About Face: A Gay Officer's Account of How He Stopped Prosecuting Gays in the Army and Started Fighting for Their Rights [Hardcover]

James E. Kennedy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1995

A former captain and lawyer in the U.S. Army recounts his four years prosecuting homosexual soldiers while hiding his own sexual identity, his abandonment of his army career, and his role in drafting a new military policy on homosexuals. 35,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is an interesting account of a double life. As an army lawyer, Capt. James Kennedy prosecuted homosexual soldiers while closeting his own homosexuality. Finally he ended the pretense, resigned his commission and assisted the Clinton administration in revising its policy toward gays in uniform. The author's personal odyssey is a moving story of self-awareness and self-affirmation. General readers will find even more interesting Kennedy's firsthand account of the armed forces' complex gay subculture, which, he writes, includes those of the highest ranks. His assertion that one post-WWII commandant of the Marine Corps, unnamed here, was gay or bisexual will cause fierce speculation. Within the community of gays in uniform, networking and mutual protection are significant distinguishing responses to traditional official policies. Such clandestine behavior benefits neither individuals nor institutions, opines the author.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 302 pages
• Publisher: Birch Lane Pr; First edition (May 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559722819
• ISBN-13: 978-1559722810
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,599,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The unexamined life is not worth living - Socrates, August 5, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: About Face: A Gay Officer's Account of How He Stopped Prosecuting Gays in the Army and Started Fighting for Their Rights (Hardcover)

As a gay physician kicked out of the Navy under Clinton's
Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, I have a unique
understanding of this book. Much the same way
I told my friends that the movie "The Hunt for Red
October" did an excellent job of portraying the
submarine USS Dallas, on the subject of gays in
the military I can tell you this book has substance.
No, my experience was different, but similar
enough still that Mr. Kennedy's relating parts
of this book made old wounds hurt, and other parts
reminded me of the progress we have made. Unlike
the majority of readers who probably only understand this issue
from the military or the civilian sides, I can truly
tell you that Mr. Kennedy has somehow poured his soul
into ink and paper, and you and I are the privileged
ones.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Whew!, March 13, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: About Face: A Gay Officer's Account of How He Stopped Prosecuting Gays in the Army and Started Fighting for Their Rights (Hardcover)

This book was difficult to read at times=boring. The subject matter did not flow. Much of the text was repetitive, rambling, with a lot of irrelevant material. The author is an attorney who served in the US Army as a prosecutor in the JAG office, finding himself in the uncomfortable position of being a gay man prosecuting other gays. An awareness of this as well as the title of the book would lead the reader to assume that one would gain some increased insight into the tactics of the military in this area. Not so. Very little space is devoted to this experience.Most of the book is about Kennedy's difficulty in accepting his homosexuality, his closet and his family.
Just not the book I expected to read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, December 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: About Face: A Gay Officer's Account of How He Stopped Prosecuting Gays in the Army and Started Fighting for Their Rights (Hardcover)

A READER DECEMBER 1, 1998 I have just finished reading James F Kennedy's book "About Face." It's about a young Army officer coming to terms with his gayness. I am the mother of six adult children, three of whom are Gay/Lesbian. Though my children have been out for several years, this book brought to me a new awareness as to what it really feels like to be gay. Mr. Kennedy is very honest about his feelings and emotions. In my humble opinion, this book is a must read for both parents and gay children.