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Women in combat a poor decision

To The Editor:
My suspicions have been confirmed. This country’s values and common sense have been taken over by stupidity and misdirected desires.
As a retired military man, I was shocked when I heard they approved to put women on the front lines of combat. A few months before I retired, I was in charge of an aircraft electrical shop, a sizable shop with military and civilian electricians. This was also the time period when they started putting young women in various maintenance fields. One day they brought me two young ladies to work on our combat aircraft. Now, I will point out that I greatly respect women. In fact, I think they are the most important persons in a household, but combat is not the place for them. In WWII, women played a significant role, some of them flew planes from the factories to the front lines, which was a great accomplishment and some were in the medical fields and several other areas. I certainly applaud them for their service, but in combat, no.
The two women in our shop couldn’t even lift their tool boxes so the men filled in far too many times. It became quite obvious from the beginning that these ladies were not there to be mechanics. It should also be obvious to these young ladies and our military leaders that there are times when these young ladies need some isolation and rest.
One young lady came to me from another unit and was crying because she was put in a field that was neither exciting nor challenging. I sympathized with her, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the authority to get her transferred to another field.
Now, maybe somewhere in this world there are women who could wrestle a bear and come out the winner, but I don’t know of any, and I don’t believe God put women on earth to defend our country or to carry heavy back packs and rifles into an area of combat.
If we continue voting presidents into office that are young, inexperienced, with huge egos, very radical mentors and a very questionable past, we can expect more decline in this once greater country. All we have to do to find the cause of our country’s problem, is to look in the mirror.
I was born in 1934 and have lived through some of the worst times in our country’s history, but I am very fortunate to have also lived through the greatest times in our history, so you can understand my perspective.
Gary Spence
Troy

Published in The Messenger 2.20.13

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