About those 1,150 Retired Generals Opposed to DADT Repeal

by: Richard Allen Smith

Thu Feb 04, 2010 at 15:24:13 PM EST

I think it's important to point out that the credibility of that petition has already been essentially destroyed by my predecessor:

decided I'd do some critical analysis of the list of those who'd signed the letter.  I wanted to know who these military leaders were.  But because the list is so huge, I knew I couldn't quickly compile information on each officer.  So I decided to look at the first--and most senior--group of signers: The 47 four-star generals and admirals on the list.

What I found wasn't surprising at all.  If the 47 senior officers on the list are representative of the other thousand, then the letter has been signed by exactly what I suspected: A large group of distinguished, older, retired military officers who entered the service between World War Two and Vietnam--and who largely left the service prior to the 21st century and the modern military era.  

As it turns out, no four-star officer on the list entered the military after 1969--over three decades before I led my own infantry platoon into combat in Afghanistan as a young lieutenant.  In fact, all but four of the officers were in the service before Vietnam even started.  Eight of the 47 joined the military during World War Two--at the same time as my grandparents.  And the remaining 35 joined between the end of WWII and the beginning of Vietnam--in an era not known for its receptiveness to homosexuality, especially in the military.

But, more important than the fact that these officers entered the service over 40 years ago--in the middle of the 20th century--is the reality that the vast majority never served with troops of the modern era.  Fully two-thirds of the four-stars on the list retired before the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law was even enacted in 1993.  41 of the 47 on the list never wore a uniform during this century, and only four of the 47 retired four-star generals--Magnus included--were still in the service on 9/11.  

The fact is, while they've certainly earned the right to express their opinions, this group of older, retired officers is largely out of touch with current cultural norms and what constitutes "mainstream" in 2009--and they certainly don't speak for those who've served overseas in the years since 9/11.  While many are combat heroes themselves, their experiences range from Korea to Desert Storm.  But not one of the 47 four-stars on that list has ever served in Iraq or Afghanistan with today's military, much less had to depend on one of the 58 gay Arabic translators fired in 2007 alone.  These officers were brought up in a draft military at a time when open homosexuality was typically viewed as deviant--unlike today, when 81 percent of Americans think gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military.

Another important point is that we ultimately learned that one of the General Officers on the list, General (Ret.) Louis C. Menetrey,  was actually deceased at the time he "signed" the petition, and had been incapacitated with Alzheimer's since 2003.  His widow used a power of attorney to attach his name to the petition.

Keep all this in mind whenever you hear the talking point that "1,150 flag officers oppose a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".