GAYS IN THE MILITARY: U.S. Air Force Tech SERGEANT LEONARD MATLOVICH, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appears in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time Magazine with the headline (printed in boldface) “I Am A Homosexual.” He is later given a general discharge. Matlovich, who received a purple heart and a bronze star, for bravery, was one of the first high profile members of the U.S. military to come out of the closet and challenge the ban on Gays serving.

Matlovich is also famous for his statement, which is also the epitaph on his gravestone in Washington, DC’s Congressional Cemetery, “When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.”