Philip Spooner speech on gay marriage

Video of Philip Spooner, an 86-year-old D-Day veteran who spoke at a Maine Judiciary Committee meeting in favour of gay marriage. The veteran, who took part in the liberation of Paris, said that a recent encounter at a polling booth had inspired him to speak before the committee. He said: I am here because of a conversation I had last June, when I was voting. The woman at my polling place asked me, do I believe in equality for gay and lesbian people. I was pretty surprised to be asked a question like that. It made no sense to me. Finally I asked her: what do you think I fought for in Omaha Beach? He says that he and his late wife of 54 years had four sons together, one of whom was gay, and all four of whom joined the services. I was raised to believe all men are created equal, he says, and I have never forgotten that. I served from 1942 to 1945 as a medic and an ambulance driver. I worked with every outfit over there including Pattons Third Army. I saw action in all five major battles in Europe, including the Battle of the Bulge. He goes on: It makes no sense that some people who love each other can marry and others cant, just because of who they are. My wife and I did not raise four sons with the idea that three of them would have certain rights and that the fourth of them would be left out. His voice cracking, he says that he saw too much suffering and sacrifice for equality during the Second World War. Citing the ovens at Buchenwald and Dachau, he says: I have seen with my own eyes the consequence of a caste system and of making some people less than others or second class. Never again. We must have equal rights for everyone. Its what this country was started for.