Gay veteran kicked out of Army receives honorable discharge

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

An 82-year-old Ohio veteran has received an honorable discharge a half-century after the Army kicked him out for being gay.

Donald Hallman of Columbus requested a reversal of his 1955 “undesirably” discharged status after President Barack Obama repealed the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” rule in 2010.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, helped Hallman obtain the update. Brown says an estimated 100,000 Americans have been discharged from the military because of their sexual orientation since World War II and often lost benefits they had earned.

Brown co-sponsored federal legislation to help service members discharged solely due to their sexual orientation correct their military records and receive reinstated benefits.

Hallman served from 1953 to 1955 and was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany.