US Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva was the first American wounded in the war in Iraq. On March 21, 2003, he was traveling in Iraq in a convoy to Basra with his battalion when he stepped on a landmine, breaking his right arm and damaging his leg so badly that it needed to be amputated. Alva was awarded a Purple Heart and received a medical discharge from the military.

Now, Alva has come out, and he’s working with the Human Rights Campaign to speak out against the military “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy banning gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans from serving in the armed forces. On Feb. 28, 2007, Alva joined Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Mass., in calling for an end to the destructive “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Alva told Congress, “I’m an American who fought for his country. Who’d have ever guessed the first American wounded was a gay Marine.”

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