Leonard Matlovich wasn't the first gay man to serve in the military, but he may have been the first to come out on such a public platform.

For most of his life, including his years spent in Vietnam, Matlovich kept his true sexual identity a secret from the world. Then in 1975, he decided to come out to his superiors.

He was soon interviewed by The New York Times and then famously appeared on the cover of TIME magazine with the headline "I Am a Homosexual." The story attracted backlash, but it also sparked a conversation that many people were hesitant to have at the time.

Matlovich's admission led to his discharge from the Air Force, where he had continued to serve as a race relations counselor after returning to the United States.

He died of complications from AIDS at age 44. His gravestone in Washington, D.C.'s Congressional Cemetery reads: "When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.”