pecunium

Four months after their son's death, Jeff and Lori sit at the kitchen table, the place where Lori says "a lot has gone down." They both say the Army's been good to them. They don't feel anger, except as Jeff puts it, for "those fuckers at the Capitol" who voted against same-sex marriage.

CPL Andrew Wilfahrt was killed in Afghanistan on 27 Feb. He was gay. His unit knew it. His parents grieve. They are activists now, because of their grief. Wilfarht wasn't a kid, blinded by idealism. He was 29 when he enlisted. I have some idea of what he was thinking (I was 25 when I enlisted). Not completely, I don't think, were I 29, and not in the Army, I'd have enlisted to support this war.

But he enlisted into the MPs. He did well as a soldier (one doesn't make CPL if one isn't squared away, it's probably the hardest rank to earn). He got unlucky, and bought the farm. From the reports in that story, was also lucky. He got to do something he enjoyed (and I understand that), and he got to do it with people he loved, who knew for who he was, and loved him in return.

So, send that story to John McCain. Send it to Michele Bachmann, and Tim Pawlenty. Send to every bigot in office who says homosexuals aren't real people, entitled to the same rights as straights.

Ave atque vale, frater, and flights of angels speed thee to thy rest.