Nation's first Iraq
war wounded
demands gay inclusion
Deb Price,
detnews.com from the Web, March 5, 2007
The first American wounded in Iraq
was a gay Marine. His buddies knew it as they rushed to his shattered
body. Now he wants the nation to know as Congress weighs whether to repeal
Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
In the early hours of the U.S. ground invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Marine
Staff Sgt. Eric Alva's life changed forever: He stepped out of his Humvee
and onto a landmine.
"There was a huge explosion and black smoke and sand falling from the sky and
shrapnel flying," recalls Alva. "I was thrown 10 feet." Dazed, his
ears ringing, Alva saw in horror that part of his index finger was gone.
And when he awoke in a medical tent back in Kuwait, he saw a bandaged stump
where his right leg belonged.
"My thoughts were, 'This is a nightmare. This can't be happening,'" says
Alva, a marathon runner who had just re-enlisted. "I was losing everything
I had known for the past 12 years."
Alva, whose other leg was badly damaged, became a symbol of the physical
sacrifices being made by young Americans in Iraq. President and Mrs. Bush
visited to thank him for his service. Alva appeared on "Oprah" and in
People magazine. Back home in San Antonio, he was a celebrity.
In the media blitz, Alva kept secret that he's gay. He didn't reveal the
emotional sacrifices he'd needlessly been forced to make. He didn't say
that every time he signed up for another tour of duty he had to choose between
serving our country and having a fulfilling personal life.
He'd shared his secret with dozens of fellow Marines but had shied away from
romantic relationships for fear of losing his career. "People would wonder
why I didn't date, why I'd go to the Marine Corps ball every year alone," he
says. "I would confide in them. And people reacted positively.
People respected me as an individual, for the job I did."
Discharged because of his wounds, Alva fell in love with Darrell Parsons.
Last summer, Parsons urged him to courageously come out and speak up for gay
soldiers risking their lives to bring freedom to others while themselves being
discriminated against. "You have a unique story to tell," Parsons recalls
saying. "This is your moment to shine."
Alva contacted the gay Human Rights Campaign. At the press conference
announcing re-introduction of a bill to repeal the gay ban, Alva was back in the
spotlight. He spoke for the gay men and lesbians who can't speak up for
themselves. And he led a platoon of folks to Capitol Hill to lobby for
lifting the ban.
"I am an American who fought for his country and for the rights and freedoms of
all American citizens, not just some of them, but all of them," Alva declared.
"When I was injured, everybody didn't stop, the people who knew me -- that I was
gay -- to say, 'Well he's gay. Don't help him. Let's not save his
life.' They were saving the life of an American."
The first American wounded in Iraq, a runner who won't run again, is now quite
rightly asking something of the nation he proudly served: "Give (gay
soldiers) the chance to serve openly, to have the opportunity to be judged for
who they are."
Reach Deb Price at (202) 662-8736 or
dprice@detnews.com.
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