Top West Point Cadet Quits Over 'Don't Ask'

A West Point junior ranked 9th in her class is leaving the military school in protest over Don't Ask, Don't Tell. In her letter to the school, Katherine Miller says she's transferring to Yale and will be happy to reapply to the academy—once DADT is repealed. "I have lied to my classmates and compromised my integrity and my identity by adhering to existing military policy," she writes. Read the full letter at Pam's House Blend blog.

"I am unwilling to suppress an entire portion of my identity any longer because it has taken a significant personal, mental, and social toll on me and detrimentally affected my professional development," writes Miller. "I have experienced a relentless cognitive dissonance by attempting to adhere to §654 [colloquially known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"] and retain my integrity, and I am retrospectively convinced that I am unable to live up to the Army Values as long as the policy remains in place."