"I was going to do…what I could to see to it that gay people here in Washington got a square deal." (Video interview, 45:25)

Franklin E. Kameny

Franklin Kameny [detail from video] War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Army Unit: 58th Armored Infantry Battalion, 8th Armored Division, 9th Army Service Location: Fort Benning, Georgia; Camp Polk, Louisiana; Tidworth Barracks, England; Normandy, France; Roermond, Netherlands; Germany; Czechoslovakia Rank: Private First Class

After serving with the 58th Armored Infantry Battalion in the European Theater during World War II, Private First Class Franklin E. Kameny returned home to pursue a doctorate in astronomy. Though no longer part of the military, he chose to serve his country through civil service, and was hired by the Army Map Service—and subsequently fired for being gay. Not only did he fight his own landmark legal battle, but also he became a de facto paralegal, helping civil servants challenge discriminatory rulings, and sitting on the DC draft board in order to protect the rights of gay draftees. The founder of the Mattachine Society of Washington, he is considered one of the founding fathers of the gay rights movement. In addition to his Veterans History Project collection, the Library of Congress holds his vast collection of papers: http://rs5.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/2009/ms009068.pdf.