don't ask-don't tell

here is one man's hell

it should NOT be like this. in or out of the service. when we can't treat each other with respect and kindness, we will never be able to respect our OWN selves


I Didn't Tell. It Didn't Matter.
Trying to serve his country, a young man faced bigotry and abuse
By Joseph Rocha

I was 18 years old when I landed in the kingdom of Bahrain, off the coast of Saudi Arabia, in the winter of 2005. It was the first time I'd ever left the continental United States. My joints ached after more than 24 hours of travel, but I knew that a new life of service and adventure awaited me on the other side of that aircraft door.

This was the day I had been dreaming about since I'd enlisted in the Navy a few months before, on my birthday. I loved my country, and I knew that I was ready to prove myself in action.

I also knew that I was gay.

However, I chose to put service above my personal life. My understanding of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was that if I kept quiet about my sexuality and didn't break any rules, I would face no punishment. I was wrong.,,,,,,,,

a hero is home

not as he should be though, but home none the less. may his family and friends find peace with this discovery


U.S. Pilot’s Remains Found in Iraq After 18 Years
By THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON — Navy officials announced early Sunday that Marines in the western Iraqi province of Anbar had found remains that have been positively identified as those of an American fighter pilot shot down in the opening hours of the first Persian Gulf war in 1991.

The Navy pilot, Capt. Michael Scott Speicher, was the only American missing in action from that war. Efforts to determine what happened to him after his F/A-18 Hornet was shot down by an Iraqi warplane on Jan. 17, 1991, had continued despite false rumors and scant information.

Conflicting reports from Iraq had, over the years, fueled speculation that the pilot, promoted to captain from lieutenant commander in the years he was missing, might have been taken into captivity either after parachuting from his jet or after a crash landing...........

picture:

U.S. Navy, via Associated Press

Captain Michael Scott Speicher