Mayor Nagin Disgraces Military Uniform on National TV
Sarah Smiley, Copyright 2006

About two years ago (on September 19, 2003, to be exact) I was caught doing a stupid thing: posing for a picture in a Navy officer’s cover (Story Here). That photograph — or “The Hat Picture” as it is known around the Smiley house now — was published in The Pensacola News Journal along with my first column, unleashing a deluge of angry messages and abruptly introducing me to the idea of “hate mail.”

When I posed for the photo, I thought it was innocent enough. Sure I had heard my Navy dad and husband talk about “respect for the military uniform,” so perhaps I should have known better. Yet unlike a child playing dress-up in Dad’s medals or wearing his uniform for fun on Halloween (I was never allowed to do either, by the way), the Hat Picture was meant to evoke a feeling and demonstrate my military roots. It was supposed to be reminiscent of romantic World War II images, or of Deborah Winger taking Richard Gere’s hat in An Officer and a Gentleman. It was supposed to underscore my position as a military wife.

I had the best of intentions.

A lot of readers disagreed. I was called names I had never heard of before, and ultimately, was accused of impersonating an officer, as per United States Code (10 USC, Subtitle A, Part II, Chapter 45, Sections 771 and 772). According to this, it is technically illegal for an unauthorized person to wear a military uniform or any recognizable piece of the uniform. The only exception: actors and actresses in a “theatrical setting” (a loop-hole giving men like Tom Cruise the right to wear a uniform in movies such as Top Gun).

I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when I learned that someone was actually pursuing legal action against me (a charge that might have landed me six months in prison, I was told) if I didn’t remove the photograph from my column. Sending me away for six months would make a darn good book, I said to the district attorney. He didn’t laugh.

Eventually my headshot was changed, but that didn’t stop the angry emails. Apparently I had touched a nerve and the debate took months to simmer down.

So why am I opening the pot again?

Because last week, on Tuesday, February 28, Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans sat for an interview with Today Show host Katie Couric, and he was wearing a four-star general’s Army fatigues, with ribbons and all. Nagin claimed later, although not during the actual interview, that he was wearing the uniform in honor of Lt. General Russel Honore, who has been in charge of the military efforts in New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina. For nearly six minutes, Nagin sat (slouching, no less, in a chair) on national television in a military uniform, giving the impression to any one who didn’t know better that HE was the four-star general.

Watching the interview, I was shocked, first because no one questioned Nagin’s get-up and that he offered no explanation, but also because I felt offended by his mockery of the military uniform. For the first time, I realized how some reader’s felt when they saw my Hat Picture. (Although a military wife posing for a romantic photo is a lot different than a city official sitting for an interview on national television wearing a four-star general’s fatigues, don’t you think?) Yet still, “How dare him?!” went through my mind several times as I listened to Nagin talk.

And that he didn’t even volunteer explanation? Again, how dare him!

Initially, back in 2003, I felt righteous in my use of a military cover and couldn’t understand the anger it had caused. I was irritated that no one saw my point or realized my intentions. Lighten up, I said.

Over time, however, the angry e-mails started to make sense to me. Military men and women sacrifice so much to earn the right — the privilege — to wear their uniform. Who am I to use it and then say, “I meant no harm.”

As far as I’m concerned, Mayor Nagin wearing a four-star general’s uniform on television and not offering an explanation about it until pushed is probably equivalent to misleading the public, but definitely is an offense to the men and women of the armed services.

I apologize to my readers and those that I offended back in 2003.

Now, Mr. Nagin, shouldn’t you?

___________________________

Sarah Smiley is the author of Shore Duty, a syndicated newspaper column that reaches more than 2 million readers weekly, and of the memoir GOING OVERBOARD: The Misadventures of a Military Wife, which was recently featured in the New York Times and Newsweek, and on Nightline, CNN and MSNBC.

Smiley’s life rights were optioned by Kelsey Grammer’s company, Grammnet, and Paramount Television. A half-hour sitcom is now in development for CBS based on Smiley’s book and columns.

Read more about Sarah and subscribe to her newsletter at http://www.SarahSmiley.com

If you’d like to see SHORE DUTY in your local newspaper, write the managing editor of your daily paper and request it!

___________________________