Conduct unbecoming : lesbians and gays in the U.S. military : Vietnam to the Persian Gulf

There is a country where citizens are interrogated for long hours and threatened with prison or the loss of their children if they do not cooperate, where citizens are ordered to denounce others, to give information - often entirely fabricated - dispatching people to ignominy and jail. And if they refuse, they are threatened with prison. This country is America, and the subjects under attack are people who have chosen to serve their nation. They are military personnel. They are lesbians and gay men. And they are hunted day in and day out. Author Randy Shilts follows his best-seller And the Band Played On with a book of even greater power and sweep, as he investigates the situation of lesbians and gays in the military over the past three decades, revealing for the first time that some of the most celebrated soldiers in American history were homosexual (including the Father of the United States Army). Five years of interviews with nearly 1,100 gay service people have uncovered extraordinary stories of heroism, persecution, and increasing resistance while documenting the creation of a vast gay subculture within the armed forces. With thousands of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Shilts offers the first in-depth look at the behind-the-scenes decision-making that resulted in the fierce purges of gays in the military over the past thirty years. With its epic scope this book will provide the basis of a national debate not only on the issue of lesbians and gays in the military but on the broader issue of the place of homosexuals in American life. Read more... Abstract: There is a country where citizens are interrogated for long hours and threatened with prison or the loss of their children if they do not cooperate, where citizens are ordered to denounce others, to give information - often entirely fabricated - dispatching people to ignominy and jail. And if they refuse, they are threatened with prison. This country is America, and the subjects under attack are people who have chosen to serve their nation. They are military personnel. They are lesbians and gay men. And they are hunted day in and day out. Author Randy Shilts follows his best-seller And the Band Played On with a book of even greater power and sweep, as he investigates the situation of lesbians and gays in the military over the past three decades, revealing for the first time that some of the most celebrated soldiers in American history were homosexual (including the Father of the United States Army). Five years of interviews with nearly 1,100 gay service people have uncovered extraordinary stories of heroism, persecution, and increasing resistance while documenting the creation of a vast gay subculture within the armed forces. With thousands of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Shilts offers the first in-depth look at the behind-the-scenes decision-making that resulted in the fierce purges of gays in the military over the past thirty years. With its epic scope this book will provide the basis of a national debate not only on the issue of lesbians and gays in the military but on the broader issue of the place of homosexuals in American life Content: The dangerous difference (1778-1954) -- Book 1. The sanction of the victim (1954-1969) : What Tom Dooley really wanted: a prologue to Vietnam Manhood Rules The spy A name on the wall Convenience of the government (part 1) Days of future passed Home front The sanction of the victim -- Book 2. Interrogations (1969-1975) : National security Endings Interrogations Indoctrination Dykes and whores In country Back to the world Winners STRAC Politics and prejudice The letter -- Book 3. Trials (1975-1976) : The color purple (part 1) The green beret Freedom The mile-wide word Triangulates Adjectives and nouns The next generation Transitions The secret report -- Book 4. The family (1977-1980) : The family Reaction The gayest ship in the Navy and other stories Women at sea Angry gods Memorial day Glory days "Until after November" Interregnum Future imperfect -- Book 5. Lesbian vampires of Bavaria (1981-1985) : Thoughtcrimes Surrender Dorothy Railroading Doreen Lesbian vampires of Bavaria Straights In the midnight sky Heroes Exiles Blanket parties Costs HTLV-III Dykebusters Friends of Helga Where it all began -- Book 6. HOMOVAC (1986-1990) : Tom Dooley's undesirable discharge The unquiet death of Michael W. Foster Countertrends The color purple (part 2) At the Buccaneer Motel HOMOVAC: prisoner number 73343 Foreign affairs Naming names The Soesterberg affair Funerals Malleus maleficarum The release of prisoner number 17 Embarrassments in the making Explosions Mockingbirds Official government sources Hearings Holding actions Vindication The fag killer -- Epilogue: Promises to keep : Convenience of the government (part 2) Tom Dooley's honorable discharge. “A thoroughly researched and engrossingly readable history” of gay men and women in the American armed forces by the author of And the Band Played On ( The New York Times Book Review ). Published during the same year the American military instituted Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and eighteen years before President Barack Obama repealed it, Conduct Unbecoming is a landmark work of social justice and a searing indictment of the military establishment’s historic bigotry toward its gay servicemen and women. Randy Shilts’s eye-opening book describes the bravery, both exceptional and everyday, not only of gay soldiers throughout history, but also of gay men and women serving in our modern military. With each anecdote and investigation, Shilts systematically dismantles the arguments against allowing gays to serve in the military. At once a history of the American military and an account of the gay rights movement, Conduct Unbecoming is a remarkable testament to the progress achieved for gays in the military—and a revealing look at how far we have yet to go. The bestselling author of the definitive history of the AIDS epidemic, And the Band Played On, provides the most thorough analysis yet of the place of gay men and women in the US military Published during the same year the American military instituted Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and eighteen years before President Barack Obama repealed it, Conduct Unbecoming is a landmark work of social justice and a searing indictment of the military establishment's historic bigotry toward its gay servicemen and women. Randy Shilts's eye-opening book describes the bravery, both exceptional and everyday, not only of gay soldiers throughout history, but also of gay men and women serving in our modern military. With each anecdote and investigation, Shilts systematically dismantles the arguments against allowing gays to serve in the military. At once a history of the American military and an account of the gay rights movement, Conduct Unbecoming is a remarkable testament to the progress achieved for gays in the military--and a revealing look at how far we have yet to go Interviews with more than one thousand gay servicepeople highlight an investigation into the presence and treatment of homosexuals in the military. By the author of *And the Band Played On.*