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I believe the six Democratic lawmakers who posted on social media that members of our military could “refuse illegal orders” were clearly hoping to encourage a mutiny. As a Korean War veteran sailor having served as a senior petty officer aboard four U.S. Coast Guard ships, I can’t imagine myself or any of my fellow shipmates deliberately disobeying an order from a senior officer because we might not agree with a decision made by the secretary of war or even the president of the United States. We were too busy keeping things aboard working properly.
The idea of a mutiny in our seagoing military is ridiculous and defies the very essence of the long-standing Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), which prescribes capital punishment in time of a national emergency for 15 offenses.
From my perspective, by hoping to encourage a mutiny, these six Democrats were seeking to upset our military readiness for cheap political purposes and should be voted out.
Richard de Grasse
Islesboro
