This Veterans Day, consider the injustices created by the Pentagon's subjective decisions about servicemembers' honor and shame.
Last month, the Pentagon automatically granted honorable discharges to 800 of the estimated 13,000 veterans who had been pushed out of the military during the 1994-2011 'don't ask, don't tell' era with less than fully honorable discharges. Even 13,000 is likely an undercount. In some cases, if a commander suspected homosexuality but lacked proof, the servicemembers got administratively or punitively discharged preemptively.
During and after World War II, for instance, around 50,000 servicemembers — who were mostly people of color, women and LGBTQ+ — were given “blue ticket discharges” that made them ineligible for benefits. More recently, some commanders have used their discretion to push out military sexual trauma victims and those suffering post-traumatic stress with less than honorable discharges.
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