Duty, Honor, Country
- defendingladyliber
- May 26
- 5 min read
On Memorial Day, I pen this letter in honor of those willing to give the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedoms. Now, it is time for us to come to their defense.
“Duty, Honor, Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be.”
–General MacArthur
On June 6th, the Trump administration will turn his back on and abandon nearly 1,000 American soldiers on the political battlefield simply for being themselves and regardless of their performance. (1) These soldiers, like all military personnel, should be revered for their willingness to give everything including their lives in defense of our freedoms. But, how does Trump thank them for their selfless service? By stripping them of the very freedoms and liberties our nation stands for, casting them aside like worthless spent casing on a battlefield. In doing so, he disgraces their service and irreverently wipes the hatred from his boots on the immutable ideal of “Leave No Soldier Behind” like an old door mat to be ignored.
The military personnel will be involuntarily discharged based on President Trump’s executive order that effectively bans transgender people from the military. The executive order states:
“...A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member. For the sake of our Nation and the patriotic Americans who volunteer to serve it, military service must be reserved for those mentally and physically fit for duty. The Armed Forces must adhere to high mental and physical health standards to ensure our military can deploy, fight, and win, including in austere conditions and without the benefit of routine medical treatment or special provisions.”(2)
Trump’s actions seek to sever an unbreakable vow between our government and its people set forth by our founders:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”(3)
These are “unalienable rights”, meaning they can never be taken or given away. Yet, the Trump administration acts as if it has the authority to carve out these liberties from the soul of our nation with impunity. He cannot unless we allow him to do so.
Some may disagree, perhaps vehemently, with transgender identities. There is a key distinction between agreeing with someone having the right to freely exercise who they are and agreeing with how they choose to exercise that right. You do not have to agree with someone to defend their constitutional rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
The Trump administration is attempting to convince you that denying those who identify as transgender the right to serve in the military is in our nation’s best interest. They claim that it is impossible for a transgender person to serve honorably in the military and therefore should be forcibly discharged from the service. This argument is as thin as the paper it was written on. The fact that almost 1,000 transgender people have been serving honorably in the military directly disproves that claim. This is an old poison the government stirs in the minds of the public when it wants to discriminate against a group of people it feels is inferior and subhuman.
Our government used the same argument when trying to keep people of color out of the military.
A 1925 study by the Army War College, stated, “In the process of evolution the American negro has not progressed as far as the other sub-species of the human family. As a race he has not developed leadership qualities. His mental inferiority and the inherent weaknesses of his character are factors that must be considered with great care in the preparation of any plan for his employment in war…”(4)
They used the same argument when trying to keep women out of the military.
In 1942, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps was formed to allow women to serve in noncombat positions, although they were still prevented from serving as commissioned officers even though they were very capable to do so. The sentiment of the time was shared by Congressman Somers on the House floor in debate of the bill:
“Therefore I take this opportunity to express my definite and sincere opposition to what I consider the silliest piece of legislation that has ever come before my notice in the years that I have served here. A woman’s army to defend the United States of America. Think of the humiliation. What would become of the manhood of America, that we have to call on our women to do what has ever been the duty of men? The thing is so revolting to me, to my sense of Americanism, to my sense of decency that I just cannot discuss it in a vein that I think legislation should be discussed on the floor of this House.” (5)
Once again, they used the same argument when trying to keep gays and lesbians out of the military.
In 1982, the U.S. Department of Defense issued Directive 1332.14 banning homosexuals from serving in the military, stating that “Homosexuality is incompatible with military service. The presence in the military environment of persons who engage in homosexual conduct or who, by their statements, demonstrate a propensity to engage in homosexual conduct, seriously impairs the accomplishment of the military mission.” According to a GOA report, the military discharged approximately 1,500 military personnel per year between 1980 and 1990 simply because they were gay or lesbian, regardless of their job performance. (6)
What does each of these groups have in common with the current plight of transgender soldiers? Our government villainized and deprived them of their rights, all in plain view of Americans, most of whom sat by and allowed it to happen.
We would all like to think, myself included, that if we lived during each of those aforementioned times that we would have been part of the minority of Americans who pushed back against their government. The reality is more sobering. Likely, most of us would have been complicit.
Thankfully, we are not condemned to that fate. Our individual stories are still being written. As long as we breathe and are free, we can fight for the constitutional rights of our fellow citizens who are being oppressed by the tyranny of the Trump administration.
How can we show that we would have been brave enough to reject our government’s narrative that people of color were mentally and physically inferior?
By standing up to our government now and fighting for the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for those currently being unjustly oppressed.
How can we show that we would have been ones of those who fought against our government’s falsehoods that women were incapable to serve in leadership positions in the military?
By standing up to our government now and fighting for the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for those currently being unjustly oppressed.
How can we show that we would have had the moral courage to defend gays and lesbians against the lies from our government that they were unfit to honorably defend our country?
By standing up to our government now and fighting for the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for those currently being unjustly oppressed.
How can we ensure that 10 years from now we can reflect back and know that we were part of those who defended transgender people’s right to serve their country?
By standing up to our government now and fighting for the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for those currently being unjustly oppressed.
Duty. Honor. Country. These soldiers answered that call. It is now time for us to answer the call to come to their defense against our own despotic government.
