Thinking of You All

Mr. Weinstein and the Staff of the MRFF,

First a bit about me. I am a senior active duty officer in the U.S. Navy. My rank is (rank withheld) and I currently am the commander of (U.S. naval special operations combat unit designation withheld) at (naval installation name withheld) in (name of state withheld). I graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in (year withheld) and am married with (number of children withheld) children. My wife and I worship twice weekly at the local (Protestant denomination withheld) church located off base in (town and state names withheld). My wife and I are both Sunday school teachers there.

I just wanted to express my thanks to all of you for what you do every day to keep our military from being overrun with Christian zealots. I saw it everywhere at Annapolis and even on the football team I played on. And I saw it at every single one of my training assignments after graduation from the academy including when I was in BUD/S at Coronado. I have seen pretty much everything you have publicly reported on at one point or another in my naval career so far. I have seen it when I was deployed every single time. I have deployed (number of deployments withheld) times downrange and have regularly engaged in combat including hand-to-hand. Have been wounded (number of times withheld) times and will probably deploy again in (month withheld) of 2015.

Being a Christian myself hasn’t really mattered to those in my command chain who make it clear that accepting Christ “in the right way” is what the Navy and America wants of its sailors. My “way” of loving Jesus is not their way. Even my wife has felt this pressure from the other spouses. It destroys the brotherhood and sisterhood bonds of our warfighters and it has to be confronted. It is very hard to do so without repercussions. I have tried a few times and have failed. It is complex and dangerous to even try to do the right thing. For those lower in rank than me it is pretty much impossible.

My wife and I watched how disrespectfully Mr. Weinstein was treated during his testimony before the H.A.S.C. We read his written testimony even before the hearing. Totally true. Again, I have personally seen all of this or at least most of this happen. I wish some of those Congressman and Congresswomen had seen what I have seen and experienced. Fundamental Christianity is out of control in our Navy and Marine Corps.

Mr. Weinstein and the Staff of the MRFF, thank you for being the ones to stand up, take the heat and carry the fight for all of us. I know this is not easy and has difficult consequences for all of you. Especially the Weinstein family. I can only imagine how it must feel.

We purchased Mrs. Weinstein’s book about these “consequences” a few weeks ago at Amazon and are hopeful it will get to us soon. I actually bought 2 books. One for my wife and I and one for my own commander, (name and rank withheld), because he really needs to read it more than we do. It’s to be my Xmas gift to him.

Have a happy holiday season and know that you are cared about by many in the Navy and USMC.

v/r

(U.S. Naval Officer’s name, rank, military combat unit and military installation all withheld)