Tag Archives: Michael Embrich

Rolling Stone: Transgender Troops Deserve the Right to Serve

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As Trump and Hegseth push to remove transgender troops, Republicans in Congress want to make the change irreversible

Commander Emily Shilling served nearly 20 years in the U.S. Navy as a combat aviator with over 60 missions. Fighter pilots are very hard for the military to find, nonetheless. Shilling will be removed from service by Donald Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. So will many others, like former Navy SEAL Kristin Beck, who served 20 years in Naval Special Warfare, including with SEAL Team Six. She earned the Bronze Star with Combat “V,” the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Purple Heart. 

Shilling and Beck are heroes the military will never get back, and the absence of service members like them will make America less ready, endanger troops, and hurt recruiting efforts.

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Hegseth’s service could never compare to that of Shilling or Beck, even though Hegseth likes to pretend to be a Navy SEAL as he sycophantically follows them around the country during special events. Trump never served a day in his life. That is why it is odd to me and to many others that they are so adamant about preventing transgender troops — and likely, before his term ends, gay Americans — from serving in the armed forces. 

Transgender Troops Deserve the Right to Serve
As Trump and Hegseth push to remove transgender troops, Republicans in Congress introduced legislation to ensure the damage can’t be reversed.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/trump-hegseth-transgender-military-troops-right-service-1235341979

Alternet: ‘Caught in limbo’: Decorated Iraq War veteran now target of Trump deportations

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What a wonderful way to that a veteran for his service to our country! Not!

A man who served in the U.S. military and survived two combat deployments to Iraq is now at risk of being deported to a country that is refusing to accept him.

Rolling Stone columnist Michael Embrich wrote Wednesday about the case of Army veteran Jose Barco, who is now in deportation proceedings even though he’s an honorably discharged Purple Heart recipient diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. According to Embrich, Barco is “caught in limbo” as he faces deportation to Venezuela, despite not having visited the country since he was a toddler.

Barco — whose father fled Cuba for Venezuela before bringing him to the U.S. at age four — received his Purple Heart medal after an explosion launched him into a wall, resulting in severe burns and a traumatic brain injury. In 2004, he served in Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, and saw frequent combat as his deployment was during the height of the Iraqi insurgency.

Embrich went on to write about how Barco was nearly naturalized, as he got help with his U.S. citizenship application from his commanding officer. However, Barco’s file got lost in the application process, and he had no way to track it in the system. As Embrich explained, Barco had a “straightforward path to naturalization” that ended up becoming “an invisible trap door leading to exile.”

‘Caught in limbo’: Decorated Iraq War veteran now target of Trump deportations
A man who served in the U.S. military and survived two combat deployments to Iraq is now at risk of being deported to a country that is refusing to accept him. Rolling Stone columnist Michael Embrich wrote Wednesday about the case of Army veteran Jose Barco, who is now in deportation proceedings even though he’s an honorably discharged Purple Heart…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/caught-in-limbo-decorated-iraq-war-veteran-now-target-of-trump-deportations/ar-AA1CCw84