<\/p>\n
John Glenn Gooch’s military stone had only recently been I kneeled down to clear the ground of some fresh growth and Glenn’s grave had an American flag waving over it, and as I That neither Brad nor I are eligible to serve because of our Of all my identities, including my religious one, nothing is <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" John Glenn Gooch’s military stone had only recently been placed in the cemetery when we arrived to plant flowers to honor him this Memorial Day weekend.\u00a0 Glenn died this winter and is now buried near the town where he arrived in America from Wales at the age of six.\u00a0 An American by choice, Glenn served…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,9,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homosexuality","category-religion-in-the-public-square","category-war"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nplaced in the cemetery when we arrived to plant flowers to honor him this
\nMemorial Day weekend.\u00a0 <\/span>Glenn died
\nthis winter and is now buried near the town where he arrived in America from
\nWales at the age of six.\u00a0 <\/span>An
\nAmerican by choice, Glenn served in World War II directing warplanes in Greenland, and during the last year of his life he often told me of his fond
\nmemories and proud days of service in the American Armed Forces.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\nbreak up the dirt while my partner Brad and his mother Bette waited to hand me the
\nmore “masculine” flowers she had picked out for him.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Bette and Glenn had been married sixty-four years having
\nmet in high school in this northeastern corner of Pennsylvania.\u00a0 <\/span>Both were from mining families – not
\nthe owners, but the miners – and Glenn was able to go to college because of the
\nGI Bill that greeted returning veterans and later rose to become the President and C.E.O. of a major utilities company in the area.<\/p>\n
\ndug I felt deep appreciation for his service, and for the service he and so
\nmany others have given to allow me to live a relatively free life in this
\ncountry.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I recalled reading an essay written by my father Walter Raushenbush at Harvard lamenting
\nthat he had narrowly missed the opportunity to fight in WWII, which had ended
\njust before he turned 18.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>At
\nthe time it shocked my young leftist soul that someone should be so eager to
\nfight, but now I appreciate much more the call to serve my country.\u00a0 <\/span>(My father later joined the Air Force
\nrising to the rank of Colonel.)<\/p>\n
\nsexuality is not the point of this brief essay, but it is a point that needs to
\nbe made.\u00a0 <\/span>In reflecting upon his
\nfather’s service, Brad commented that WWII was one of the last common calls
\nupon all Americans.\u00a0 <\/span>The universal
\ndraft made everyone part of a unified effort including\u00a0 <\/span>both Brad’s family and my own. \u00a0<\/span>Although plagued by racial segregation,
\nthe armed forces brought people of every background together and made plain our
\ncommon identity as Americans.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Today, only openly gay and
\nlesbian people are restricted from this opportunity. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\nstronger than my national identity as an American, and my appreciation for the
\nideals upon which this country was founded.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The longer I live, and the more countries I visit,
\nmy pride in my country only grows.\u00a0
\n<\/span>This Memorial Day I give thanks for the memory of John Glenn Gooch, for
\nthe service of Walter Raushenbush, and for all of those who have served in our
\narmed forces to keep our country safe.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>May we continue to become a more perfect union – the
\nland of the free.\u00a0<\/p>\n