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Military's Gay Policy On Trial

At Fort Campbell, Kentucky, a military jury Thursday sentenced U.S. Army Pvt. Calvin Glover to life in prison with the possibility of parole at some point.

Glover was found guilty of the baseball bat murder of Pfc. Barry Winchell - a soldier believed to be gay.

It was a brutal incident, to be sure. But was it a fluke? Probably not.

In a report to be aired Sunday night on 60 Minutes, CBS News Correspondent Ed Bradley has uncovered new evidence of anti-gay sentiment and harassment on base, even after Winchell's murder:

Javier Torres spent almost two years in the Army. He was stationed at Fort Campbell when Barry Winchell was murdered. And, like Winchell, Torres was concealing his homosexuality.

After Torres learned of what had happened to Winchell, he began to fear for his own life; that he might be next.

"Here is another soldier in the same position that I am," said Torres. "And he was gay and he got murdered over that fact."

After Winchell was murdered, Torres said some of his fellow soldiers reacted by saying, "Hey, it's just one less fag to deal with. I mean, they don't really belong here."

Pvt. Torres said he was determined to stay in the Army. He wanted to serve his country. But Torres said that not a day went by when he didn't hear anti-gay slurs from his fellow soldiers and even his superiors.

One day his entire platoon went on a five-mile run around Fort Campbell, and, he says, the sergeant led them in a chant that went: "Faggot, faggot down the street. Shoot him, shoot him till he retreats."

Pvt. Torres said this occurred shortly after Barry Winchell was murdered. Soon thereafter, he told his superiors he was gay. He was discharged from the Army this past September.

Asked whether the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was behind Winchel's death, Keith Meinhold, a former Navy officer and the first openly gay person to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, was adamant.

"Absolutely," Meinhold told The Early Show. "Not just the policy, but the lack of proper implementation of the policy is responsible for his death. I think what has happened out of the policy is that the Pentagon has perpetuated this anti-gay sentiment and hasn't done anything to prevent this."

These days, it's hard to find anyone who comes out in support of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

"We implemented a policy or regulation that is really not true to the law," U.S. Army Retired Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis said.

Maginnis, who is opposed to letting gays in the military, and Meinhold, though they come from completely opposite sides of the issue, have found common ground in their rejection of the current policy.

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