Falling In Love During The Era Of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Mike Rudulph was 20 years old when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps. He served during the era of "don't ask, don't tell," deploying to Iraq in 2003. Soon after he returned home from his first deployment, he logged onto the Internet and met Neil Rafferty.

"By the end of the week, we were saying 'I love you' over the phone," Rudulph, 40, said to his now-husband, Rafferty, 35, at StoryCorps in Birmingham, Ala.

The first time they actually got to see each other, they kissed in Rudulph's parents' front driveway — far enough away from the house so Rudulph's parents couldn't see them — before driving out to the woods.

"And we laid in the back of the truck and looked at the stars," Rudulph said. "I'd fallen in love with you. You had fallen in love with me. I mean, this is perfect."

Then, Rudulph found out he was getting deployed back to Iraq — in a month. They decided to make the most of their time left and spent "every single day together," Rafferty said.