Was Navy Sailor Killed For Being Gay?

By: Edecio Martinez
Topics: Daily Blotter

(KFDM)

Navy Seaman August Provost III.

BEAUMONT, Texas (CBS/AP) Relatives of a slain sailor are calling the 29-year-old's death a hate crime.

Rose Roy of Beaumont said her nephew, Navy Seaman August Provost III, had complained a year before about being harassed for being gay.

Roy said she advised Provost to report and document the incidents, but she said the military did little to help. Now she's angry because she believes the Navy is not telling the family the entire truth.

"He went to the Navy to serve and protect," she said in an interview with CBS Affiliate KFDM-TV Beaumont. "He didn't get protected at all. To have someone hate, that kind of hate and treat him like he was garbage, and basically that's the way we feel. The military didn't step up to the plate as he stepped up to protect his country and serve."

Roy told The Associated Press that the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy discouraged her nephew from asking for help.

"That phrase is just stupid because it tells them they have no one to speak to," she said.

The 29-year-old Houston native was found dead Tuesday at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego. Roy said the family was told that Provost was shot three times, had his hands and feet bound, his mouth gagged, and body burned.

(MySpace Photo)

MySpace photo of Navy Seaman August Provost III.

The family plans to hold funeral services July 10 in Houston.

Democratic Rep. Bob Filner of San Diego said Thursday he wants a Defense Department investigation into the death, after leaders of the city's gay community asked him to intervene.

Investigators have called the sailor's death a random act unrelated to his sexuality and have taken a "person of interest" into custody. No charges have been filed.

Roy said Provost joined the Navy in March 2008 to pay off college debt.

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by dowell100 August 31, 2009 12:42 AM EDT: This is exactly why we should not have homosexuals in the military.; Reply to this comment


by camposaurious August 1, 2009 2:24 AM EDT: My Love and respect to the Family of August Provost 111.I just heard about the news and it is sad that good people sometimes pay the price for the actions of bad people.I think that everybody should have the right and freedom to choose their own sexuality . Unfortunately not all of us think the same way.I think Navy Seaman August Provost III was just a victim of an "emotionally unstable individual".I don't think Campos disliked homosexuals.; Reply to this comment


by AnOldSalor July 7, 2009 8:46 PM EDT: The US Navy and Military at large has a long and sordid history of denying the obvious and/or placing the blame were ever they can to sweep it under the rug.
I recall the Navy sending some poor captain to congress to apologies to the family?s of two men that the Navy tried to blame for a war ships gun blowing up saying it was a gay lovers spat. The admiral that made the accusation was not available to account for his accusations.; Reply to this comment


by marymactavish July 7, 2009 5:36 PM EDT: Though he might have been killed because someone thought he was gay, he was bisexual. To ignore this is to contribute to bisexual invisibility and bigotry - his, and others'.; Reply to this comment


by Seacilia July 7, 2009 8:49 AM EDT: My Love to the Family of August Provost 111. Those who MURDERED this man whom I assume did anything to them to deserve this. I worry so much for my love ones just because they have a different preference. I don't understand this senseless death of this man. I hope those involved are prosecuted and think if their actions were worth it. What was accomplished or how could they do this to a Human Being. Seacilia; Reply to this comment