Today, I sent a PM on FA to WhiteDingo, who commissioned this famous piece – "I Leave at 5" (NSFW) – back in summer 2007, to thank him for having commissioned the piece from Fluke, given today’s events. 

I felt that Fluke’s piece really captured both the fear of impending separation and, if intended, the "illegal" nature of gay relationships for U.S. servicemembers. I can imagine the soldier dog who is forced to treat his mate as an "othertime", "undercover" lover rather than a legitimate, open spouse, and that he must savor these last few minutes of restless, tearful parting at his lover’s indiscreet apartment before he leaves in the wee hours for the post to deploy to wherever the brass may order him and his battalion. Other members of his battalion will be able to receive their well-wishes from their opposite-sex spouses and kids on post before walking the long walk to the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy on the tarmac. 

Of course, many in the battalion may not come back alive, or may come back with nothing more than the breath in their body left intact. Our soldier dog may lose a limb and get a Purple Heart, but then come back and find out that someone has outed him to the brass and he is on his way out of rank and into veteran-style poverty, with nary a support line for himself or his mate after he has been so unceremoniously dumped from service. 

Amazing, in a sad and horrifying way, how this policy stayed in force for so long.

My sincere hope is that the love shared between a servicemember and a spouse, no matter the sexual orientation of the relationship, will no longer be an obstruction to the servicemember’s career.