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Speaker 1: Today's Daily Highlight from Elvis Duran in the Morning Show.

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Speaker 1: New York veteran comes out as gay in his obituary

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Speaker 1: and says he can now forever rest in peace. Oh wow,

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Speaker 1: and this I find this story fascinating. Keep in mind,

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Speaker 1: Colonel Edward Thomas Ryan, has you know been around for

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Speaker 1: a long time. He said he wished he had the

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Speaker 1: courage to come out in his lifetime, but was afraid

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Speaker 1: of being ostracized. He's a veteran from New York, from

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Speaker 1: New York State. And in this article I'm reading from

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Speaker 1: people online, they say he can rest easy knowing his

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Speaker 1: loved ones finally know his truth. He says, I must

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Speaker 1: tell you one more thing. I was gay all my life,

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Speaker 1: he wrote towards the end of his obituary, which was

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Speaker 1: published on Saturday, June eighth in the Albany Times Union.

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Speaker 1: He also shared he was in a loving and caring

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Speaker 1: relationship with a man named Paul, whom he referred to

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Speaker 1: as the love of his life. He said we had

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Speaker 1: twenty five great years together, he wrote, sharing that his

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Speaker 1: beloved died back in nineteen ninety four from a medical

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Speaker 1: procedure that had gone wrong, and that they will now

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Speaker 1: be buried together. As far as why he kept such

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Speaker 1: an important part of himself a secret, Ryan wrote that

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Speaker 1: he was sorry for not having the courage to come

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Speaker 1: out as gay. I was afraid of being ostracized by

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Speaker 1: my family, friends and co workers. Seeing how people like

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Speaker 1: me were treated, I just couldn't do it, he wrote,

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Speaker 1: But he added, now that my secret is known, I'll

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Speaker 1: forever rest in peace. In addition to serving with the

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Speaker 1: Army's tenth Brigade, Ryan was a retired fireman in New

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Speaker 1: York State, one of the owners and founders of the

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Speaker 1: radio station w HRL in Albany. His military service led

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Speaker 1: to a litany of honors, including National Defense Service Medal

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Speaker 1: and the Defensive Liberty Medal for participation in the state

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Speaker 1: following the attack on America September eleventh, two thousand and one.

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Speaker 1: His body, he decided, will be donated to science at

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Speaker 1: the Anatomical Gift Program at Albany Medical College. According to

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Speaker 1: this obituary, his body will then be cremated and his

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Speaker 1: ashes returned to his loved ones. Interesting he is from

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Speaker 1: another era. Look I am too, you know. Coming out

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Speaker 1: for me was a little tricky in my mind, and

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Speaker 1: once I did come out, I was like, why did

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Speaker 1: I wait for? Everyone was so accepting, But when you

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Speaker 1: look at this gentleman's portrait, I didn't get a tear

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Speaker 1: in my eye from the story until I saw his face.

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Speaker 1: Look at him, Look at this guy, just a sweet

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Speaker 1: man in uniform, served our country, a veteran. Didn't know

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Speaker 1: how the world would take it, so he decided to

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Speaker 1: keep it a secret. But then he at least put

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Speaker 1: it in his obituary. Yeah, but you're out there fighting

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Speaker 1: for people's freedom and people's rights, and your own are

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Speaker 1: not really being acknowledged or given to you. And you

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Speaker 1: wonder how many people out there right now are feeling

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Speaker 1: what he was feeling still exactly So to you, Colonel

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Speaker 1: Edward Thomas Ryan, thank you for your courage in life,

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Speaker 1: and thank you for your courage and your obituary as well.

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Speaker 1: We salute you. Your story is very touching. It's heartbreaking. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: absolutely wow, what obviously a great human being