Honor Harry Truman’s legacy of an inclusive, winning military | Opinion

Eighty-five.

As squadron commander of a mortuary unit in the Middle East, that’s the number of flag-draped coffins I saluted.

I did not know the race, religion, gender or sexual orientation of those 85 fallen warriors. All I knew is that they were patriots, American sons and daughters who gave their lives for our freedoms. As we approach Memorial Day 2025 and the 75th anniversary of President Harry S. Truman’s Freedom to Serve Report, it is worth reflecting on our ongoing duty to optimize the efficiency and war-fighting effectiveness of our armed services.

Freedom is not free. As a son of Missouri and of Confederate sympathizing parents, President Truman seemed an unlikely advocate for desegregating the military and opening the doors to women. But after hearing the brutal stories of African American soldiers returning from fighting fascism only to be lynched, beaten and blinded at home, he wanted to right those wrongs. Truman understood patriotism comes from all corners and sectors of America.

Truman issued Executive Order 9981 to desegregate the military in 1948. He appointed a committee of diverse Americans to report on progress in 1950, the Freedom to Serve Report. Led by Secretary Stuart Symington — later a U.S. Senator for Missouri — the Air Force was driving change as ordered. But the Army and Navy were making excuses and dragging their feet. The president’s advocacy and fresh leadership ultimately opened doors, driving more equal treatment and greater opportunity for all.

But including all Americans into a highly effective fighting force didn’t happen with an executive order and a committee report. When my friend retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Donald Scott entered service in 1960, there were no Black generals. As a combat infantry officer in Vietnam, he saw how racial conflict nearly tore the Army apart. That motivated the Army and all the services to recognize the need for strong, effective cultural training.

America’s armed forces are a subset of America. We come from all the different corners of the country. We come from different beliefs, biology and biographies. When we open our doors for all to serve, we can only be our best when our airmen, soldiers, sailors, Guardians and Marines trust one another. Someone from Le Mars, Iowa, will likely be quite different from someone who grew up in Oneonta, New York. The training we have developed during the past 50 years brings people together, incorporates the strengths of each person and their community, and molds them into an effective unit, ready to fight and win.

President Truman and the Freedom to Serve Report established the founding ideals for a fully inclusive force. Truman’s courage to do what was right 75 years ago has inspired many of us to keep fighting for us to live up to those ideals.

I have retired after about 30 years of service, but continue to advocate for change. For example, the Freedom to Serve today means having tactical vests and cold weather gear that fits all Air Commandos. The Freedom to Serve means having a way for women on long sorties to relieve themselves without practicing tactical dehydration and putting themselves, their crews or our missions at risk. The Freedom to Serve means pregnancy should not be, by itself, a limiting condition. Women can still fly. We can still deploy and can fulfill most military duties.

Today, there are amazing commanders who have been unapologetically challenging outdated practices and policies and making our formations more lethal, so we can win. Ordinary women and men are doing extraordinary things to challenge the status quo, identifying actionable solutions and removing barriers to service so everyone has more freedom to serve by defiantly saying no to the way things have always been.

There are so many people who want to share their talents in our armed forces. We need to keep the pathways to service President Truman opened to allow all qualified Americans to rise to their highest military potential. That is the best way to maintain the most lethal all-volunteer force, so that democracy will win.

This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 9:07 AM with the headline "Honor Harry Truman’s legacy of an inclusive, winning military | Opinion."