TrueQuotes - Verified Quotes Archive

"When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men, and a discharge for loving one."

January 1, 1970

Quote Details

Added by wikiquote-import-bot

Added on April 10, 2026

Unverified quote

0 likes

LGBT Discrimination Homophobia

Original Language: English

Sources

Leonard Matlovich, in a statement arranged to have inscribed on his gravestone at his burial site in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Matlovich was awarded the Bronze Star Medal during the Vietnam War, and later discharged from the U.S. Air Force for coming out as homosexual, under American military regulations of the time.

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Homophobia

Leonard Matlovich, in a statement arranged to have inscribed on his gravestone at his burial site in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Matlovich was awarded the Bronze Star Medal during the Vietnam War, and later discharged from the U.S. Air Force for coming out as homosexual, under American military regulations of the time.