Eric Alva

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Eric Alva

Major General Christopher Cortez (left), commends Staff Sergeant Eric Alva on July 13, 2003, calling him "a credit to the Corps".[1]
Born December 19, 1971 (1971-12-19) (age 36)

San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Occupation author, United States Marine activist
Website
http://HRC.org

Staff Sergeant Eric Fidelis Alva (born 1971-04-01) was the first U.S. military service member injured in the Iraq Occupation.[2] He was in charge of 11 marines in a supply unit when, on March 21, 2003, he stepped on a land mine, losing his right leg.[3] He joined the United States Marine Corps in 1990 at the age of 19. He is a native of San Antonio, Texas.

Currently he is working with Democratic representative Martin Meehan of Massachusetts and a bipartisan group of representatives to Capitol Hill to reintroduce the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, legislation that would repeal the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding homosexual conduct.[4]

[edit] General Pace controversy

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, General Peter Pace said, "I believe homosexual acts between individuals are immoral."

As a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, Eric Alva said,

“ His remarks were insensitive and disrespectful. ”

When asked by news interviewer Paula Zahn[5]: "Were you ever attracted to a "soldier" in the field?" Alva replied

“ I never took my personal life to work. ”

[edit] Quotes

  • "I come from a family of servicemen. My dad, Fidelis, is a Vietnam vet. My grandfather, also named Fidelis, was a World War II and Korean War veteran. I was named after them. My middle name is Fidelis. Fidelis means always faithful."[6]
  • "We're losing probably thousands of men and women that are skilled at certain types of jobs, from air traffic controllers to linguists, because of this broken policy."[7]
  • Responding to a question about whether being in the closet adversely affected him: "On a professional level, no, because I knew I had a job to do. On a personal level, in some ways, yes, because it was hard for me to live sometimes knowing that I was alone or that I couldn’t be open about who I wanted to date."[8]

[edit] External links