By WIILIAM J. KELLY
Mothers and fathers! Do you really want your military daughters subject to being shot and killed, receiving life-term injuries, brain damage, loss of limbs, pregnancy or possible forcible rape if captured by an enemy that has no respect at all for women?
This is exactly what is going to happen when women our placed on the front line of combat, especially if in the infantry. Mothers and fathers do you really want that for your daughters?
Read this from the Wall Street Journal by a former Marine, Ryan Smith: “During the invasion of Baghdad, I spent days at a time huddled with twenty-five fellow Marines in an assault vehicle built for fifteen. We urinated in bottles, defecated inches from each others faces, and were so caked in filth and dried blood that they “lined us up naked and washed us off with pressure washers.”
Trust me. No soldier wants women witnessing, and taking part in, all that. War is hell! Mothers and fathers, do you really want that for your daughters?
Here is what happens. Fifty-six percent of the women in mixed units became pregnant prior to being sent to a combat zone in Operation Desert Storm. I read about a woman who claimed post traumatic stress disorder because her job was to clean airplanes of blood and flesh from combat mission injuries.
Nurses are also claiming PTSD after combat nursing service, an indication that what they see is far beyond their normal nursing expectations. Mothers and fathers do you really want that for your daughters?
I know, politicians, non combatants and other women’s rights leaders ignore the affects that women in infantry combat might have on male soldiers. Will all the requirements, skills and physical fitness be the same for women as for men? The defense secretary says they will be the same but what happens when the plan is put in place and the reality of life sets in? There is a physical difference! What about intimate attachments that may occur in the field? How will that disturb the effectiveness of a combat unit? Mothers and fathers, do you really want this for your daughters?
Many writers, politicians and even some military officers in the Pentagon say we old soldiers should stop objecting to women being in actual combat. They don’t seem to understand that we have nothing against the abilities of women in a free society to be in military service. We just do not believe they belong in actual combat. I know they are patriotic, but why in the world would young women beg to be put in a position where all the things mentioned above could happen to them? All military branches are plagued with male-female relationship problems in non-combatant roles. What will happen under the stress of combat is any one’s guess. We have had about 100 women killed and about 800 wounded in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Elaine Donnelly wrote in National Review that “civil affairs, even in a combat zone, does not fit the definition of direct ground combat: deliberate offensive action, attacking the enemy under fire.”
Furthermore “matters of privacy and matters related to sex, including harassment/fraternization and pregnancy, directly affect morale, discipline, deplorability and readiness.”
She also says “women on average do not have the physical capability to lift a fully loaded male soldier who has been wounded under fire, even average size men don’t have that capability.” No one should have to die because women do not.
From what I read in the paper the majority of the general population favor putting women in combat.
President Obama’s nominee to head the Department of Defense said, “I will work with the service chiefs as we officially open combat positions to women, a decision I strongly support.”
Mothers and fathers, as you can see it is now a given that your military daughters will be trained for real combat operations. More young women killed and wounded is what you can expect from our present leaders while they sit back, safe and sound in luxury, in Washington, D.C.
I was a volunteer in World War II so I honor all volunteer soldiers, both male and female, who volunteer to serve and protect our great country. I’m just one of the old soldiers who do not agree that women belong in real combat.
Mothers and fathers, what do you think about this?
William J. Kelly is a Weatherford resident and frequent contributor to Viewpoints.
Officials: Truck Hit Bridge Before Collapse
Sheriff: No Sign Killing of 2 Kids Was Planned
Obama Defends Drone Strikes, With Limits
Raw: Jurors Deadlock on Jodi Arias Penalty
Boy Scouts Decision "First Step" Say Activists
Raw: Utah Teen Arrested in Death of His Brothers
Closer Look at Okla. School Where Children Died
Two Suspects in Murder Known to London Police
Boy Scouts Mom Supports Gay Inclusiveness
"Be Ready": NOAA Warns of Busy Hurricane Season
SeaWorld: Penguins Are Coolest Thing in Florida
Obama Renews Call to Close Gitmo
Obama Offers Drone Strike Defense
Raw: Heckler Interrupts Obama on Guantanamo
A Slice of Apple History Up for Grabs
