Soldier of the Year: The Story of a Gay American Patriot
Zuniga, Jose
ISBN 10: 0671888145 / ISBN 13: 9780671888145
Published by Pocket Books, 1994
Bibliographic Details
Title: Soldier of the Year: The Story of a Gay ...
Publisher: Pocket Books
Publication Date: 1994
Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
About this title
Synopsis:
In March of 1993, the Army pronounced Gulf War veteran Sgt. Jose Zuniga the 1992 Soldier of the Year. Six weeks later, Zuniga's military career ended
when he revealed that he was gay. This is an intensely personal account of the homophobia and hypocrisy that pervades the American military.
From the Back Cover:
As a boy growing up in Indiana and Texas, Joe Zuniga originally wanted to be a priest - the Zunigas were devout Catholics. But his family had a strong
military tradition, and Joe's Mexican-American father considered military service to be the one fittingly masculine profession for his only son. Joe was
offered a congressional appointment to West Point, but declined it to stay near home when his mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Arriving at
boot camp in Fort Bliss, Texas, in 1989, Joe began a military career that took off at an astounding pace. During Operations Desert Shield and Desert
Storm he excelled as both a journalist and a combat medic, earning decorations in both capacities, and rose rapidly to the rank of sergeant. After the war,
Joe married to avoid questions about his personal life, and landed a plum assignment as editor of the newspaper at the Presidio of San Francisco, where
he won both Journalist of the Year and Soldier of the Year. Joe appeared to be on a fast track to the Pentagon, his future in the military assured. Then he
tired of living a lie. Picking up where Randy Shilts' Conduct Unbecoming leaves off, Soldier of the Year is an intensely candid account of the
homophobia and hypocrisy that pervade the American military - and much of American society. While in the Army, Joe was horrified to discover the
gestapo-like treatment of gays in the military, but was heartened by President Clinton's early pledges to open the ranks of the armed forces to all men and
women, gay or straight. Joe felt that by very publicly coming out of the closet he could help make a difference. He could not have imagined the byzantine
punishments the Army had in store for him - norClinton's political retreat that resulted in the infamous "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy. The
Soldier of the Year was discharged. Honest and unflinching, Soldier of the Year is a powerful report from the front lines of a heated controversy that
shows no signs of abating. It is the autobiography of a young man who cast aside what his family and society expected him to be for the sake of freedom
and love, and for the opportunity to forge his identity on his own terms. In his courageous struggle to become himself, Joe Zuniga gives hope to us all.
