Bill Wood: Judge soldiers by their performance, not frivolous labels

July 1948, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981 which eventually wiped out racial discrimination in the armed services. He was right. In my 27 years in the U.S. Army (two tours in Vietnam), often I needed somebody to back me up in a critical assignment. Twice the obvious choice happened to be African Americans. Their service was outstanding! I had one soldier refuse a combat patrol with me. He was white and hiding in a latrine.

Good soldiers are good soldiers, no matter what they look like or anything else. I served with gay and lesbian soldiers. It was the don’t-ask, don’t-tell era. Leaders spend 90 percent of their time with 10 percent of their people. Every soldier should be judged only on how he or she performs. If their performance puts them into my 10 percent, they got to know me up close and formally. The primary factor was always performance.

This story was originally published August 22, 2017 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Bill Wood: Judge soldiers by their performance, not frivolous labels."