DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY

This issue strikes a personal chord for me. In the 1940s, my grandfather was accused of being gay and court-martialed. He wound up going AWOL and committing suicide.

If he had been gay, that alone would have been difficult enough for my grandmother and her two children to cope with, without the additional complication of condemnation by the military. Unfortunately, the issue had to remain a hidden shadow of shame for my family.

I wish my grandparents were alive today to witness the veils of denial being lifted.

DARYL WINN

Santa Monica