Serving In Silence, Before ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

This weekend, gay pride celebrations will mark the first year since the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the law that banned gays from serving openly in the U.S. military.

Denny Meyer, 65, is a veteran who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War. During a recent visit to StoryCorps, he remembered what it was like to be both gay and a sailor in the late 1960s.

“In those days, we served in silence. And not one day passed when you didn’t worry that you were going to be found out,” he says.