On March 21st, 2003, Eric Alva, a Unites States Marine Staff Sgt. from San Antonio, Texas, became the first soldier to be wounded in the United States invasion of Iraq when he stepped on a land mine and lost his leg.Today, backed by the Human Rights Campaign, Sgt. Alva publicly came out as a gay man and called for the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy which only allows gays and lesbians to serve in the military as long as they don't disclose their sexual orientation or it's disclosed for them.
On July 13th, 2003, Sgt. Alva was also among those who received a Heroes and Heritage award from the National Council of La Raza honoring Hispanic veterans in the United States armed forces.
To read more about Sgt. Alva's long road to recovery after he lost his leg in Iraq and about his decision to come out, check out the following:
- "Don't Ask Don't Tell: From the Inside Out" by Eric Alva (Huffington Post, Feb. 28, 2007)
- "Defending His Country, but Not Its 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy" (Washington Post, Feb. 27, 2007)
- "'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Revisited" (ABC News, Feb. 28, 2007)
- "New bill would let gays serve openly" (Navy Times, Feb. 28, 2007)
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