Do you even know what this man is responsible for on duty? He doesn’t take his job lightly — but, that includes standing for the Constitution in the best way he knows how. You may not agree with him, you may think he is wrong to do this, but he isn’t crying, holding his mom’s leg and saying, “I don’t wanna go” - which seems to be what you are suggesting.
Yeah, I know exactly what he's responsible for on duty. He's a flight surgeon. He tends to pilots and makes sure they're medically cleared to fly. When pilots aren't cleared to fly, they don't. When pilots don't fly the men on the ground don't have air support. When the men on the ground don't have air support, they die.
The Army is short of flight surgeons. If Lakin doesn't go that means someone else will have to go in his place. That means some other flight surgeon who just put in 15 months in Afghanistan is going to have to pack his bags, kiss his wife goodbye and turn back around. If the Army can't find someone to take his Lakin's place, see above.
So birthers can go ahead and celebrate "patriots" like Lt. Col Lakin. Me? I'll celebrate Patriots like Col. William Bernhard, a flight surgeon and a man who's been serving his country and his fighting men for 60 years as he packs his bags to serve yet again.