We spoke to Bob (he/him) in Rochester, NY on May 7, 2026. Bob served in the US Army as a Private First Class from 1957 to 1959, and he was primarily stationed in Germany. While Bob recognized that many Black men enlisted in the military as a “way out” of institutionalized socio-economic segregation and racism in America, he told us that he joined “because of love.” Bob’s male partner at the time was in ROCT, and he wanted to follow him into the service when he was due to fulfill his obligation. An additional motivating factor was that he knew that he was less likely to be drafted if he volunteered to join the military for a term.

Bob was out when he enlisted, but he also knew that he needed to stay “on down low” while in the military. His memories of his service are punctuated by extremes. On the one hand, he remembered that “it was very open in the service as long as you kept your head down” and that “a lot of gay people served all through it.” On the other hand, he also recalled that queer people were liable to be “purged,” or discharged, on account of small infractions. Bob’s own experiences spanned these extremes. He spoke about visiting gay bars, socializing with other queer service people, and having partners off base. He was also eventually targeted on account of his sexuality and received a general discharge, a classification he fought for years and eventually overturned to honorable discharge. 

When he thinks back to his time in the military, Bob reflected that it “satisfied my curiosity for travel and for seeing other strange places.” He also viewed his service as a way to connect to his family’s legacy of serving (his family members participated in the First and Second World Wars). Today, Bob lives as an out gay man in Rochester, NY, where he’s well connected and much loved in the community. “I’ve done a lot of marching in my life,” he told us, referring to Pride parades, AIDS activism, and political protests.