It's been 14 years since Bill Clinton's administration enacted Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the discriminatory measure barring out gays from serving in the military. To mark the bill's anniversary, 28 retired admirals and generals have sent Congress a bit of an anti-birthday card. There's no "many more" on this one:

…28 retired generals and admirals plan to release a letter on Friday urging Congress to repeal the law.

"We respectfully urge Congress to repeal the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy,” the letter says. “Those of us signing this letter have dedicated our lives to defending the rights of our citizens to believe whatever they wish.”

The retired officers offer data showing that 65,000 gay men and lesbians now serve in the American armed forces and that there are more than one million gay veterans.

“They have served our nation honorably,” the letter states.

Human Rights Campaign and gay activists, meanwhile, are showing their indignation by flying 12,000 flags on the National Mall. Those flags, of course, represent 12,000 soldiers booted for being bent. 12,000 sure is a conveniently round number, huh?

Oh, and be sure to watch HRC's video about the flag flying – it's very patriotic.