What Kelly meant to say

[mountain grammy]

[PJMcK]

1. Or run for president (n/t)

[snowybirdie]

2. Gen Kelly

was a marine. Wern't they the last service to accept women and gays in the military? Wasn't he a commander at the time? Sacred womanhood my a--!

[mountain grammy]

3. All branches accepted women

my mom was a Marine.. enlisted iin 1943. Women have been in the military since around WWI.

[snowybirdie]

4. True

Women served but they were separate and not equal. Couldn't work in most jobs and did not have same promotion track and grade opportunities. Gays, of course were never accepted til lately and the Marines were the last to accept them. All while Gen Kelly was around

[mountain grammy]

5. Yes, women did have office and nursing jobs

but their contribution was priceless. As far as gays.. no not accepted, but served with pride regardless. When the subject of "gays in the military" came up 40 or so years ago, my mom laughed and laughed. She knew several gays in the military, men and women. My husband said he was sure a couple of guys in his unit were gay and no one cared. Yes, I know many gay men and women faced harrassment and discharge, but they were always there and most enlisted soldiers simply ignored it.

Barry Goldwater once said "you don't have to be straight to serve in the military, you just have to know how to shoot straight." My mom couldn't stand Goldwater, but she quoted that all the time.

[snowybirdie]

7. Yes

We sacred ladies could be nurses and teachers and secretaries back then. I don't think you really get the point. And of course gays served always! BUT, if found out, got thrown out on their ear. Acceptance is the optimum word here.

[Irish_Dem]

6. My mother was a military nurse forced to resign when she got married.

This was standard at the time, in the 1950's.