Whenever a man or woman in uniform passes by me, I always share a warm smile and say thank you for your service, and I hope I’m not the only one.
Just a few weeks before the 13 year anniversary of 9/11, Lt. Colonel Sherwood Baker was denied entry to his daughter’s high school in Rochester Hills, Michigan because other students might be offended by his military uniform, according to abc11.com. “They told him some kids might not understand and might be offended. So they gave him a choice, told him he could phone in to the office or go home and change his clothes,” Baker’s wife, Rachel Ferhadson, told abc11.com. Ferhadson was waiting in the car when her husband was told he could not enter the school by the security guard who informed Baker that it is school policy to not allow men and women in uniform on campus.
When I first heard of this incident, I was outraged and it still makes me cringe. Men and women in the military deserve the utmost respect for all that they do and have done for this country. It is absolutely absurd that Baker was not allowed inside of his own daughter’s high school.
Baker has served in the U.S. Army for 24 years, and he served two tours, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. The job of someone in the military can be very stressful and at times can be life-threatening. Being asked to leave their loved ones at a moment’s notice and sometimes being gone for months or years at a time is not an easy job, but they do it. And that is why they deserve to be honored for what they do.
Baker and his wife were on campus to settle an issue dealing with their daughter’s class schedule. Baker was on the way in to talk to his daughter’s counselor about it when he was denied entrance. The policy was backed by four other staff members as well, not just the security guard.
Since this event, the Superintendent at Rochester Adams High School, Robert Shaner, who is a Marine Corps veteran himself, has issued an apology to Baker and his family. Shaner also wrote a letter to Fox News explaining the issue. “The district has apologized for any perception that individuals in uniform are not welcome in the school. The district does not have a policy excluding individuals in uniform and will be working with administration and the firm that handles our security to make sure district policies are understood and communicated accurately,” he said, according to inquistr.com. Baker and his wife plan to speak with the school principal in the coming week about what happened.
I’m glad there has been so many apologies given to this family, and I hope the school is handling the issue with great urgency. What they did to Baker and his family was not only embarrassing, but extremely disrespectful.
How one could be offended by someone in a military uniform? I could understand if it was a parent dressed in, say a Nazi uniform, but not an American military uniform.
Unfortunately, this is not the first incident involving men and women in uniform being treated in a negative way. Back in 2010, Anthony Walls was denied service by the cashier at a Co-op in Croydon, according to telegraph.co.uk. Walls had just gotten back from Afghanistan where he was deployed for four and a half months serving in the twenty-first Engineer Regiment. He had only been back in the states for an hour and was grabbing a six pack of beer before heading home to celebrate his nephew’s birthday. The cashier refused to check him out and called for her manager to which he said, “he couldn’t do anything about it.” Walls left the beer and walked out.
“I was deeply hurt,” Walls told the Telegraph. “Sometimes the only thing that keeps you going is the support and love from home,” he said.
Walls joined the army when he was just 17 years old and shared that he had just witnessed the death of one of his best friends, Daryn Roy, while serving in Afghanistan.
“I appreciate the Co-op cashier may have had her own opinions about the war, but we are just doing a job and laying our lives down for this country. A little respect and appreciation would be nice,” Walls said, according to telegraph.co.uk.
I agree with Walls. Even if you don’t agree with the war, you should suck it up and show some respect for the men and women that are risking their lives for you. Now, this incident in Croydon is much worse than what happened a few weeks ago in Michigan with Officer Baker, but it is still an issue of disrespect that was uncalled for and didn’t need to happen. If anything, we should be going out of our way to make our service men and women feel honored and appreciated for all that they do.
Caitlin Malone can be reached at caitlin.malone@theminaretonline.com