Sixteen years after it was adopted, the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy regarding gay and lesbian service members is up for review, as public support for it is waning.

Paula Molnar's first command position was leading the Women's Army Band Corps at Fort McClelland Alabama. And it was there that she first had to confront the conflict between her duties as an officer and her own personal life.

 

She has posted an online photo album of her service career.

Molnar sees the fixation on sexual preference as a relic of the old guard within the military establishment, while the next generation of recruits simply doesn't care.

One of the groups leading the campaign to end the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is the Service Members Legal Defense Network.

 

 

A little-known chapter of America’s wartime aviation history has been revisited by a Healdsburg writer, whose debut novel recounts the story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs.

There was an enormous pool of frustrated women pilots who rushed to join the WASP program when it was created, Jeane Sloan recounts, because the attack on Pearl Harbor had left them no other opportunities to fly.

The WASP pilots were not recognized as part of the armed forces, but were instead considered civil service employees, notes Sloan. That meant that the women were not eligible for military funeral benefits.

 

On July 1, 2009, President Obama signed SB 614, awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to all the WASP pilots, in most cases posthumously. Jeane Sloan says she was excited to think that her friend and mentor, Florence Wheeler, would be getting one of the medals. Wheeler, however, was not so impressed.

 

Healdsburg author Jeanie Sloan will bring together nine surviving WASPs from the greater Bay Area  in Santa Rosa this Saturday afternoon for a special free public event sponsored by the Sonoma County Arts Council. It's at the Santa Rosa Veteran's building from 1-4 pm.

 

 

 

A wealth of local history is buried at the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, along with many other stories that may never be told.

Although it is surrounded by the city now, the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery was at the edge of town when it was established in the early 1850s. But  volunteer and docent Brett Gripe says that's not why it's called the "rural" cemetery.

 Read a brief history of the cemetery here.

From the war in Iraq back as far as the War of 1812, veterans from every major military conflict can be found in the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery. Brett Gripe explains why they are so well represented.

There are numerous ongoing volunteer opportunities, and a regular series of public events are staged at the cemetery throughout the year.

 

Using a new technique, this year's census of the homeless in Sonoma County found far more of them than prior surveys. But improved methodology is being cited as the reason for the higher count, rather than a surge in the homeless population.

 

In the 2007 Homeless Census, explains Jenny Helbraun Abramson, the process depended on inviting homeless people into community centers to be counted. This time, the outreach was more direct and more comprehensive.

Read the full report here: 

 Or go here for a history of the homeless counts in Sonoma County.