Friday, Apr 19, 2024 | Last Update : 06:47 PM IST
Helicopter pilots become first active-duty same-sex couple to marry
Two army captains exchanged vows at West Point in first active-duty, same-sex marriage at esteemed United States Military Academy.
According to a New York Time article, two Apache helicopter pilots Daniel Hall, 30, and Vincent Franchino, 26, were married at the New York school's Cadet Chapel on Saturday, January 13.
The captains, who are now stationed together at Fort Bliss in Texas, were married in front of 150 family members and friends, 34 of whom were military officers.
Both of them sported their blue army uniforms and received a saber-arch salute as they left the chapel.
Their reception was held at Skylands Manor in New Jersey.
Franchino and Hall met in August 2009, back when the former was a freshman (or 'plebe' in the school's parlance) and the latter was a senior (or 'firstie').
Later in 2010, they chose each other for a mentorship program - Franchino as mentee and Hall as mentor. It was at this point that their feelings for each other developed.
However, because of the Bill Clinton-effected 1993 policy of 'don't ask, don't tell,' which barred homosexual servicemen and servicewomen from being 'out' in the military, they could not show their feelings.
But when 'don't ask, don't tell' was repealed under Barack Obama in 2011, they came out in public with their relationship.
They weathered multiple challenges and at one point, when Hall was deployed along with his Boeing AH-64 Apache to South Korea, they called their relationship off temporarily.
But they got back together and may now hope to live happily ever after.
