Posted on 01/06/2014 8:56:38 AM PST by hoagy62
Hal Faulkner is 79 years old and he's already lived months longer than his doctors predicted.
"I don't know what to say, it's just incredible that I'm still here," Faulkner says in a halting voice made gruff by age and cancer.
Faulkner joined the Marines in 1953, and served in the Philippines. In 1956, he got kicked out with an "undesirable discharge" for being gay. His military papers said "homosexual" on them, quite an obstacle in the 1950s.
Still, Faulkner moved on, and had a successful career in sales.
A few years ago, when he got diagnosed with terminal cancer, Faulkner contacted his family about a dying wish.
............
The Marines acted on his dying request in just two weeks. Last Friday in Florida, a small group presented Faulkner with his honorable discharge.
................
"I didn't think that maybe I would last through all the battles that we've had, but a Marine is always a Marine," Faulkner said at the ceremony.
As he spoke, two young Marines in uniform presented him with his papers. Air Force Lt. Col. John Gillespie, who is on the board of OutServe-SLDN, read the new discharge paper out loud.
Friends and family stood by, mostly in tears, including Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign which pushed for years to allow gays in the military. Sainz hopes more veterans will get their records upgraded.
"What happened today is that a dying man, his dignity was restored," Sainz says. "He will die here knowing that he served his country honorably. You certainly can't right the wrong of six decades, [but] you can make it right going forward. And that's what happened today, and that's what we hope will come to thousands of American similarly situated."
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
> A friend sent this to me.
Dear God....we have sunk SO low.
You mean the leftist MSM capitalizing on it to promote homosexuality with a “touchy / feeley” emotion manipulation tactic, right?
There was no "wrong." He was a homo. The Marines forbade homos from serving. When they found out he was a homo, they discharged him, and since he had lied about being a butt pirate, the discharge was dishonorable. As it should have been.
The only ones "wronged" here are the Marines, who have been portrayed as the bad guys while the rump wrecker is a poor, unfortunate "victim."
Hogwash.
If he was kicked out for being unfit, then he’s no longer a Marine. So, the opening sentence is a lie. No need to read further.
Most likely, the Marines found out when he was arrested for Solicitation or was caught trying to molest a lower rank.
NY Times foodie Craig Claibourne served in the Navy in WW2 and Korea and he said homosexuality was more accepted in the service as long as you kept quiet about it. Especially if your steady lover had a wife.
Saw the same thing in the 1/27 during Tet, I was in another Unit. Put on a nightgown and offered to do unspeakable acts. Got the piss beat out of him and a Bad Conduct Discharge real quick.
Why would you judge him?
Of course, Craig Claiborne had incestuous relations with his father (or so he claimed) so who knows?!
You can certainly wrong the rights of six decades apparently
but those horrible Christians should be persecuted with a jack boot down their throats
/sarc
Why don’t the boa-boys at the Pentagon REALLY give him his “dying last wish”. Give him back pay back to ‘53 until now! LOL! Give it to all of the others who were thrown out for being homosexuals too! This is bull****! As for the back pay, that’s coming. The “lawyers” just haven’t gotten to it yet. “Fundamental transformation!” WAKE UP AMERICA!
That Bronze Star, Purple Heart and lack of a leg won't get him into Heaven. Sodomy is an offense against God and man, a violation of the Natural Law and Divine Revelation. It is a deadly sin; he must, by the Grace of God repent of it and turn his life over to Christ. Otherwise, he is headed for Hell.
1 Cointhians 6:
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything. 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two shall become one flesh.” 17 But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Your friend's military heroism in no way justify or excuse his foul lifestyle of dedication to immorality, to degrading God in his own body. If you care at all for him, you WILL judge his actions and call him to repent of them. May God abundantly bless both you and him with the grace to live lives of holiness, glorifying God in ALL that you do.
I’ve seen a female MP that wasn’t a lesbian, she was married to one of the officers in my unit.
When I was stationed in Germany, there were two gays in my unit and for the most part they kept to themselves until one PCS’d back to the ‘States and the other must have been missing his honey bunny or something because we got sent down to Hohenfels for a month and after formation at the end of the day he’d RUN to the barracks and get ready to hit the showers. He’d then RUN to the showers and would stay there for several hours. After three days he got busted by both the Colonel and Sgt Major (OOOOPS). The next morning he was on a bus back up to Baumholder (after spending the night on a cot in the TOC where he had to be escorted by two NCO’s where ever he went), and he was no where to be seen when we got back three weeks later.
Television show MASH would have been more enjoyable if that had happened to Klinger and about half the rest of the cast.
I know that.
A gay friend of mine who was drafted and fought in Korea knew that. I salute all our soldiers - gay and straight - who fought to protect us.
BUT: if someone acted in a dishonorable way - they needed to be kicked out of the armed forces.
Who am I, who never served, to judge him?
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