{"id":64976,"date":"2021-11-19T02:37:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T02:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/11\/19\/sacrifice-beyond-the-call-of-duty\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:45:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:45:28","slug":"sacrifice-beyond-the-call-of-duty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/11\/19\/sacrifice-beyond-the-call-of-duty\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacrifice beyond the call of duty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Being part of the military is an act of sacrifice for individuals and their families. Civilians like me understand that on a very superficial level. All kinds of media tell us that sacrifice means you are willing to die for your country. But what military service members and your families do is much more than that. You have sacrificed your freedom for ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a gay man and a civilian, I can never wholly appreciate the sacrifice of those who serve, including my father and brother. Working in the White House, hundreds of active, retired, and discharged military personnel shared with me their commitment to duty and honor in service of their country. I had to learn and to listen; I had to communicate how discrimination against one dishonors the sacrifice of all and negatively impacts national security, readiness, and unit cohesion. It is a lesson I use often now in my work with military families as executive director of PFLAG National<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As servicemembers, you know the sacrifices that you have made. You have given up a \u201cnormal\u201d life for civilians like me. Yet for many years, a discriminatory law has forced some siblings at arms to additionally sacrifice their identity, their safety, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Very few politicians know what it is to truly sacrifice one\u2019s freedom. As a Navy sailor and diver familiar with donning the Mark V, Lt. Harvey Milk knew that sacrifice intimately. On Nov. 27, 1978, Milk was assassinated. This month, the Navy launched the USNS Harvey Milk<\/a> in his honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Cold War tensions increased in the early 1950s, Lt. Milk served aboard the USS Kittiwake supporting the Submarine Force US Atlantic Fleet. In 1955, while serving as a diving instructor at Naval Base, San Diego, Milk accepted an \u201cother than honorable discharge\u201d because he was gay. Yet he continued to serve his country, becoming one of the nation\u2019s first openly gay elected officials. Upon receiving several death threats for being openly gay, Milk presciently recorded the statement, \u201cIf a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet shatter every closet door.\u201d The USNS Harvey Milk is a symbol of that shattered door in the Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\t