A sailor who was discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT)” was later called back to duty and is completing a one-year tour of duty in Kuwait.

The story of Petty Officer Jason Knight ran prominently in the May 4 issue of Stars and Stripes. The daily newspaper has European and Pacific editions. It is backed by the Pentagon but operates with complete editorial freedom.

Knight said that on his wedding night in July 2004, he came to terms with his being gay, immediately told his wife and they had the wedding annulled. He also explained the situation to the Navy and was discharged.

“I spent four years in the Navy, buried fallen servicemembers as part of the Ceremonial Guard, served as a Hebrew linguist in Navy Intelligence and received awards for exemplary service,” Knight wrote in a letter to the newspaper. “However, because I was gay, the Navy discharged me and recouped my $13,000 sign-on bonus.”

“Nine months later, the Navy recalled me to active duty. Did I accept despite everything that happened? Of course I did, and I would do it again. Because I love the Navy and I love my country. And despite [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter] Pace’s opinion, my shipmates support me.”

His supervisor backed that up. Petty Officer Bill Driver said: “As open as he is now, it was under wraps for quite a while. It wasn’t an issue at work.”

Steve Ralls, spokesperson for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), believes that Knight’s case is unique. While others who have been kicked out under DADT subsequently have received recruiting letters, “This is the only case that I am aware of where a dismissed gay soldier has been reinstated to active duty.”

Reservist Austin Rooke was working for the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force when he was called to active duty as an intelligence officer and deployed by the Army to Qatar. And Steve May, an openly gay member of the Arizona Legislature, was recalled to duty by the Army, only to be prosecuted under DADT.

Ralls said the Knight case “shows, unambiguously, that there are those within the Pentagon who know full well that lesbians and gays make good servicemembers. … It shows the policy for what it is: a charade and a federal government excuse for maintaining discrimination and prejudice in the United States.”