Shaun Potts

Professor Dunham

ENG 1101

26, February 2020

Deaf People in the Military

Should deaf people be allowed to serve in the military? In Keith Nolan’s speech called,

“Deaf in the Military” he addresses this question. He is a cadet private and thinks that people

who are deaf should be able to serve in the military. He, himself is deaf. He always had a

longing to be in the military. Various family members of Nolan have been in the military. His

grandfather and great uncle both fought in World War II. Nolan has always been told that he

cannot serve in the military because he is deaf. People who are deaf should be allowed to serve

in the military.

Nolan appeals to ethos in many ways. He establishes his credibility by giving multiple

examples. Right off the bat, at the very beginning of his speech he tells the audience that he is a

cadet private. He then goes on to say how he has always wanted to be in the military and loves

military history. He further establishes his credibility by saying how he has read a great deal on

military history. Nolan continues to inform the audience that he has various family members in

the military, including his grandfather and great uncle, who both served in World War II. “Also,

I have various family members, such as my grandfather and great uncle, who fought in World

War II” (Nolan). Nolan was also a teacher and taught lessons about war history. He also wrote a

research paper entitled “Deaf in the Military”.

There are also ways in which Nolan appeals to pathos. Nolan adds an emotional appeal to

his speech. By telling the audience that he is deaf, he appeals to their emotions. He also tells
stories about how he was always denied the opportunity to be in the military because he is deaf.

He tells a story about after he graduated from high school, he went to a naval recruiting center

with high hopes that he would be able to join the navy. When he walked in a naval man

addressed him. He could not read the man’s lips so he told the man, “’I’m sorry, I’m deaf’”. The

man then tore off a piece of paper and wrote down, “Bad ear. Disqual”. “As he was speaking to

me, it was impossible for me to read his lips, so I said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m deaf.’ He tore off a little

piece of paper and wrote down three words: ‘Bad ear. Disqual.’” This makes the audience feel

for Nolan because he keeps getting told no and is not able to pursue what he loves and wants to

do.

Nolan also does a good job of appealing to logos. He uses logic as to why deaf people

should be allowed to be in the military. In his speech he gives examples of other militaries that

allow deaf people to be in the military. Deaf people are allowed to serve in the Israeli military.

Nolan traveled to Israel in the summer and interviewed deaf Israeli soldiers. “I interviewed ten

deaf Israeli soldiers…”. He goes on to say that in America there has actually been deaf soldiers

that have served in the past. Deaf Israeli soldiers are not fighting on the front lines, but are

behind the lines and serving in supportive roles. He then lists a number of various non-combat

jobs that are accessible to the deaf. “There are a plethora of various non-combat jobs accessible

to the deaf: intelligence, computer technology, map drawing, supply, military dog training- the

list goes on”.

This speech does a great job of convincing people that deaf people should be allowed to

serve in the military. Nolan has passed all of the events that he needed to so far and received high

marks on his exams. He explains that the ROTC has four levels and in order for him to be able to

move to the third level he has to pass a medical exam. Since he is deaf he would fail the hearing
exam. The only reason that he is not able to move up is because he is deaf. Nolan explains how

his Colonel has tried to convince the higher-ups to allow Nolan to move up. “Colonel Phelps has

tried to speak with the higher-ups in the chain of command and explain to them that I’m one of

the top cadets, having passed all the events and receiving high marks on my exams”. The higher-

ups still said that policy is policy and since he is deaf he is not allowed to move up to the next

level.

Nolan does a good job of explaining his story and showing that deaf people should be

allowed to serve in the military. He explains how Israeli soldiers are allowed to serve in the

military. Also, he, himself has passed all of his events and received high marks on his exams. He

is proving that deaf people are very capable of performing the events needed to be passed. There

are other spots in the military, like behind the lines, where deaf people can serve their country.

People who are deaf should be allowed to serve in the military.

 Works Cited

Nolan, Keith. “Deaf in the Military.”

TED,

www.ted.com/talks/keith_nolan_deaf_in_the_military.