European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 29, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page id the stars and stripes columns readers express views on Gays women papa Joe clean your glasses again. You May con done homosexuality in the military bul you have of fended the Many women in the military service today. Speaking of your lost Man hours have you Ever though thai perhaps your unit has leadership prob lems never in my 4 w years in the service have i seen a woman take an absence because of menstrual lion. If the problem is that bad she belongs in the Hospital. As for pregnancy four weeks is the convalescent time authorized not four months. And Don t you realize those single parents Don t create a Miracle there is another Parent and i bet that it s another i who is fully capable of taking hit baby to the doctor. Although i am not in a combat Field i am ready and willing to defend my country and allies if that situation arises. 1 also witness every Day women and men doing outstanding jobs and women and men performing below military standards. So clean and clean those glasses again for you see. You re going to gel substandard performance by men. Women and Gays. Staff sol. Jane mess Moit bit Birg we a Germany after Reading inc letter regarding an analogy of Gays and women in the service i became infuriated. I am a single Parent and a proud member of inc . Air Force. I have never heard of this period of absence Nec Essary to life that women must have each month. If there it such a thing my supervisor own me a lot of Lime off vet in is True we menstruate each month bul we re not talking about some debilitating disease Hal incapacitated us for a few Days each month. I have had iwo children while in. The service and i cd plainly did t need or get months off to have them. 1 went to about 10 Naif hour appointments for each pregnancy and half of those were during my olt duty time. I worked until delivery both times and never received any time off from my supervisors jus because i was pregnant. 1 was Given 2s Days convalescent leave after each delivery and Don t feel this was an excessive amount of Lime Oft. I have been in the service for 14 years and have seen As Many fathers Lake time off from duty to lend to their children s needs As mothers. Tech. Sgt. Regina it that ram Stcin a West Germany you claim to be open minded enough to accept Gays in the military but Why Don t you accept women i never got a Day off in seven years Active duly no Mailer How Lousy i fell. Did you know Hal through advances in society and technology women can Actu ally walk talk and swim during that time of the month of and about gelling pregnant who says All women in the military arc single most have a Hus band before they choose to have children. Mosi Hus bands also help o care for the unauthorized baby too. Just whose permission does a woman need to have a child anyhow everywhere 1 worked in he military men got Lime off to take their wives to the doctor shopping Etc. How Many Man hours were lost then what about the Man hours lost by the number of men put in correctional custody compared to women of but i suppose that s of since boys will be  Carol a Williams Raf upper Heyford England. I think that you Are wrong comparing homosexuals to women. I was a heavy aircraft Mechanic in inc air Force. 1 drove a 20-Ion Crane plus doing the regular maintenance of the jets i did my Job just As Well As if not Belier than some of the men Wilh whom i worked. Now let s talk about the single Parent. I am sorry to inform you Lay Are not All females there Are a lot of male parents raising their children. For inc final Issue or should i say the All important duties combat arms. We were the ones help ing to heal the wounded and helping with morale we were not Hie ones who fled id Canada to get away from the War. Who was it that said a women cannot fight in a War a Man. Have you Ever thought of asking a women if she would take a gun and fight for her country Weil i would in a minute. Karen Jackson Ramstein Wisl Germany even though you could Noi bring yourself to say it directly your letter implies that Gays Are preferable to women in the military. While you May have mad sure that your glasses were squeaky clean you neglected to have your prescription updated Over the past 20 years As far As time olt for pregnancy goes unless a woman has a severe medical problem on top of preg Nancy the Only Lime off she gets is 30 Days after the delivery of her child. Never mind that the is consid ered to need a minimum of its weeks for her body to recover she is sent Back to work in to Days one month. If this happens to be when a Field problem is scheduled it is just too bad. She will be out there slinging tents stoves and any other heavy equipment around with the rest of them. If she ii off any longer than thai it is because she look her own personal leave. St a. William of Traberg we it Nanny let me clarify thai i am Neutral whether or not the army s ban is unconstitutional. However then Are several Issue that i d like to comment on. First Gays do menstruate. At least half of Hie homosexual population is female and females do menstruate unless a physical problem exists. Secondly Gay get pregnant and have babies Many 1 might third there Are almost As Many male single parents As female. Fourth what makes a child unauthorized maybe you meant unwed instead of sin  if so. Unwed parenthood h a Choice and a moral Issue not a military one. Many single parents Are divorced or widowed. Name withheld  West Germany this writer claims he is in favor of Gays serving in the military but it soon becomes apparent that his True Gripe is with women in the military. He drifts away from his main Point on Gays to discriminate against women by first referring to them As gals who should not be Given guns. Gals of the military do fit in by providing Many needed services. Perhaps this writer Wilt Lake a better took at he level of Worth women have or at least think twice about condemning them again. Mrs Kulp re astern West Germany. I hive been in the work Force for 10 years and not once have i missed a Day due to my monthly Cycle nor did it impede my performance at work. Although the monthly Cycle to uncomfortable and an  to the Best of my knowledge ii s Noi a debilitating disease i admit women take Lime off to Jive birth bul More and More men arc taking time off to spend Wilh their Newborn children. After All women Don t get pregnant by themselves do they what about All the lost Man hours due to sports Between practice preliminary Garnet and tournaments a lot of hours arc wasted. A Man takes up to three week at a Lime to participate in sports. Are we to believe that these athletes Are going to drop kick an my missile what about inc men on sick leave collecting pay due to injuries obtained while playing sports Cassandra Carl Inch lit Turkey i have no objections to Gays choosing any career they wish. As Jong As people Don t iry � mix their night life and Day life together which heterosexuals should not do either then whal ii the problem Back to the subject Al hand. Does this letter writer feel thai his children would be authorized be cause he s a male and if he does have children does t he realize it would not be possible if his wife did t menstruate Jano minor Hahn a West Germany the prohibition of homosexuals in the armed forces is not an ethical dilemma As much As it is a contractual agreement you were sworn in and signed a document thai specifically stated i am not a  when i read editorials i can find one or two valid Points even if i Don t completely agree Wilh the entire article. In this Case i look exception to everything this writer said. His reasoning was a thinly disguised excuse to Insull his fellow soldiers. Up. Pamela a calumny War big we Germany. First off Gay men and women have been in the military much longer than you be been around. Gays have worked alongside heterosexuals with no problem. What makes you think ruling a bait unconstitutional will change that. Every Gay 1 know is normally the Best in his Section or squad Best performance Best in appear Ance and cares the most on and off duty. Try to talk to most heterosexual gis about a family problem or Girlfriend or Boyfriend problem and they re too Busy guzzling their Deer to listen to you. La t most Likely not Hal Way Wilh a Gay. He or she will attentively listen and give input if you ask. Sexual harassment charges would still been forced whether in be male or female who commits theact.,. Name and locution withheld first let t Lake the Gay Issue. Are you saying thai All Good Cooks and clerks As Well As the Best dressed men in our armed services Are Gay sounds pretty shaky to me. I la Bel there Are some homosexuals in just about every Branch and i la even Bel thai a few of them Are Home dressers and Cooks. I can Only say this about homosexuals in the army Ai far As i m concerned if they do their Job and pull their share of the Load i could not care less what their sexual prefer ence is. But let s be honest i m not writing because of what you think of homosexuals instead because of How you referred to in  i prefer to be called a sol Dier mostly because i am. 1 think i speak for most females when i say i still go to the Field pull duly and i m still required to Soldier no matter what Lime of the month ii is. Most importantly let s talk about combat and service. Twice a year 1 qualify with my  j dare Noi Call in gun because you said women Don t gel them i do my Best like most soldiers when i qualify Noi because i m female but because the same nation that does t allow females in combat stationed me about is Kilometres from East Ger Many. I find in hard to believe As i m sure the older 100 or so females in my unit do. Thai we will never see combat should there be an muck. The whole Bottom line is that homosexuals Proba Bly should Noi be penalized for their Choice of sexual partners. What that has got to do Wilh females 1 Don t know. Sgt Kelly Brig i wild Neckin West Germany i agree Wilh most of his Teller and do not have anything against homosexuals in the army. Bul he got a Little no a lot off Irasek when he sinned com paring female soldiers Wilh Gay soldiers. What the Heck is an unauthorized baby in this a child that was not issued by the local if so whal if a single Soldier has a child where is the father Hal helped make the baby. My last Point is about combat soldiers. If i had a Choice which i Don to i would surely be on the front line helping my countrymen and the .a. Don t go making in Issue out of something that is trying to be remedied and definitely Don l put the blame on females who had nothing to do with the making of this Rule. Sure i m a female Fay virtue of my sex which was determined at Conception bul i am an american Soldier. Spec. 4 Kathleen a. Stockam Heidelberg. Let s get to the real meal of the matter. The Only reason women Don t have inc All important duly combat arms is because men have set up the services so that we Aren t supposed to have it and yet delphic that there Are women who Bave fought and died alongside men. There were nurses in Vietnam who died As a mull of bombs and Aerial attacks while they were working id save those who were injured in combat 1 have a female Friend who has a combat medal for delivering supplies in the Grenada invasion and yes she was being shot Al. I have another female Friend who served five months in Honduras and you can Bel the carried a gun far which she was trained and ready to Shoal. Female pilots have died testing and flying aircraft just As men have. Women Are no less willing to serve their country in whatever capacity assigned be it combat or otherwise than men arc. 1st it d. Jill Brown Raf Alconbury England. I have yet 10 meet a woman who goes through a period of absence from work monthly during her menstrual Cycle menstrual Ion is not a sickness. Igno Rance is. A Retina Goodwin Angela Flachm Berlin the following people agreed with most of the above letters Susan Mae Cameroon Frankfurt and de Dusharm Garl Studl Wesl Germany