Captains Daniel Hall, 30, and Vincent Franchino, 26, met during the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ era—a time when it was forbidden for non-straight folks to disclose their sexual orientation. Congress repealed the policy in 2011 and these Apache helicopter pilots became the first active duty, same-sex couple to get married when they exchanged vows in January.
The captains, who were college sweethearts, kept their relationship under wraps for years, even briefly splitting up when Hall was deployed to South Korea. When they finally made their love public, not everyone greeted them with respect. Franchino admitted to the New York Times that it was definitely a bumpy road.
“My brother’s a cop, he’s a tough guy, and so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy for him and his wife to handle this news,” Franchino told the New York Times. “But whatever initial shock they had, they got over it quickly and immediately embraced Dan.”
The two wore their uniforms at their wedding and used their officer saber to cut their cake. Their first dance was to ‘La Vie en Rose’ by Edith Piaf, and we have a feeling a few cried, just a little.
While close friends and relatives call them two peas in a pod, “We’ve just grown accustomed to being apart at times,” Franchino told The Times. “It’s a part of who we are, a part of what we do, so we simply accept it.”
America comes in all stripes and colors, and that means the army, too. Their story is a friendly reminder of what we can overcome. More of this, please.
