A stain on the honor of good men and women

My years in the military were many things. Challenging, frustrating, important, trivial, mysterious, and mundane are just a few words that describe what I went through during my years serving in the active army and later the national guard. One word that could never be included would be "racism". Far from being a group of happy campers engaging in group hugs and singing kumbaya around a roaring fire at night after a hard day of army training we often disagreed, argued, and sometimes even fought each other. Never the less whatever divided us was forgotten when that ugly little monster called "duty" reared its head. It was then that color, nationality, ethic origin, religion, and even sexual orientation was abandoned for army green and the person next to you became your closest family.

Under the ever watchful eyes of the non commissioned officers, or sergeants to you civilians, if someone strayed too far off course they would be more than happy to put a boot up the offending person's ass. If that offending individual resisted such corrective action he or she would be descended upon with such wrath that it would seem God himself had taken an interest in their sinful ways. With this in mind I have been greatly disturbed and brought to shame that the army I served and has done much in the past to weed out primitive and degenerate views is slowly being infected with them again. Not only for the sake of the army that I still respect and admire on so many levels but for the ideals of America and the progress it was made over the centuries, I hope measures are adopted by both my fellow NCO's and the officer corp to stem this evil tide. Read the partial article below and definitely link over to the Southern Poverty Law Center to read the whole piece.

The Southern Poverty Law Center today urged Congress to investigate growing evidence that racial extremists are infiltrating the U.S. military and take steps to ensure that the armed forces are not inadvertently training future domestic terrorists.


In a letter to committee chairmen with oversight over homeland security and the armed services, the SPLC said it recently found dozens of personal profiles on a neo-Nazi website where individuals listed "military" as their occupation — the latest evidence of extremist infiltration gathered by the SPLC. It also cites FBI and Department of Homeland Security reports supporting the SPLC's concerns.

"Evidence continues to mount that current Pentagon policies are inadequate to prevent racial extremists from joining and serving in the armed forces," SPLC founder Morris Dees wrote. He added, "Because the presence of extremists in the armed forces is a serious threat to the safety of the American public, we believe Congressional action is warranted."

The letter was sent to the chairmen of the House and Senate committees on Homeland Security and Armed Services. The SPLC has raised its concerns with Pentagon officials since publishing a report in 2006, but no apparent action has been taken.

In recent months, SPLC investigators found approximately 40 personal profiles that listed "military" as an occupation on the Internet forum New Saxon, which is operated by the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement. One individual, who claims to be serving in Afghanistan, lists as his favorite book The Turner Diaries, which was written by neo-Nazi leader William Pierce. The book served as a blueprint for the Oklahoma City bombing by Gulf War veteran Timothy McVeigh. Another individual said he was about to be deployed overseas and was looking forward to "killing all the bloody sand niggers." Still another spoke of his hatred for undocumented immigrants.

The SPLC has been involved with this issue for more than two decades. In 1986, the SPLC presented evidence to Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger that Marines were participating in Ku Klux Klan paramilitary activities and urged him to prohibit all military personnel from being members of, or participating in, the activities of white supremacist groups. Although Weinberger issued a directive addressing extremist activity, it ultimately proved inadequate.

The SPLC again brought the problem to the attention of Pentagon officials in 1996, after three neo-Nazi soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg murdered a black couple in North Carolina in a ritualistic, racially motivated slaying. Pentagon regulations were strengthened following an investigation by an Army task force and hearings by the House Armed Services Committee.