Military Honor Guards AWOL from Churches
Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, July 24, 2015 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler
Being AWOL, meaning “absent without leave,” is a crime in the U.S. Armed Services. It’s punishable under Article 86 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and means not being where you are supposed to be, at the time you are supposed to be there. Any military person one minute late for work can be considered AWOL. A military person AWOL for 30 days is a Deserter.
So, when I say military honor guards are AWOL from churches, I don’t mean they ran away from participating in July 4th celebrations. And I don’t mean it’s a crime to skip church. If it were, jails would be full of deserters from church services. BUT, IF active military honor guards HAD participated in church services this year, those servicemen would have violated current federal regulations that are based on the false notion that the Constitution demands separation of church and state.
This about-face restricting military personnel from religious services is “forward, march” for military participation in gay pride events. On June 13, 2015, U.S. military honor guards marched in the Washington, D.C. gay pride parade; in June 2014, a U.S. Armed Forces color guard marched alongside rainbow flags, as Dykes on Bikes led the Capital Gay Pride parade in D.C.; on two separate days in 2013, a military color guard marched in Defense Department gay pride events on Pentagon grounds.Earlier this month I reported that for almost 20 years Fort Gordon had sent U.S. Military honor guards to participate in July 4th celebrations in Abilene Baptist Church, but they were not sent this year. Why? Their participation would have violated a federal policy that bans U.S. military personnel from involvement in religious services.
You might have heard of this famous comment: “There are no atheists in the foxholes,” a World War II statement by Father William Cummings in Bataan, and later quoted by President Eisenhower. But recent enforcers of politically correct speech ruled it off limits by the military, even when it is used in an appropriately religious context. So, in 2013 an article by a military chaplain written for “Chaplain’s Corner” was deleted from the base website in Alaska because it contained that sentence.
I’ve said all that to say this: Always, U.S. military honor guards have participated in patriotic services where I attend church, but this year there was a non-military local substitute. On July 5th the DeKalb County Police honor guard and five RETIRED men in uniform – one from each branch of the service – replaced the active military personnel who could not participate. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.