It’s time to value men’s lives more

I read “It’s overdue: A woman’s place is on the battlefield” (editorial Dec. 11) with mixed emotions.

I am a 100 percent disabled vet drafted in 1966. My twin sister, Sharon, not drafted, didn’t feel discriminated against or feel oppressed by not being drafted. Voting age was 21 and women were sending boys too young to vote to war.

It’s true women were already in wars, but in Vietnam 58,000 men died in Vietnam and eight women – all volunteers. There for their brothers.

The Bee editors wrote, in bold letters: “No one wants to think about young mothers on the front lines of war being taken hostage, raped or even being beheaded…” These things happen to males, too.

When the Titanic went down, very old women lived, young fathers died; few notice the sexism. Do we value our son’s lives less?

Some of us worry that integrating male and female soldiers that value women’s lives more will lead to decisions on the battlefield that will cost more lives. To change that we need to start valuing male lives more.

This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 7:17 AM with the headline "It’s time to value men’s lives more."