Ask and Tell

This is from the beaches of Normandy to the streets of Baghdad. The official silence mandated by the 1993 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy continued a collective amnesia about the patriotic service and courageous sacrifices of homosexual troops. ""Ask and Tell"" recovers these lost voices, offering a rich chronicle of the history of gay and lesbian service in the U.S. military from World War II to the Iraq War.Drawing on more than 50 interviews with gay and lesbian veterans, Steve Estes charts the evolution of policy toward homosexuals in the military over the past 65 years, uncovering the ways that silence about sexuality and military service has affected the identities of gay veterans. These veteran voices - harrowing, heroic, and on the record - reveal the extraordinary stories of ordinary Americans, men and women who simply did their duty and served their country in the face of homophobia, prejudice, and enemy fire.