

Of course, the answer to these problems may sound simple, since it consists of only one word: Discipline! At some time, officials have stopped indoctrinating young soldiers with the ethos of honor and respectability which used to be ingrained in the men and who were sent abroad to represent the finest priciples of our nation. The punishment for breaking these laws should be as swift and sure as it is for other "major" infractions of the military code. Further, there should be an end to officers who hear of sexual assaults and just don't give a damn. After all, they always opposed the idea of women in the military, anyway, and perhaps they feel a certain sense of satisfaction when women are punished for interfering in man's business. In the male chauvinism which permeates the services, women are only good for recreation and procreation and the standard response is that "she asked for it". This attitude may be responsible for the fact that the sexual assault hotlines lead only to answering machines!

And so, General Pace, you should not be worried about gay soldiers causing discomfort among your little soldier-boys. If regulations and enforcement were in place that would protect women from their comrades-in-arms. they would also serve to ensure the "safety" and peace of mind of the heteros who may think that the gay guy in the next bunk may be planning to assault his virginal little body. While we may acknowledge that "boys will be boys" these are not boys but men and should be expected to act like it. We have become a culture of "anything goes" and it is to our national detriment. Our military with its reputation for rape, murder, and torture is no longer viewed by foreigners as benign and kindly saviors or liberators but as something to be feared, in peace as well as in war.

And to think that this came about under an administration that was brought about with the support of the "religious right" who feel themselves to be the monitors of morality and the champions of our family values and the American Way! Gays are just peachy-keen in the White House or in Congress, but they should never be tolerated in the armed forces! Right on, Gen'ril!

Mary Pitt is a septuagenarian Kansas who longs for the "good old days" of freedom, decency, and personal respect but realizes that we can only get there by going forward.