A Marine, Who Happened to Be Gay, Saved a President

[Hissyspit]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/12/27/105743/commentary-a-marine-who-happened.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=news

Commentary: A Marine, who happened to be gay, saved a president

By Dan Morain | The Sacramento Bee
On the day that the U.S. Senate voted to shed one more discriminatory shackle, Sen. Dianne Feinstein paused for a moment to remember a Marine veteran of Vietnam, a hero named Billy Sipple.

Sipple had become a troubled man at the end of his days in 1989. He got by on disability checks; his square-jawed good looks long since had disappeared into his 298-pound hulk.

- snip -

Sipple, the son of a Detroit autoworker, had been discharged from the Marines in 1970 and made his way to San Francisco in search of acceptance, like so many others.

On Sept. 22, 1975, Sipple was on the sidewalk outside the St. Francis Hotel hoping to catch a glimpse of another Michigan native, Gerald Ford.

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[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[lillypaddle]

2. Rec n/t

[UTUSN]

3. K&R #23 but his own feeling his privacy was invaded is also significant. n/t

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

4. Very much so...

I never knew Billy, but knew someone who had run around with him for a while.