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Marsha Blackburn has been my senator since she first took office in 2019. Over the years, I have called her office – the public number she posts on her Senate office website – numerous times, and I have also sent messages via email. Whenever I call or write, I politely and respectfully convey my specific concerns. I always request a response and provide my name and contact information.
I have never once, in all of these years, received a response from Sen. Blackburn or anyone on her staff, not by phone, email or other. Of course, I don't expect to hear from Sen. Blackburn directly, but I do expect her to run a Senate office that is responsive to her constituents' communications.
Why am I writing about this now? I am especially concerned by her lack of response to my recent communication about how our military personnel are being treated while on the front lines of the war in Iran. After news broke about the USS Lincoln Navy ship, that was left with inadequate supplies and relief, and with sailors becoming desperate, I called the senator to ask her to look into this matter with the military.
I have a close relative who began serving in a commanding role in the Iran war at the start of this year, albeit in a different branch of the military, and he told me about the very difficult circumstances under which they were operating. The key concern is that the lives of military members serving in this war are being unnecessarily put at risk by the reckless policies and poor decision-making of top leadership. In fact, lives were lost in the unit in which my family member was serving, and he's had more "close calls" than at any other time in his decades of service.
My family member and other military leaders on the ground and in the air communicated with top military leadership to convey their concerns about the policies they were being required to implement and how they were putting lives in danger. No one at the top is listening to those serving on the front lines. In fact, we are seeing daily news about how military leaders who are objecting to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's decisions and policies are being removed from their roles.
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In the case of my family member, he made the very difficult decision to retire this summer rather than to compromise his integrity and his duty to those he leads by implementing orders that were putting their lives at grave risk. We are now losing the leaders of our military who have been serving with honor, and who deeply care for the well-being of their fellow servicepersons.
Sen. Blackburn is now running for governor of Tennessee, the highest office in our state. Tennesseans deserve a leader who will listen and be responsive to the needs and concerns of their constituents. I urge my fellow Tennesseans to reach out to Sen. Blackburn and see if she cares enough to respond before you go to the polls to vote in November.
Carolyn Heinrich, Nashville 37215
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Marsha Blackburn's silence matters more than ever | Letters