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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / LGBTQ Rights / Gay Rights are Human Rights / The Damage Done

The Damage Done

by | 73 Comments

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“The past isn’t dead — it isn’t even past.” And everything is interconnected:

It was 1968, and the war in Vietnam had escalated to a ferocious crest of destruction. As a Foreign Service officer embedded with the American military, I was part of a “nation-building” team that had been dispatched to survey the damage we had wrought and recommend ways to “win back the hearts and minds” of the farmers whose village we had just obliterated…
__
According to my performance reports and commendations, I had served with valor and diligence, “beyond the call of duty.” I had worked for nearly a year in a rubber plantation area sprayed with the toxic defoliant Agent Orange. As I headed down the polished corridor to the State Department’s personnel office, I assumed I would be congratulated on my outstanding service, promoted and offered another challenging assignment.
__
The interview lasted less than a minute, during which time I was sacked, not lauded. The woman behind the desk informed me that my service had been terminated. Shocked, I asked why I had been fired. Without establishing eye contact, she mumbled, “I don’t know the reason,” and motioned me to the door. The career I had worked so hard for was over in a flash. What had I done?…

Read the whole thing. It’s short, and deserves wider circulation.

Reader Interactions

73Comments

  1. 1.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    I had gay friends in AIT, Korea and the Nam. They were better soldiers than I was.

  2. 2.

    cathyx

    The damage was done. What would he have done with his life if he wan’t discriminated against at that time and could continue his career?

  3. 3.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @cathyx:

    Oglesby was educated at the University of Virginia and the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.

    He worked as a diplomat and an international civil servant before retiring to the South Bronx where he gardens and sings in the shower, his short public singing career having been declared a disaster.

    He did just fine, he might have ended up back in that cluster fuck and never have been anything at all.

  4. 4.

    Jenny

    I’m tired of hearing about the Lilly Ledbetter Act, the Matthew Shepard Act, and repealing DADT.

    What has Obama done for the oppressed straight, white, male blogger?!

  11. 11.

    Baud

    @Jenny:

    What has Obama done for the oppressed straight, white, male blogger?!

    Nothing. It’s their own damn fault they’re oppressed, straight, white, and male.

    ETA. And bloggers.

  14. 14.

    JWL

    For those who came of age during the decade, the ’60’s lent an insight into The Machine that has eluded subsequent generations.

    The abolishment of the military draft was a crystal clear delineation point into that understanding.

    Generally speaking, of course. As always, the smart ones will always comprehend.

  16. 16.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @Amanda in the South Bay: It was called “The DMZ War”. Heard of the Pueblo? Blue House Raid?

    ” F rom late 1966 through 1969, the Korean peninsula provided the background for a military confrontation that included guerrilla warfare, sabotage and terrorism directed against the people of South Korea and the Americans serving there. The situation tested the willpower and reserve of the Unified States and the Republic of Korea (ROK)). This article relates some of the circumstances of a significant victory and of the combat fought along the forgotten demilitarized zone (DMZ) of Korea.”

  18. 18.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    O’ Donnell said he asked for questions for Nader on Twitter and has never gotten such negative reaction.

  22. 22.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @Amanda in the South Bay: Art Bofanis. The goal of the Blue House Raid was to take Park Chung Hee’s head back to NK. You might enjoy Silmido. It was the highest grossing Korean film ever and is about the BHR and the subsequent South Korean commando unit that trained to go up and get Kim Il Sung.

    com sum dee dah

  23. 23.

    Trainrunner

    Indeed.

    I’m a little tired of Cindy Sheehan wannabee Dan Choi being the public face of DADT repeal today.

    Odious. Instead, google “Leonard Matlovich.”

  25. 25.

    jeffreyw

    @schrodinger’s cat: Took some of Bitsy chasing the laser up the wall but nothing really worked for me when I reviewed the captures. Toby is interested and Lil Bit likes him but she is shy. They are never close enough together for long enough to get a decent pic.

  29. 29.

    lamh34

    OT, but I damn I remember the bullies from middle/high school, and yeah they were dicks, but at the very least, once you left school, the bullies couldn’t torment you while you were at home…at least. Today’s bullies have the added benefit of the internet, so not only can they bully the poor kids for 8-10 hours at school, but the bullied kids don’t even have the luxury of NOT being bullied while away from school just enjoying their damn time surfin’ the net…

    ‘What do I have to do so people will listen to me?’ Boy, 14, kills himself after being bullied and thanks Lady Gaga in last post

    Damn, most schools have a no-bullying policy, but how can you stop bullies from stalking their prey on the internet…ya can’t.

    Poor kid.

  30. 30.

    soonergrunt

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): I was in 2/9 INF at Fort Ord, CA from 88 to 91. 2/9 (now in Korea) had a section of the Panmunjom Tree in the unit trophy case right alongside stuff from the Revolutionary War and every conflict since. The CSM let every single Soldier of the battalion that came on Staff Duty know that if there was ever so much as a speck of dust on anything, ESPECIALLY the tree stump (he was in the same battalion in ’76 and took part in OP Paul Bunyan) that the offender’s entire company would do PT until they all died.

  31. 31.

    Short Bus Bully

    This is a good day. One more HUGE systemic barrier to equality has been officially and permanently removed.

  32. 32.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @soonergrunt: I really struggle to understand the current structure with all these RCT’s. Of course I was in 1/79th Arty, 7th ID at Camp Hartell at the base of Charlie Block. We were 7th ID but attached to the 2nd so I always kind of feel like and Indian Head trooper.

  34. 34.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @beergoggles: That’s sad, though I would think we could be happy for the man who lived and sad for the kid who didn’t. Happily, a friend of my son is actually being accepted pretty well. And that’s in Texas, no less.

  35. 35.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @soonergrunt: PS, in looking at the 9th lineage I thought they were the Manchu’s. They were in the 25th ID in Vietnam. I guess that as 4/9.

  40. 40.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @Omnes Omnibus: Crushed beer can or Indian Head? We were, in fact, authorized to wear it on the right sleeve when we rotated. Somehow I came home a slick sleeve. With no stripes, a red Arty rope, longish hair and a stash the MP’s at McChord jumped my ass and we’re ready to lock me up until my paperwork exonerated my raggedy ass!

  41. 41.

    beergoggles

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent): Yeah I was in a really bad mood after reading that. And then I made the mistake of clicking on the ‘It Gets Better’ video the kid made and saw the youtube comments.

    I’m of half a mind to start an Expose the Bullies project where all the bullied kids get to post the names and home addresses of their bullies and have anonymous internet users pay them a visit.

    I am happy for your friend’s son though – change starts slowly.

  46. 46.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    OT: Santorum is now complaining to Google about how his name turns up in search results, which obviously leads people to write articles about it or to search for what it means.

  49. 49.

    soonergrunt

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): I served in both 2nd ID and 7th ID.
    The current organization of action is called a Brigade Combat Team.
    The basic outlines of BCTs are here.
    Most divisions have increased from three maneuver brigades to four BCTs and DIVARTY has been subsumed directly into the BCTs.

  56. 56.

    soonergrunt

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): Yup. 9th Infantry Regiment are the Manchus. 4/9 was the only battalion that served in Viet Nam, with 25th ID (L) as you noted.
    When I was at Fort Ord, CA in 7th ID (L), the 1st Brigade consisted of 1/9, 2/9, 3/9 and was referred to as 9th Infantry Regiment instead of “1st Brigade, 7th ID (L)” and in Korea I was in A-1/503.
    1/9 and 2/9 are in Korea now, I believe.

  57. 57.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @Omnes Omnibus: At the 10th anniversary of the Wall I was at a gig and ran into a dude with a 1st Signal Bde (my unit too) patch and a CIB on his jungle’s. I just looked at him and he launched into an explanation of being in some grunt outfit as a commo guy. I don’t question people in those situations but it seemed pretty weak.

  61. 61.

    Cacti

    It’s really sad that someone’s sexual orientation got them excluded from further participation in our death orgy in southeast asia.

    No justice in the world, I tells ya.

  62. 62.

    soonergrunt

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): While bullets will kill the commo bunny just as easily as the grunt, CIB is (and only ever was) for 11-series or 18-series Soldiers serving in 11- or 19- billets in Infantry or SF units who have come under direct fire and performed assigned duties to standard.
    For the longest time, there was no actual “combat” recognition for non-Infantry personnel, but that changed in 2005 with the creation of the Combat Action Badge.

    The Combat Action Badge may be awarded to any soldier after the date of September 18, 2001 performing duties in an area where hostile fire pay or imminent danger pay is authorized, who is personally present and actively engaging or being engaged by the enemy, and performing satisfactorily in accordance with the prescribed rules of engagement.

    The first awarded was to SGT April Pashlee.
    The award is NOT retroactively awardable beyond 18 SEP 01.
    Having said all of that, as I mentioned earlier, the enemy’s bullets don’t care, and I’m retired, so I don’t either, really.

  64. 64.

    soonergrunt

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): Every staff officer and staff NCO in my unit in Afghanistan got a Bronze Star (without V device), including guys whom I personally know NEVER left Camp Phoenix with its outdoor movie nights, USO shows, LAN parties, Salsa Dancing lessons, and so on, except for when they boarded a CH-47 and flew over the safest road in country to Bagram Air Base from where they went R&R.
    The Battalion CO informed me, when he denied my request for a Bronze Star with V for one of my men (who attacked two multi-person enemy positions with his rifle and sidearm in one engagement and carried ammo through enemy fire multiple times and carried a wounded 10th MTN Soldier to safety in another) that he was of the opinion that “Soldiers below the grade of E-7 were not capable of doing Bronze Star level work.”
    Since we were operating in 10th Mountain Division’s AOR at the time, I put the award in through them, and they gave it to him. I’m told Bn CO was rather pissed about the whole thing, but he got replaced (and retired) before he could ever speak to me about it.

  65. 65.

    Shade Tail

    @Cacti:

    It’s really sad that someone’s sexual orientation got them excluded from further participation in our death orgy in southeast asia.

    It’s even more sad that some people see fit to downplay injustice if they are able to feel self-righteous about it.

  67. 67.

    Cacti

    @Shade Tail:

    It’s even more sad that some people see fit to downplay injustice

    I agree.

    It really is sad that the author is so self-absorbed, he considers being shut out of an imperialist invasion/occupation force that slaughtered millions to be an example of injustice.

  70. 70.

    CarolDuhart

    How insensitive and doctrinaire…Back then, being outed meant loss of an opportunity for Federal Employment and the benefits that went with it. He might have lost other stateside employment besides he might have had as well if it came up-or lived in fear that it could come up on a background search. The United Nations, being international had little fear that gay people were a “security risk”.

    Even then, how far was he able to advance? This guy could have been an ambassador or a major Foreign Policy expert. I hope he is now free to write his memoirs and at least lend his expertise more freely these days. But that’s the tragedy. How many gifted people have we lost because they could not be open about being gay?

  71. 71.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): During the Persian Gulf War, 1AD awarded Bronze stars to all E-7s and above. I had couple of friends in 2ACR, a unit that did some of the only significant fighting, who were really pissed about that. One had received an ARCOM and thought to himself, “I worked my ass off and did a pretty good job. A commendation is nice.” The other received one of the very few Bronze Stars that 2ACR recommended. After seeing what happened with 1AD, he refused to wear the medal. A big problem is lack of any real consistency in standards. A medal can mean a lot or virtually nothing. No one really knows except the person wearing it – and maybe some of the guys who were with him when he did whatever he did to be recommended for it. Of course, you and sooner already know that.

  72. 72.

    schlemizel - was Alwhite

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    The highest percentage of awards in US history were given out from that horrible, vicious, unending fight to take Granada!

    That is of course ridiculous, but it is the way with all awards. Some people get them who shouldn’t, some who should don’t. Its a shame but its human nature too.

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