Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II
"This carefully researched and documented book is must reading for members of Congress, military policy makers, veterans, and every American who is interested in how the events of World War II still affect our lives today."--Representative Patricia Schroeder, former member, House Committee on Armed Services"A fascinating, poignant and infuriating document that affords legions of American veterans their first authentic homecoming. Allan Berube deserves a medal."--Armistead Maupin, author ofTales of the City"Extraordinary. . . . What is most fascinating about Berube's book are not the cases of gay oppression but the evidence of official acknowledgment of a gay presence within the military . . . whose numbers were far greater than anyone had imagined at the onset of the war. . . .Coming Out Under Firesucceeds by describing in detail the prejudice and social change of a turbulent era . . . [and adds] important information to the current debate over the military's battle to keep homosexuals out of the armed services." --Randy Shilts,San Francisco Chronicle"A pioneering work . . . original and well-documented. . . . Mr. Berube deserves plaudits for making a strong contribution to our knowledge about those who marched to a different drummer."--Herbert Mitgang,New York Times"A timely and valuable perspective. . . .Coming Out Under Fire, the product of more than 10 years of research, of digging into archives and interviewing scores of veterans, is the story of how--out of necessity--the military coped with this large influx of homosexuals, and how gay men and women coped with the military. . . . Particularly in the context of [the] debate over who has the right to fight and die for his or her country,Coming Out Under Fireis well worth reading."--Doris Kerns Goodwin,New York Times Book Review