Two United States military veterans made history at San Diego’s Camp Pendleton this week, and it had nothing to do with miles run or targets shot. This momentous occasion was all about love.
On Tuesday, Navy man Cory Huston and Marine Avarice Guerrero, both of whom are war veterans, became the first gay men to get engaged on a U.S. military base. Huston met Guerrero when he was assigned to the Marines as a hospital corpsman, then was discharged under the former “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Guerrero remained enlisted, and was deployed to Afghanistan. With DADT now dead, Huston decided to propose when Guerrero returned from his most recent 10-month stint abroad. The San Diego LGBT Weekly was there:
After a few minutes of emotional holding and kissing, Huston went anxiously down on one knee; looked up at Guerrero, who was dressed from head to toe in military fatigues; and produced an engagement ring and the time-honored phrase, “Will you marry me?”
Huston’s mild tremble, a result of hours and days of anticipation about this day, was quickly quieted by the one word every hopeful fiancé wants to hear: “Yes.”
“This is a huge step for me,” Huston told the Weekly. Considering that a year ago both he and Guerrero could have been court-martialed for kissing, let alone exchanging wedding rings, this is a huge step for America, also.
Let us know where you’re registered, gentlemen!
