Marines Become Political Pawns

On the heels of a photo of two Marine reservists in dress blues at a Republican Party dinner in Larimer County, Colo., being honored for their service, David S.C. Chu, principle undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, sent an “info memo” to Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England. The memo said reservists must comply with the general requirement to avoid any activity that may be viewed as associating the Department of Defense or any component directly or indirectly with a partisan political event. Referring to the event in Larimer County, the memo said that service members “may not attend partisan political events in uniform, even if only as ‘honorees.'” The memo was a restatement of policy.