Celebrity Marine fights for military gays

WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. Marine, perhaps the first American wounded in the Iraq war, is still fighting a private battle -- for all gays in the military.

Staff Sgt. Eric Alva lost a leg to a land mine during his time in Iraq, earning him medals, media attention and a meeting with the president and first lady.

But, it wasn't until Wednesday that he revealed to the rest of the world at a Washington news conference that he was a homosexual, CNN reported.

He now hopes to use his celebrity status in a campaign to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, to hasten an end to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy under which revelation usually means immediate discharge.

Alva said he fought for his country and for its people -- "not just some of them, but all of them."

U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Mass., has reintroduced a bill to lift the ban.