Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer, Military Officer

b. March 24, 1943

"I wear my uniform at every inappropriate moment to remind people of gays and lesbians who have to serve in silence in the military."

In 1992, Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer became the highest-ranking military officer discharged on the basis of sexual orientation. Cammermeyer was dismissed as chief nurse of the Washington State National Guard after disclosing she was a lesbian during a routine security clearance interview. She challenged the U.S. military’s ban on homosexuals in federal court. In 1994, she was reinstated as chief nurse, making her one of the few openly gay or lesbian members of the military.

Cammermeyer was born in Oslo, Norway, during the Nazi occupation. Her parents sheltered Norwegian resistance forces. Cammermeyer credits her parents’ courage as her inspiration for defending civil liberties.

In 1951, Cammermeyer’s family moved to the U.S. She became a citizen in 1961 and joined the U.S. Army Student Nurse Program. After receiving her B.S. in nursing from the University of Maryland in 1963, Cammermeyer reported for active duty.

At her request, in 1967, Cammermeyer was deployed to Vietnam where she served as head nurse of a neurosurgical intensive care unit. She calls this time in her life “the most extraordinary experience any military nurse could have been a part of.” Cammermeyer was honored with the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service. In 1985, she was named Nurse of the Year by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In 1964, Cammermeyer married a fellow soldier and had four sons. The couple divorced after 15 years. In 1989, Cammermeyer met her life partner, Diane Divelbess.

Cammermeyer’s autobiography, “Serving in Silence” (1994), received critical acclaim.  The book was turned into a made-for-TV movie, executive produced by Barbra Streisand and starring Glenn Close. The film generated more than 25 million viewers and received three Emmy Awards and the Peabody Award. It was one of the first television movies about a gay person. 

Cammermeyer retired in 1997 after 31 years of service. She serves on the Military Advisory Council for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and is an outspoken advocate for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Bibliography
Bateman, Geoffrey W. “Cammermeyer, Margarethe (b. 1942)” GLBTQ: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, & Queer Culture. 2004
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/cammermeyer_m.html
Cammermeyer, Margarethe. “Biography.” June 6, 2008
http://www.cammermeyer.com/bio.htm
“Colonel Grethe Cammermeyer Biography.” HRC-Atlanta. 1998
http://www.hrc-atlanta.org/98Dinner/grethebio.htm
Quindlen, Anna. “Public & Private; With Extreme Prejudice.” The New York Times.  June 24, 1992
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7DD1F3DF937A15755C0A964958260
Van Biema, David. “Military Ins and Outs.” Time. June 13, 1994 
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,980890,00.html
Articles
Egan, Timothy.  “Lesbian in Uphill Race for Congress.”  The New York Times.  July 22, 1998  http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400E5DA1639F931A15754C0A96E958260&scp=12&sq=margarethe%20cammermeyer&st=cse
Mathews, Linda.  “She Asks, She Tells.”  The New York Times.  May 15, 1996
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E1D61239F935A25756C0A960958260&sec=&spon=&&scp=14&sq=margarethe%20cammermeyer&st=cse
Schmitt, Eric.  “Pentagon Ordered to Reinstate Nurse Forced Out as a Lesbian.”  The New York Times.  June 2, 1994 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E3D6103BF931A35755C0A962958260&sec=&spon=&&scp=10&sq=margarethe%20cammermeyer&st=cse
Books
Serving in Silence (1994)
http://www.amazon.com/Serving-Silence-Margarethe-Cammer-Meyer/dp/B000R9H0KM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216846572&sr=1-2


Other Resources
Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (1995)
 http://www.amazon.com/Serving-Silence-Colonel-Margarethe-Cammermeyer/dp/B000GI3S00/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1216847124&sr=8-2
Websites
Official Margarethe Cammermeyer Website
http://www.cammermeyer.com

Gay Marriage In The Military? SLDN Prepares For Next Fight

"With “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” relegated to the dustbin of history, the largest group representing gay troops is gunning for gay marriage.

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) plans to file a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as it relates to gay and lesbian service members.Since 1996, federal agencies and the military have been barred from recognizing the legal marriages of gay couples because of DOMA, which defines marriage as a heterosexual union.SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis told The Huffington Post that his group will argue that DOMA violates gay military couples' Fifth Amendment right to due process."

-On Top magazine

Uzi Even: Scientist, Politician, Military Officer, Israeli equality pioneer

b. 18 October 1940

Professor Uzi Even (Hebrew: עוזי אבן) is an Israeli professor of chemistry in Tel Aviv University and a former politician, who has made several landmark contributions to gay equality in Israel.

In the military:

In 1993 he told the Knesset that the IDF, where he served as a Lieutenant Colonel, had sacked him and removed his security clearance after they discovered he was gay. His testimony led to Yitzhak Rabin's government changing the law and regulations to allow homosexuals to serve in the army in any position, including one requiring high security clearance.

In employment:

In 1995 he successfully challenged his employer, Tel Aviv University, for spousal rights for his partner.

In politics:

A member of Meretz, he narrowly missed out on being elected to the fifteenth Knesset in 1999, but as the next placed candidate on the party's list, he became an MK when Amnon Rubinstein resigned in 2002, making him the first openly homosexual member of the Knesset.

In 2006, Even announced he was leaving Meretz and joining the Labor Party, feeling comfortable doing so after he noticed that Labor promised equality to all citizens in its election manifesto.

A member of Meretz, he narrowly missed out on being elected to the fifteenth Knesset in 1999, but as the next placed candidate on the party's list, he became an MK when Amnon Rubinstein resigned in 2002, making him the first openly homosexual member of the Knesset.

In family law:

On March 10, 2009, the Tel Aviv family court ruled that Even and his nowadays ex-partner, Amit Kama, can legally adopt their 30-year-old foster son, Yossi Even-Kama, making them the first same-sex male couple in Israel whose right of adoption has been legally acknowledged.

Navy officer weds partner as gay ban ends - CBS News

"When Navy Lt. Gary Ross and his partner were searching for a place to get married, they settled on a site in Vermont, in part because the state is in the Eastern time zone.

That way, the two men were able to recite their vows before family and friends at the first possible moment after the formal repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Just after midnight Tuesday, the partners of 11 years were married.

"I think it was a beautiful ceremony. The emotions really hit me...but it's finally official," Ross said early Tuesday.

Hours before the change was to take effect early Tuesday, the American military was also making final preparations for the historic policy shift. The Pentagon announced that it was already accepting applications from openly gay candidates, although officials said they would wait a day before reviewing them."

-Read more at CBS News

Related posts:

Gay marriage, in the army, in parliament
Gay Soldiers? Role Models, at the Foundation of Democracy.
Alexander the Great, Gay Conqueror of the World
Gays in the Military: Japan
 Frank Kameny : The Start of the Fight for Gays in the US: Military
Colonel Margaret Cammermeyer

AP Exclusive: World War II vet, ousted for being gay, finally receives ‘honorable’ discharge - The Washington Post

Nearly 70 years after expelling Melvin Dwork for being gay, the Navy is changing his discharge from “undesirable” to “honorable” — marking what is believed to be the first time the Pentagon has taken such a step on behalf of a World War II veteran since the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The Navy notified the 89-year-old former corpsman last month that he will now be eligible for the benefits he had long been denied, including medical care and a military burial.

Dwork spent decades fighting to remove the blot on his record.

“I resented that word ‘undesirable,’” said Dwork, who was expelled in 1944, at the height of the war, and is now a successful interior designer in New York. "

 -more at The Washington Post 

'via Blog this'

Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark, transsexual nun.

The world’s first transsexual nun also deserves a mention in military history. She served twice, once as a man and once as a woman, before being honourably discharged (for the second time).

It was then that she entered religious life as an Episcopal nun.

From Matt & Andrej Koymasky:

Born in Pontiac, Michigan, Clark was christened Michael by his parents. But he soon realized nature had made a horrid mistake.

"From the time I was 3, I felt that I was different from other boys. I felt more comfortable in the company of girls. I tried to talk and act like a girl instead of a boy. I believed I was one of them - even though I knew I had a male anatomy. When I started going to elementary school, the other boys called me a sissy because I walked without 'macho' stride and carried my schoolbooks like a girl."

When he reached junior high school, Michael tried to talk to his parents about his mental torment. It didn't work. After finishing high school in 1957, Clark went on active duty with the Naval Reserve. Two years later he entered the regular Navy. Within a few months he took my greatest step to show everyone he was 'normal.' and got marreied. The marriage was very painful for both because he couldn't satisfy her needs and desires. It was further complicated by the fact that they had a son.

During this disastrous marriage he threw himself into Navy career, serving in Hawaii and Vietnam as an instructor in anti-submarine warfare, scuba diving and sea survival. In 1972, after 11 frustrating years together, Clark and his wife divorced. He hasn't seen his son since. After the divorce he married again. He was still desparately trying to be 'normal'.

"My new wife was a girl that I really intensely loved as a person. I still lover her today. We liked the same things - hiking, concerts. But she needed more from me than I could give. And she started having a guilt trip over our situation, thinking she was at fault. Finally I said to myself: 'My God, I'm reining this beautiful woman's life by keeping my secret from her.' So I broke down and told her I was a transsexual - a woman trapped in a man's body. Instead of making me feel ashamed, she talked about what we had to do."

She convinced Clark to tell his parents. Incredibly, they understood - a vast relief for him because he'd feared rejection. Then, with the encouragement of his wife and parents, Clark underwent psychological evaluation. It showed he realy was a woman inside. When the Navy found out about the evaluation, Clark was discharged. He had been an enlisted sailor in the U.S. Navy for 17 years, and rose to Chief Petty Officer. The discharge, though honorable, left him "angry and bitter" because he'd often been commended for outstanding service, he said. 

Clark underwent hormone therapy, and then, in June of 1975, had a sex change operation - emerging as Joanna Michelle Clark. Joanna divorced her wife moved in with her parents in San Jaun Capistrano, California, and began a new life as a clerk-typist. But in August of 1975 a Reserve recuiter visited her office and urged her to enlist again. She revealed to him that she was a transsexual, but he said he didn't think it would be a problem. And is wasn't. She was accepted, becoming a supplys clerk as a Sargent First Class in the WACs.... but 18 months later she was booted out of the Army Reserve. 

Ms. Clark fought the charges and discharge. The case was eventually settled out of court with a stipulation that the details of the settlement not be discussed. However, she received an honorable discharge, with credit for time served in the Reserve. The Army had capitualated on its charges... however, Ms. Clark had won a battle but lost the war. It remains unlawful for transsexuals to enlist in the services to this day, inspite of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

As Joanna Clark she lobbied successfully in 1977 for a law that allowed replacement birth certificates in the state of California. She later wrote Legal Aspects of Transsexualism, an important early document on the subject, still referenced twenty years later. She founded the ACLU Transsexual Rights Committee, serving as chair for several years, seemingly tirelessly working to improve the legal status of TS persons. Joanna served with Jude Patton as a TS advisor with a Gender Identity Clinic during the early '80s. 

She decided to become a nun; the world's first transsexual Episcopal nun, founder and sole member of the Community of St. Elizabeth, a nonprofit religious organization. She took her vows at St. Clement's by the Sea Episcopal Church in San Clemente in 1988. She transferred to the Order of St. Michael in 1997. 

In 1990, as Sister Mary Elizabeth, she founded and continues to operate the largest AIDS and HIV online information BBS and website - ÆGiS (AIDS Education Global Information System; www.aegis.com), a definitive and comprehensive web-based reference for HIV/AIDS-related information, to meet the need for access to up-to-date HIV/AIDS information by people in isolated areas.

"Of all the things I've done in my life, military-wise, or working with children, I don't think I've had anything in my life that I've had more passion for. I really can't put it into words. When you see letters from people and you know that you're helping them, that's what it's all about."

George Herchmer Markland « The Drummer’s Revenge

b. 1790

d. May 17, 1862

George Herchmer Markland was the closest thing to royalty that existed in the Canadian colonies. Born in 1790 at Kingston, in what was still the Province of Quebec before it became Upper Canada, Markland grew up in ease and comfort, and was educated by the Family Compact’s patriarch himself, the Anglican Bishop John Strachan.

At 20, Markland was coming into elite society. The lawyer John Beverley Robinson – the same man who named Alexander Wood “the Inspector General of private Accounts” – said that Markland was, “a good fellow, and very friendly.”

Yet Markland made Robinson uneasy. The lawyer confessed, “I prefer seeing a person his age more manly and not quite so feminine in either speech or action.”

Markland was in training to be an priest, but changed his mind. In 1812, he went to war as an ensign in the Frontenac militia, defending Canada from American invasion. At some point he married, as all men of his class were expected to, but he and Anna Markland never had any children. In 1820, he went into politics. He ran in Kingston, but lost."

 The Drummer’s Revenge

Also:

Wikipedia

DADT, and Trans in the Military

As DADT repeal continues its labyrinthine path through the US Congress, it is once again worth noting how far ahead other countries are. The DADT proposals are for inclusion of gay men and lesbians only, and make no provision for trans people in the services. In marked contrast, both South Africa and Australia have not only welcomed trans members, but have also provided extensive medical, surgical and psychiatric support for the transition process to  service people who have begun their journey while already members of the armed forces.

The National Post reports that Canada also "helps" one or two troops through sex change a year, but does not detail the extent of this support. Now, the Canadian Forces have prepared guidelines on how transsexual and transgendered troops should be accommodated. On the one hand, troops have a right to privacy and respect for their decision. On the other, they have an obligation to conform to the dress code of  their target gender.

As U.S. politicians continue to debate whether to let gays serve openly in the American military, the Canadian Forces have issued a new policy detailing how the organization should accommodate transsexual and transvestite troops specifically. Soldiers, sailors and air force personnel who change their sex or sexual identity have a right to privacy and respect around that decision, but must conform to the dress code of their “target” gender, says the supplementary chapter of a military administration manual.

Cherie MacLeod, executive director of PFLAG Canada, a sexual orientation-related support group, said she has helped a number of Forces members undergoing sex changes, surgery the military now funds.

This is an important step towards recognizing a community that has always struggled for equal rights and basic human protection,” said Ms. MacLeod. “When government becomes more inclusive, over time, society will follow.”

Some within the Forces, though, were irked by the document’s appearance in e-mail boxes last week, just after a report by the military ombudsman that lambasted the National Defence Department for giving short shrift to the grieving families of fallen soldiers.

The armed services are still largely the domain of men who view themselves as “warriors,” believe headquarters staff are out of touch, and resent what they consider “politically correct” policies, said Scott Taylor, publisher of Esprit de Corps, a military-affairs magazine.

(Read more at National Post )

Related Articles

• Senate Delays DADT Vote (Lez Get Real)
• Canada's Military Updates Uniform For Transgender Soldiers (Styleite)
• Pryor: Another Senator supports DADT repeal (Bilerico Project)
• Israelis And DADT (AndrewSullivan)
• Reteaching Gender and Sexuality: Queer/Trans Youth Speak Up (Bilerico Project)
• DADT Repeal On The Brink (AndrewSullivan)

The Fall of Rome, Reality Based History - and Gay Adoption

The vocal opponents of family equality are fond of making sweeping statements (in flagrant disregard of the evidence) about how marriage has "always" been between one man and on woman, how the proponents of equality are "redefining" evidence, quite ignoring the ways in marriage has been constantly redefined in the past - not least by the Christian churches. A variation on the theme has been that homosexuality has destroyed great civilizations, such as that of Rome. Illinois state Rep. Ronald Stephens has repeated this claim, blaming "open homosexuality" for the fall of Rome.

In a fun, sane response in the Chicago Sun-Times, Neill Steinberg dismisses the claim, basing his response on, well, historical fact, not what he calls Stephens' talking points. His most important observation is that the best known extensive study of the fall of Rome, Edward Gibbons "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", concluded that Roman civilization collapsed not because of homosexuality, but because of - guess what? Christianity.

Would that be a argument to ban Christianity today, for fear that it could cause the collapse of modern Western civilization?

The point I want to make is not that Gibbons was either right or wrong, but to heartily endorse Steinberg's larger point, that grand claims about the lessons of history really ought to be checked against the facts. This is certainly true in the secular sphere, but also in religious discourse. The often -repeated Vatican claims of Catholic "constant and unchanging tradition" are a smokescreen, often used to used to hide the importance of recently introduced changes, as Martin Pendergast noted recently, writing about gradualism in Benedict's theology.

But today, I do not want to explore this theme of the Church's constantly changing tradition. Let's just enjoy, instead, Steinberg's thoroughly delightful response to rep Stephens' ignorance. Here are some extracts:

The Fall of Rome, Reality Based History – and Gay Adoption

The vocal opponents of family equality are fond of making sweeping statements (in flagrant disregard of the evidence) about how marriage has "always" been between one man and on woman, how the proponents of equality are "redefining" evidence, quite ignoring the ways in marriage has been constantly redefined in the past - not least by the Christian churches. A variation on the theme has been that homosexuality has destroyed great civilizations, such as that of Rome. Illinois state Rep. Ronald Stephens has repeated this claim, blaming "open homosexuality" for the fall of Rome.

In a fun, sane response in the Chicago Sun-Times, Neill Steinberg dismisses the claim, basing his response on, well, historical fact, not what he calls Stephens' talking points. His most important observation is that the best known extensive study of the fall of Rome, Edward Gibbons "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", concluded that Roman civilization collapsed not because of homosexuality, but because of - guess what? Christianity.

Would that be a argument to ban Christianity today, for fear that it could cause the collapse of modern Western civilization?

The point I want to make is not that Gibbons was either right or wrong, but to heartily endorse Steinberg's larger point, that grand claims about the lessons of history really ought to be checked against the facts. This is certainly true in the secular sphere, but also in religious discourse. The often -repeated Vatican claims of Catholic "constant and unchanging tradition" are a smokescreen, often used to used to hide the importance of recently introduced changes, as Martin Pendergast noted recently, writing about gradualism in Benedict's theology.

But today, I do not want to explore this theme of the Church's constantly changing tradition. Let's just enjoy, instead, Steinberg's thoroughly delightful response to rep Stephens' ignorance. Here are some extracts:

Military Transitions: Australia Supports Transitioning Soldier

While the US continues to dither over DADT, its military allies have moved way beyond lesbian and gay inclusion, to providing also for transgender service - and full support during the transitioning process.  News from Australia is that military authorities there will not only allow a transitioning soldier to continue to serve after transitioning, they will provide full support during the process (including state funding for the surgery). I known of at least one similar case from South Africa - I am certain there are others elsewhere.

Somewhere along the line of modern history, the myth arose that only hetero males could make good soldiers - completely overlooking the evidence from around the world that in some societies, women, gay men, and transgender people have frequently served with distinction.  Classical Greek history and literature are littered with pairs of military lovers, including the renowned Sacred band of Thebes, which was exclusively composed of such pairs. Similarly, the famed Japanese Samurai mentored younger men who served also as sexual partners. Many African societies had entire regiments of fighting women, including the Amazons of Dahomey and Shaka's Zulus in Southern Africa. In North America, the widespread institution of the berdache included many instances where biological males adopted female dress and roles - but also fought with distinction in military battles. It is good to see how so many countries in the modern world are putting historic myths and prejudices aside, to focus only on service members' abilities, and not their genital or psychosexual characteristics.

When with the US finally follow suit?

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="390" caption="Tammy (left) and Bridget Clinch."][/caption]
From the Australia Herald Sun:

Sex-change case through Defence

DEFENCE force chiefs will pay for the sex change operation of a soldier who wants to return to work.

Army Captain Matthew Clinch, who served twice in East Timor, will become Bridget Clinch after gender reassignment-realignment surgery, funded by taxpayers.

Victorian RSL president Maj-Gen David McLachlan said he was surprised the Army was picking up the tab.

"It seems a little odd that they would allow such an abnormal situation get this far," Maj-Gen McLachlan said. "The soldier involved would be putting themselves in a situation where they would be subjected to all sorts of peer pressure."

Asked if paying for the surgery was a good use of defence funds, he said: "It's unusual."

Capt Clinch is in Brisbane with partner Tammy and two daughters on extended sick leave from her job as second-in-command of the army's Adventurous Training Wing based at Wagga in southern NSW, but wants her former job back.

Appearing on Seven's Sunday Night last night the decorated East Timor veteran, who did two tours of duty with the Townsville-based 1st Battalion, said she'd always felt like a woman locked in a man's body. "There is no difference between what I can do and what any other female can do once I've finished all of my treatment," Capt Clinch said. Tammy, who also trained as an army officer and describes Capt Clinch as her "knight in shining armour", is angry the military took so long to agree to fund the treatment.

"Matt was a good army officer, I think that Bridget will make a better army officer, they just need to realise it.

"I saw my partner suffering really badly and I helped him. It was hard though because I was helping destroy the outside bit of the man I loved."

-Read the full report

Recommended Books

Naphy, William: Born to be Gay: A History of Homosexuality

Roughgarder, Joan: Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People

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• Transgender Australians Allowed To Serve in the Military (gayrights.change.org)
• Epaminondas: Military Hero, Democrat, Cultured Statesman. Gay. (queerhistory.blogspot.com)
• Gays in the Military: Japanese Samurai
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Alexander the Great * 356 + 323 BC

When the film version of Alexander's life was released a few years ago, it was notable that his homosexual love life was largely edited out. Apologists excused this by claiming that his he was "not really gay", as he was married. Of course he was: in the classical world, marriage and sex (for men)did not co-incide as they are assumed to do today. Men from leadership and priviliged classes were expected to marry and produce heirs who would inherit their name and property. Sexual and emotional satisfaction, however, they might seek elsewhere.  Alexander’s own father, Philip, was killed by a slighted male lover, Pausanius. In the classical world, marriage and male lovers were often complementary to each other, not necessarily in conflict.

Alexander, one of the greatest military leaders in all history, was indeed married - but also undoubtedly had passionate, intimate relationships with two men, Hephaestion and the eunuch slave, Bagoas. With Bagoas at least, the relationship was definitely sexual, although the evidence is less clear for Hephaestion.

Nevertheless, the intensity and passion of Alexander’s love for Hephaestion is undeniable, as was obvious to all contemporary observers.

One of them, Hephaestion, was clearly his lover. Alexander, like many ancient Greeks, cultivated an ideal of heroic friendship that did not exclude sexual expression. He carried with him on his conquests a copy of the Iliad, and sought to emulate its heroes. When he first crossed into Asia and reached Troy, he sacrificed on the tomb of Achilles while Hephaestion did the same on that of Patroclus.

So close did Alexander feel to Hephaestion that when the captured women of the Persian King's household mistakenly threw themselves at Hephaestion's feet rather than at his own, he found no offense in this and excused them by saying that his friend was another Alexander. Finally, his grief at the death of Hephaestion, one year before his own, was also--in its intensity and public display--to parallel that of the Homeric lovers.

The homosexual aspect of Alexander's life was so public that it could not be obfuscated, even at times of extremehomophobia. Alexander was a model for other homosexual or bisexual soldier-kings, such as Julius Caesar, Hadrian, and Frederick the Great. His devotion to his lover serves as a counterpoint to the sexual follies and frenzies of other homosexual historical figures such as Nero or Elagabalus. 

-glbtq encyclopedia

Yet his undoubted sexual activities with men were no barrier to extraordinary military success, as this extract from the BBC makes clear:

Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, single-handedly changed the nature of the ancient world in little more than a decade.

Alexander was born in the northern Greek kingdom of Macedonia in July 356 BC. His parents were Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias. Alexander was educated by the philosopher Aristotle. Philip was assassinated in 336 BC and Alexander inherited a powerful yet volatile kingdom. He quickly dealt with his enemies at home and reasserted Macedonian power within Greece. He then set out to conquer the massive Persian Empire.

Against overwhelming odds, he led his army to victories across the Persian territories of Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt without suffering a single defeat. His greatest victory was at the Battle of Gaugamela, in what is now northern Iraq, in 331 BC. The young king of Macedonia, leader of the Greeks, overlord of Asia Minor and pharaoh of Egypt became 'great king' of Persia at the age of 25.

Over the next eight years, in his capacity as king, commander, politician, scholar and explorer, Alexander led his army a further 11,000 miles, founding over 70 cities and creating an empire that stretched across three continents and covered around two million square miles. The entire area from Greece in the west, north to the Danube, south into Egypt and as far to the east as the Indian Punjab, was linked together in a vast international network of trade and commerce. This was united by a common Greek language and culture, while the king himself adopted foreign customs in order to rule his millions of ethnically diverse subjects.

Somebody should tell the guys at the Pentagon.


See also:
Matt and Andrej Komaysky LGBT biographies

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