To the Editor:
Bangor Daily News

Bangor, Maine

Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf lost some of his luster in my eyes when he said (Bangor Daily News, May 12, 1993) on the issue of gays in the military, that the military must not be made an ''instrument of social experimentation.''

Doesn't Gen. Schwarzkopf understand the United States government, right from the then-unthinkable Declaration of Independence, has been conducting one 200-year-long, continuous and evolving social experiment? Where better to instill the concept of respect for diversity and the rights of others than in young recruits whose minds and bodies are so deliberately molded?

The social experiment now being conducted by the military – of blackmailing Congress and President Clinton with threats of violence in the ranks – should not be tolerated. People who do not respect people of other genders or sexual orientation should not be issued weapons and taught how to kill.

Jean Hay
Blue Hill