'Don't ask, don't tell' - don't call home?

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/12/23/gay.military.communication/t1larg.danchoi.gi.jpg caption="Army National Guard Lieutenant Dan Choi has spoken out against 'don't ask, don't tell' since publicly coming out." width=416 height=234]

Ed Hornick
CNN

There's a constant fear that hangs over some service members deployed to a war zone - and it's not necessarily the threat from insurgents or roadside bombs.

One Marine serving in Afghanistan said suppressing the truth about his sexual orientation is gut-wrenching.

"I do worry a lot about being outed and kicked out," he said in an e-mail to CNN. "So far the military has been my livelihood and my source of work/income for the past six years. I don't want that all taken away from me and me being discharged anything but honorably."

The Marine requested anonymity because of the military's 1993 congressionally mandated "don't ask, don't tell" law prohibiting gay, lesbian and bisexual service members from coming out.

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