17 Years Prior...
It was 1993. i did my first deployment to the Balkans and was stationed in Heidelberg, Germany. Bill Clinton wanted to let gays and lesbians serve openly. It was all over CNN and the republicans were having none of it.
i was so caught up in the excitement that i was tempted to come out. Fortunately, cooler heads and common sense prevailed and i kept my mouth shut. Good thing too, since DADT was passed as a compromise that was anything but. i went underground and managed to last another 8 years. i got my tinfoil retirement, but at what a cost.
Oh, and with me is Rambo, my working dog. Neither one of us got shot on that deployment. Rambo got a few good bites in though. Good boy!!
(i worked with the Swedes and Norwegians on this deployment - Swedes here - and they were wonderful!! i need to go visit Scandanavia!)
For a humorous page from the comic book (yes, comic book) that the Army was distributing back then to explain how this whole "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" (you see how long that whole "don't pursue" part lasted, LOL!) program was going to work, click here.
