Eric Alva

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Major General Christopher Cortez (left), commends Staff Sergeant Eric Alva on July 13, 2003, calling him "a credit to the Corps".[1]

Staff Sergeant Eric Fidelis Alva was the first U.S. military service member injured in the Iraq War.[2] He was in charge of 11 marines in a supply unit when, on March 21, 2003, he stepped on a land mine, losing his right leg.[3] He joined the United States Marine Corps in 1990 at the age of 19.

Currently he is working with Democratic representative Martin Meehan of Massachusetts and a bipartisan group of representatives to Capitol Hill to reintroduce the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, legislation that would repeal the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gay service members.[4]

[edit] Quotes

• "I come from a family of servicemen. My dad, Fidelis, is a Vietnam vet. My grandfather, also named Fidelis, was a World War II and Korean War veteran. I was named after them. My middle name is Fidelis. Fidelis means always faithful."[5]
• "We're losing probably thousands of men and women that are skilled at certain types of jobs, from air traffic controllers to linguists, because of this broken policy."[6]
• Responding to a question about whether being in the closet adversely affected him: "On a professional level, no, because I knew I had a job to do. On a personal level, in some ways, yes, because it was hard for me to live sometimes knowing that I was alone or that I couldn’t be open about who I wanted to date."[7]

[edit] External links

• Defending His Country, but Not Its 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy
• Out former marine goes to Congress to fight "don't ask, don't tell"
• Wounded, Marine and gay
• GMA's Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell Segment Focuses on Sympathetic Story of One Gay Marine
• Marine Hero Comes Out, Fights Military Gay Ban
• HRC: Eric Alva Comes Out Against 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'
• Gay Marine rocks the US military
• Eric Alva at The Huffington Post
• Alva interviewed by Michele Norris