BAD THINGS COME FROM HATE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 8, 1993                   TAG: 9301080420
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
BAD THINGS COME FROM HATE
I AM HAPPY that Cathy L. Mitchell (letter, Jan. 4) responded to Dave Hillis' letter (Dec. 20) who wrote concerning the behavior of gays and lesbians in the military. I just wanted to add a personal note.
Last February my uncle and aunt buried their son who died from complications of AIDS. He was 28 years old. I wish Mr. Hillis had known the family and could have attended the funeral. He would have seen a coffin covered with an American flag, because my cousin served his country in the Navy. The fact that my cousin was also gay should not have mattered. But because of ignorant and bitter people, he was forced to live a secretive life.
What makes me most angry are Hillis' exaggerated assumptions about homosexual lifestyles and their connections to AIDS. Here he seems to have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of these people's behaviors, albeit a distorted one, but I would dare him to apply them to the cousin I knew. His ignorance is pathetic. As a lieutenant, junior grade, in the Coast Guard, my biggest fear would be having to serve next to someone like him.
If there was one thing I learned when I was in the Gulf during Desert Storm, it was that hate had ultimately got us all there. There is no doubt that among the thousands of troops that brought us home were gay soldiers and sailors like my cousin. We should all acknowledge that and get past any concern over sexuality in our armed forces. GREGORY TURNER NEW YORK, NY

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB