Secretary of Navy

Some progress has been made on locating family members of Andrew Barfield, the WWII veteran whose sweetheart bracelet was found in a forest in Belgium. I spoke with a 93 year old woman who says she is his third cousin, and is going to provide me with closer relative's contact info this week. I will keep you posted.

While on the subject of the military, this old news (anything over 48 hours ago is "old news" these days) is interesting. There has been a suggestion that William White be appointed Secretary of the Navy.

White is the chief operating officer of the Intrepid Museum Foundation. He's also openly gay, in fact, his bio on the web site indicates such, as it mentions his partner's name. White has a lot of support from retired members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and from members of congress.

Appointing White would send the right signal, that gays and lesbians (who already play an important role in our nation's military, although hampered by the antiquated and discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy) are a vibrant part or the fabric that makes up our country.

And before anyone brings up DADT as a reason not to appoint him, the Secretary is a civilian position, so White's appointment would not violate the policy. But it would be a big step in getting the policy overturned.

And before anyone jumps to the conclusion that White is not qualified because he does not have navy experience, Donald Winter, the current secretary, appointed by W, does not either. Nor did Gordon England, who preceded Winter. Remember, it's a civilian position.

All that being said, I will believe it when I see it. Plus, I have overcome my temptation to paste a video of the Village People's "In the Navy" here. Besides, I already used that video here, in June.