10 LGBTQ Servicemen And Women To Think About On Veterans Day

11:11 isn't just for making wishes. It's also Veterans Day, a national holiday that honors those who have served in the military. On this Veterans Day, lets recognize those LGBTQ military persons who fought not only for our country, but also for their right to serve openly and honestly.

1. Thomas A. Dooley, MD

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Tom Dooley graduated from medical school in 1953 and joined the Navy the following year. After completing his medical residency in Japan, he was assigned to the USS Montague to evacuate refugees from Vietnam. In 1956, he wrote a book, Deliver Us From Evil , in which he discussed his humanitarian efforts abroad. While on a promotional tour for his book, Dooley was accused of engaging in homosexual acts and was forced to resign from the Navy in 1956.

Even after his resignation, Dooley continued his humanitarian efforts. He established medical clinics in Laos under the International Rescue Committee and founded the Medical International Cooperation Organization (MEDICO). He is a recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal and the Legion of Merit.

2. Leonard Matlovich

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In 1963, Leonard Matlovich enlisted in the United States Air Force at the age of 19. He subsequently served three tours in Vietnam and concluded his service after a land mine injury in Da Nang. His time in Vietnam earned him the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.

On March 6, 1975, Matlovich revealed his sexual identity in a letter to his commanding officer. This sparked what would become a national news story, with Matlovich's face plastered on TIME Magazine and the front page of The New York Times. After a series of hearings on whether or not he would be allowed to continue in the military, Matlovich was discharged from service in 1975, without honors. He appealed the case and was alas awarded an honorable discharge in 1980.

Matlovich soon became one of the faces of the gay rights movement. In 1979, he ran for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Sadly, in 1986, Matlovich was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. On June 22, 1988, Matlovich lost his battle with the disease in West Hollywood, California.

3. Perry Watkins

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Perry Watkins was drafted into the military in 1967. Even though he revealed his homosexuality to a military psychologist during his initial examination, he was still approved and "qualified for military service." In the 1970s, he performed drag under the name Simone at army sponsored shows in West Germany.

Throughout the 1980s, Watkins found himself in a series of lawsuits with the military due to his homosexuality, leading to his departure from the military in 1984. In 1991, the Bush administration granted him an honorable discharge after years of legal proceedings and retroactive pay of $135,000. This ruling also gave Watkins his long-awaited promotion to sergeant first class. Watkins sadly passed away in 1996 due to complications from HIV/AIDS.

4. Miriam Ben Shalom

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Miriam Ben Shalom had already served in the Israeli Army when she enlisted in the United States army reserve in 1974. In 1976, Shalom was discharged from service after publicly coming out as a lesbian. After years of legal battles with the army, Miriam won the right to reenlist in 1988 and became the first openly gay service member to be reinstated. Sadly, a year later, a federal court ruled against Shalom and upheld her discharge from the army.

As a result of her experience with discrimination in the military, Shalom founded the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Veterans of America, Inc, now known as American Veterans for Equal Rights.

5. Allen R. Schindler, Jr.

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Allen R. Schindler was a Radioman Petty Officer Third class in the United States Army, serving until his death. Schindler was brutally murdered by his own shipmate, Terry M. Helvey, in 1992 at the age of 22. Helvey violently disfigured Schindler's body to the point that he could only be recognized by his tattoos. His story was turned into an award-winning TV movie, Any Mother's Son .

6. Barry Winchell

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Barry Winchell enlisted in the army in 1997, where he was a Private First Class. In 1999, Winchell was taken to a Nashville Club by his roommate, Justin Fisher. It was there that he met a male-to-female transgender performer, Calpernia Addams. Winchell and Addams started dating, leading Fisher and others to spread rumors about him. On July 4, 1999, Winchell got in a fight with Calvin Glover, another soldier on his base. Later that evening, after being provoked by Fisher, Glover took a bat from Fisher's locker and struck Winchell in the head. Winchell died from his injuries on July 6.

7. Keith Meinhold

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Keith Meinhold joined the Navy in 1980 as a flight sonar analyst and instructor at Moffett Field Naval Air Station. In 1991, he was awarded Master Training Specialist for his excellence in Naval instruction.

Meinhold came out publicly on ABC's World News Tonight on May 19, 1992. Due to his admission, Meinhold was discharged from the Navy that summer. On January 28, 1993, Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. said that Meinhold's discharge violated the constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law. A tiresome legal battle ensued over the following years. At the conclusion of the lawsuits, Meinhold was allowed to remain in the military, but was warned that he would be discharged if he openly announced his homosexuality again due to the Don't ask, don't tell law. Meinhold's crew won the Crew of the Quarter and Crew of the Year award in 1996, on Meinhold's last Navy tour. He was awarded full military honors and won the coveted Navy Achievement Medal upon his retirement.

8. Zoe Dunning

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Zoe Dunning made history as the first openly gay person to remain in active duty before the repeal of Don't ask, don't tell. She was nominated to the Naval Academy in 1981, graduating in 1985. Dunning first publicly admitted that she was a lesbian at a support rally for Keith Meinhold. A Naval administration board subsequently recommended her discharge, which Dunning successfully appealed. She remained in active Naval service until 1994. Zoe Dunning is now the co-chair of the governing board of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN).

9. Nicole Shounder

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Nicole Shounder is an Eagle Scout with a Silver Palm, an air force medical service technician, a trauma nurse, and a transgender woman. She first enlisted in the Air Force in 1978, before she made her male-to-female transition. She left the military in 1992 to become a trauma nurse, helping with natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. After years of struggling with gender dysphoria, Shounder began her transition in 1995.

In 2006, she joined the Coast Guard Auxillary, where she became a Maersk contractor for the Department of the Navy. During her time as a contractor, Shounder was no stranger to violence due to her identity. While on her second deployment, someone entered her room and left a caustic substance on her toothbrush, leading to chemical burns in her mouth. The crew was reprimanded for the incident.

Since her time in the Coast Guard, she has gone into civil service. Shounder was accepted into the Military Sealift Command in 2008, where she has been deployed four different times on four different ships. She has been promoted to the rank equivalent of Lieutenant Commander and continues to serve. Her full story can be found at outservemag.com.

10. Morgan Wade

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Morgan Wade joined the Navy because she loved to dive. During her service, Wade was stationed on the USS Safeguard, a salvage ship in Sasebo, Japan. While in the navy, Wade's gender dysphoria started to affect her well-being. Six months before she ended her ten year service career, Wade began the hormone replacement therapy she would need for her male-to-female transition. She left the Navy in 2010, forgoing a $45,000 reenlistment bonus and a promotion to chief petty officer so that she could live honestly and openly as a transgender woman. Morgan has tried to reenlist in the Navy but, despite a 150 page report detailing her exemplary prior service and excellent physical health, she has been denied the opportunity to serve.

This is Leonard Maltovich's tombstone.

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It reads, "When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."

On this Veterans Day, we must remember that the repeal of the 'Don't ask, don't tell' law is just the beginning. The United States still has a long journey toward equality in the military, especially in regard to the rights of transgendered servicemen and women.

Happy Veterans Day.