[theoddz]

Originally Posted by JAGG

I am a Marine. (once a Marine....) I was a drill instructor.
Loved every second I was there , I lived my dream. Got kicked out for being gay. You can read about it in a book called "Conduct Unbecoming." By Randy Shilts. Long story. Too long to explain. The book doesn't state all the facts, mainly because I refused to be interviewed by anyone. But court martials are public record, so they got most of the info from that, and then some other info from those who were willing to tell their story .So not always accurate, or the whole complete truth, since it didn't come straight from the horses' mouth, so to speak. None-the-less the book gives you the general idea of what happened.
But don't think I'm bitter, because nothing could be less true. I love the Marine Corps it was my dream to be a Marine. Although it was hard to have the dream taken away, I'm always proud to say I am a Marine. I lived my dream, not many people can say that. Some people live their whole life and never know what that feels like. But I do. And I will always be grateful for that. If I could add one more comment, don't hold it against the Marine Corps, because it wasn't the Corps , just a few homophobic people in it. I had a lot of secret support, from alot of straight hard corps Marines. Doing things that could have gotten them in big trouble, to help me as much as they could.
Hey Semper Fi Oddz. I'm all present and accounted for.
JAGG

Semper Fi, Brother!!!

I knew you had been a DI, but didn't know you were discharged for being gay. That really just blows my fuse. Back in '79, all of my drill instructors, save one, were discharged for homosexuality as the result of a huge WITCH HUNT (yes, I'm going to use that word, because that's exactly what it was, back in the day, before DADT). All I can say about that is that 3 careers were ruined and terminated, and the Marine Corps lost 3 of the most exemplary, squared away, dedicated, motivated (and motivating) Marines. During my tour, I witnessed even more, even some of my dear friends, get less than honorable discharges just because they were gay. They have no VA benefits to this day, and that is beyond deplorable.

In the Marine Corps, there has always been a few good men and women who are "different", yet not all that different, except for sexual orientation, and I'm sure this probably goes for the other branches, too, but in the Marine Corps, we were always just a bit tighter. That's pretty damned tight, too. We served together, protected each other, had each other's back (in most cases, sadly, not in others) and shared that extra bit of camaraderie. I think that's what really hurt, back then and even now....when there was a betrayal, and in most cases, that resulted from coercion and lies. It was all so very sad. It hurt everyone concerned and certainly the loss of these very good Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coasties was not beneficial to the service.

Yes, we ARE Marines. We don't make excuses or apologies for that. It just is. It doesn't mean that any branch is any "better" than another. Each branch is specially and specifically trained to accomplish it's specific mission. It has to be that way. That training is instilled in each Marine during basic training and it never leaves us. You don't go through something like that and not have it change your life forever. It changes how you think about everything...every challenge you will ever have in your life reverts your mind back to your Marine Corps training. When it's said "The change is forever.", that is exactly what they mean, and it is.

JAGG, as a Drill Instructor and Marine, you touched and changed a LOT of lives in ways which you will never know. I think back about my own DI's often, and I wonder where they are and what they've done after The Corps. I wonder if they will ever know how much I've been able to do and overcome in my life. I want them to know that I do push a little further, try a little harder and hang in there a lot longer......because of them.

I AM a Marine.

Semper Fi,
~Theo~