Howard Dewitt Linson

The Untold Truth Don't Ask, Don't Tell Howard Dewitt Linson

When Howard D. Linson joined the U. S. Army at 18 in 1998, wanting to serve his country, he never could have anticipated the ordeal he would face. During his nine-year career he experienced continuous harassment and violence for being a bisexual soldier, which nearly cost him his life. Throughout Linson's enlistment, the issue of gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) people in the military was governed by the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy (DADT), which was repealed in December 2010. It allowed all citizens to join regardless of sexual orientation, as long as they did not reveal their sexual identities. As a result, DADT put Linson and other GLB soldiers in a maddeningly ambiguous situation-they could serve as long as they lived a secret life. And while the law changed the military's policies, it did not change the army's entrenched hatred, ignorance, and bigotry about GLB soldiers. The Untold Truth "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is Linson's harrowing account of surviving a nightmare world of ignorance, paranoia, and oppression, where your greatest enemy is your comrade in arms.