These gay Army helicopter pilots just married at West Point
Two gay Apache helicopter pilots have married in what is believed to be the first active-duty same-sex wedding at West Point military academy.
Daniel Hall, 30 and Vincent Franchino, 26, were married on Saturday 13 January, according to the New York Times.
The two captains, who are stationed at Fort Bliss in Texas married in front of 150 family and friends.
Out of the dozens who attended, 34 were military officers.
They married in their blue US Army uniforms, and received a sabre-arch salute as they left the military chapel.
They held their reception at Skylands Manor in New Jersey.
The pair met back in 2009 when Franchino was a freshman and Hall was a senior.
A school tradition dictated that freshmen hide and jump out to scare seniors.
Franchino hid under Hall’s bed and jumped out to scare him.
“Dan was so startled, he jumped over his desk,” Franchino told the New York Times.
They later picked one another for a mentorship programme.
The couple developed feelings for one another during the programme which saw Hall mentor Franchino.
They were unable to show their feelings for one another because of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
“We were serving under a policy that was telling all of us — perfectly capable soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines — to lie about ourselves,” said Hall.
They publicly revealed their relationship back in 2011, when President Obama repealed DADT.
The couple say they were called “faggots” while on dates, and overcame challenges like being deployed to overseas locations separately.
Hall was once deployed to South Korea, at which point the couple called off their relationship temporarily.
But they later got back together and have now tied the knot.
The Franchino-Halls danced at their reception to La Vie En Rose by Edith Piaf.
