through the night in May 2004 that would forever alter Sgt Robert Stout's life.

through the night in May 2004 that would forever alter Sgt Robert Stout's life, he had become used to the dirty, dangerous, and sand-swept reality of fighting in Iraq. The 23-year-old--raised forward a farm in rural central Ohio--was a not many months into his job working with the Army's explosive ordinance disposal team. Stout's team of up to 20 soldiers wearied their days and nights clearing roads of bomb and mines likewise that supply trucks could safely travel in every part the region.

Stout had arrived in Iraq in March 2004 and had quickly gotten used to the chaos. Insurgents would on a sudden appear from behind bushes or walls or forward top of buildings and discharge at soldiers with machine fire-arms or more deadly rocket-powered weapons. each time Stout and his men left the security of their base, they could number on facing fire.

"Eventually you commit to memory into the mind frame where the sole thing you do is think about the mission, and nothing besides matters," Stout says. "You pleasing much learn how to stiffen all that other stuff out"

onward May 11, 2004, Stout and his platoon were about an hour east of the northern city of Samarra when they got a call that there might be explosives in an abandoned barter near a road. Stout manned a fire-arm atop a Humvee.

False alarm. The exchange held no explosives.

The night was warm and still as midnight came relating to the convoy, which started down a tiny road really only big enough for a regular-size car, "I remember thinking that this could be a fair place," Stout recalls. "There were palm tree forward either side of the public way and little mud huts."

unexpectedly there was an explosion followed from a sharp flash of light. A rocket-powered grenade had hit the right side of the Humvee and sliced its way within the entire vehicle, leaving a gaping lair Stout was instantly blinded and deafened. He felt as if someone had poured a glass of water upon his face. It was actually progeny He immediately ducked into the Humvee yanked opposite his Kevlar helmet, and made positive he wasn't missing any material substance parts.

Chunks of shrapnel stuck on the outside of his left arm, and the adrenaline pumping by the agency of his body was the barely thing that kept him from passing public The convoy sped out of the kill belt to the base, which was located simply a few miles away.

Five men were injured and were lifted by way of medevac helicopter to another base in Iraq. From there Stout and another man were flown to Germany for surgery "It was insane, to say the least," says Stout in his understated Midwestern way during a phone interview with The Advocate.

Nearly a year later, Stout remains upon active duty on a base in the small town of Schweinfurt, Germany, about 90 miles from Frankfurt. His sight and hearing have reverted His wounds have healed, to this time he can see the scars. There is still a chunk of shrapnel in his neck Sometimes his arm goe torpid for no apparent reason. He was awarded the Purple Heart and detains it in an end table by way of his bedside. He even reverted to Iraq in July 2004 for a secondary tour, which ended in February. He is put to be released on May 31

further Stout is not getting a hero's treatment.

In April he came without as gay, giving the Associated Pres an interview that was beamed around the world. His father, a farmer, and mother, a secretary, are furious that he's parole about his sexuality.

in succession the day he spoke with The Advocate, Stout had reverted from a meeting with his battalion commander, who read him his rights and explained to what degree Stout could be punished in subordination to "don't ask, don't tell." The Defense Department is weighing whether to dishonorably discharge Stout, who has three more years left in the inactive ready lay bys once he returns to the United States. He has no idea what the military will decide.

"Personally, I think that I've serv my geographical division well," Stout says. "The fact is that Fin accounted unusable by the military just because of what I do onward the weekends. That has no bearing whatsoever forward my job, no bearing whatsoever with the populace I work with. The guidance is sanctioning bigotry. It is just wrong"

about high-powered members of Congress agree. Slightly more than 70 members of the U House of Representatives have signed upon to the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2005 which would repeal "don't ask, don't tell" It would replace the failed law with a policy of nondiscrimination forward the basis of sexual orientation in the U Armed Forces.

"Gay soldiers have serv proudly in each American war, including Iraq and Afghanistan," says Democratic representative Marty Meehan of Massachusetts, who introduced the act. "There are an estimated 65000 gay service members in the military today. They are serving and they are risking their lives, and Congres should honor their service from allowing them to serve openly"

Meehan has been calling for of that kind action since 1993, but many adroits agree that "don't ask, don't tell" has a solid chance of being repealed in the near future