This letter is written in response to portions of Ashley Herzog's column The Other Side
which appeared in the April 9 edition of The Post.
Ms. Herzog, if you're afraid of being drafted, you could have just said so. Since you chose to frame part of your debate in terms of military service and service in public safety occupations, such as police and fire departments, I will take the bait.
I don't know if you have ever served in the military. For this I will give you the benefit of being ignorant and say that among servicemen and women, your attitude toward women in uniform is reprehensible. As a Navy veteran, some of the finest enlisted personnel and officers that I have ever had the honor of knowing and serving with have been women. My supervisor at my last command was a single mother and served proudly and honorably. When she became pregnant, a combat-capable unit was saddened and diminished by the loss of such a competent sailor.
Women from all four main branches of the U. S. armed forces are currently serving on the ground in many of the world's hostile places in a combat-support capacity. It should be noted, however, that the only non-combat billets in Iraq are currently in Germany. Women are getting shot at, but they are shooting back. Women are being taken prisoner by the enemy, but they are adhering to the Code of Conduct and maintaining their honor. Would you condemn us for sending a mother into combat? If so, you share the same brand of brutal dogma as fundamentalist Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. We should treat the women already serving in harm's way and in combat situations with the honor and respect that they have earned.
The 1982 New York Fire Department review that you cited was, wait for it ' written in 1982! In true Ann Coulter-style you've managed to dig up a dated, obscure and irrelevant reference to support a warrant disproven by this single fact: I have seen a 5-foot-3, 115-pound female Navy Damage Controlman (firefighter) lift and carry a 205-pound Navy chief up 30-inch-wide stairs a distance of three decks to safety while wearing full firefighting gear, including an SCBA pack. I have also seen a female (of equally petite stature) disarm, disable and detain hostile personnel in a force protection environment.
If you have indeed not served in the U. S. military or in a fire or police environment, I would suggest that you consider the fact that brave and honorable women have served to provide the solid rock of freedom from under which you choose to write your column. If you are a veteran of our fine military, then I would submit that you have forgotten the one core value that is common to all services: honor.
If you're afraid of being drafted, I would like to extend to you an invitation to walk to the recruiter's office at the end of Court Street and sign up for a term (I would be more than happy to accompany you in the event that you should get lost). On the off-chance that this option is unappealing to you, I would like to let you know that Canada is just on The Other Side of Lake Erie.
Jeremy Theobald is a freshman political science major. 17
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