Marines most resistant to openly gay troops

Do Marines die for each other? Would they put their lives on the line any less if they knew one of their own was gay? Would they turn their back on a female Marine? There was a time when women were not welcomed. There was a time when someone of a different color was not welcomed. In each case the Marines managed to rise above all of it and as this piece mentions they are the, "smallest and arguably the most tight-knit of the enlisted forces." Other nations have no problem with gay people serving. They know that as members of the military, they are willing to die for all of their countrymen and not just the ones they approve the lifestyles of.

Marines most resistant to openly gay troops
(AP)
OCEANSIDE, Calif. (AP) — They are the few, the proud and perhaps the military's biggest opponents of lifting the ban on openly gay troops.

Most of those serving in America's armed forces have no strong objections to repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" law, according to a Pentagon survey of 400,000 active duty and reservists that is scheduled for release Tuesday.

But the survey found resistance to repealing the ban strongest among the Marines, according to The Washington Post. It's an attitude apparently shared by their top leader, Commandant Gen. James Amos, who has said that the government should not lift the ban in wartime.

The Senate is supposed to consider repeal during its lame duck session in December, with many legislators favoring changing the law to allow gays to serve openly. A few staunchly oppose it, however, and both sides are expected to cite the survey in arguing whether to move forward with repeal.

The Corps is the youngest, smallest and arguably the most tight-knit of the enlisted forces, with many of its roughly 200,000 members hailing from small towns and rural areas in the South.

Marines are unabashed about distinguishing themselves from the rest of the military, with a warrior ethos and a religious zeal for their branch of service that they liken to a brotherhood.

"We've never changed our motto. We've never changed our pitch to new recruits. We have hardly changed our formal uniforms in 235 years," said Marine Reserve Lt. Col. Paul Hackett, 48, who has been in the Corps for 25 years. "We are a religion unto ourselves, and we pride ourselves in that."
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Marines most resistant to openly gay troops