Sailor With HIV: Ban Is ‘Breach of Trust’

Here, in this city’s military cemetery, among the old granite tombstones that stretch to the sea, the 32-year-old Navy petty officer imagines the ghosts of fallen soldiers mocking him, saying, “You are no longer one of us.”

The officer, who has been HIV-positive for eight years, expects to be forced out of the military by August.

President Clinton signed a $265-billion defense authorization bill Saturday that includes a provision to discharge the officer and other military personnel who have the AIDS virus. Unless repeal efforts prevail, the legislative provision, sponsored by Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), requires their dismissal within six months.

Clinton called the move against HIV-positive personnel “blatantly discriminatory” and said he will back efforts in Congress to repeal the provision.

On a walk through Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, a place he visits often in search of solace and peace, the officer’s mood turns bitter.

“I agreed to die for my country,” he said.

“I think that it’s shallow for our government to breach that trust in us, and to throw away the good faith that we put into that agreement. . . . I’ve given the same honor and commitment and the same dedication to my country as my [fallen] counterparts did.”

The 12-year officer would not allow his name to be used because he hopes the provision will be repealed and he will be able to continue his military service without fear of being stigmatized. Most of his colleagues, he said, do not know that he is HIV-positive.

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Years ago, the officer had considered his Navy stint temporary. He had planned to become a lawyer like his father. But the officer--a former Sailor of the Year on his base--fell in love with life at sea and set out to rise through the military ranks.

Now he regrets the years of service that he could have spent in law school. And the times he chose duty over family: when he missed his sister’s wedding, when he took only a few days off to fly home to the Midwest before his mother--and best friend--died of cancer two years ago.

“If I had known that, eventually, all these sacrifices that I made to support and defend this democracy, in turn, was going to be my demise, I would never have joined the military,” said the officer, in a crisp, black uniform.

Still, with so many years behind him, he said it would be difficult to leave the Navy, whether on his own terms or the government’s.

The officer, who is single, shows no AIDS-related symptoms. He is rosy-cheeked and quick to laugh. His recent Navy physical proclaims him in “outstanding” condition, and he does aerobics and weight training several times a week.

Under the new provision, the 1,049 service members who have tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus will be dismissed, regardless of whether they are sick or able to perform duties.

A Dornan aide said Saturday that the congressman would ensure they would be honorably discharged, with medical benefits.

Dornan could not be reached for comment Saturday. But he has said that HIV-positive service members impair the nation’s military readiness because current policy bans them from overseas deployment. That is unfair to other personnel who are spending time overseas away from their families, Dornan said.

The Navy officer agrees. The policy was set 10 years ago, when little was known about the AIDS virus and its effect. He is ready and able to go overseas, as he did in the mid-1980s on assignments that took him to Japan, Australia and other countries. He was in an elite unit on routine patrols but declines to specify his duties.

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In foreign waters, on the loneliness of his night watch, he sometimes got a lump in his throat, watching the American flag flutter overhead.

“It was emotional sometimes,” the officer said, “knowing you’re serving your country, and there are lives back in the United States that are depending on you to protect them.”

“That really has been the core of my honor. And it’s been really sad lately how I’ve seen that experience and that feeling that is embedded in me slowly kind of rot.”

The officer has been confined to domestic assignments since 1988, when an examination for throbbing headaches resulted in an HIV diagnosis. He is unsure how he was infected and said his sexual orientation is not relevant in a discussion of “a medical issue.”

“Like any other red-blooded American, I indulged in some sexual acts overseas and maybe am paying the price . . . but everyone was out in the same places. It was part of being part of the crew. It was like a rite of passage, being out on the town.”

In those days, he said, the military had no AIDS education programs, as it does now.

“I’m penalized because of the HIV virus. If they treated everyone in the military who had [a venereal disease] the same way they treated us, there’d be a lot of empty ships.”

It is ironic, the officer said, that the discharge provision was approved at a time when Magic Johnson, who is HIV-positive, is making a triumphant return to the Los Angeles Lakers. Meanwhile, the officer and other service members with the AIDS virus don’t know where they will turn if they get their discharge papers, including 16-year veterans who were counting on their retirement packages in another two years.

Said the officer: “There are a lot of lost souls out there.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

HIV and the New Law

President Clinton signed a defense bill Saturday that includes a provision to discharge HIV-positive military personnel, regardless of whether they are sick or able to perform their duties. The provision was sponsored by Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), and Clinton said he will back efforts in Congress to repeal it. Here’s what HIV-positive personnel now get in pay and benefits and what the new law will provide:

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New Currently law Pay and allowances Yes No Separation pay (involuntary)* N/A Yes Unemployment compensation N/A Yes Full medical care Yes Yes Family medical care Yes No VA benefits No Yes Commissary/exchange access Yes 2 Yrs. Separation counseling N/A Yes Employment assistance N/A Yes Relocation assistance N/A Yes

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* Under the new law, HIV-positive personnel will be involuntarily separated

Source: Department of Defense