Dear Mr. President [Barack Obama]

Thank goodness President Barack Obama had the courage to recognize equality within our military.  That you for the changes you made.

A quote from within an article from The New York Times Magazine,

“Dear Mr. President,

(Because the person I love can be dishonorably discharged for loving me back, even though he is honorably serving his country right now in Iraq, I have to send this letter anonymously. It pains me to have to do so.)

[ … ] My partner is currently serving in Iraq, and is in a situation where he is under fire on a daily basis. He’s a good soldier, and our country needs him to continue doing the excellent job that he has been recognized for.

The day he deployed, I dropped him off far from his base’s main gate, and he walked alone in the dark and the rain to report for duty. Where the rest of his buddies were surrounded by spouses and children at mobilization ceremonies, he stood by himself.

The phone trees don’t have my name on them, and base support services don’t apply — even though we’ve been together for 16 years and are raising a beautiful child together. Our communication is self-censored, and we are cruelly unable to nurture each other at the exact moment we both need it the most.

If something were to happen to him, no one from his unit will call me. If, like so many good soldiers before him, he gives that last full measure of devotion, no one will come knock on my door. No one will present me with a flag. It is, and would be, as if the most important thing in his life — his family — never existed. [ … ]” [1]

References:

1. The New York Times Magazine, January 17, 2017, Jeanne Marie Laskas – To Obama With Love, and Hate, and Desperation – Over eight years, through millions of letters, the staff of the White House mailroom read the unfiltered story of a nation.