Confessions of a Don't Ask, Don't Tell Soldier

Book excerpt: Moonlight meets American Sniper in this groundbreaking memoir. Rob is a young black man coming to terms with his sexuality amid the backdrop of the hyper-masculine, homophobic U.S. Army. After surviving the notoriously brutal Infantry basic training and then finding himself as a young gay man while remaining closeted to all but a few of his colleagues at his first duty station, he finds himself in dangerous territory after the United States declares war on Iraq and his unit is one of the first called in after the initial invasion. Deftly navigating the intersection of race, sexuality, and public policy, Confessions of a 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Soldier is alternately thought-provoking, humorous, and harrowing. Rob's experience offers a ground-level view of life on the front lines of race and sexuality in the United States military in an unforgettable gay coming-of-age story - with a military twist.