WWII Hero and LGBTQ+ Equality Advocate Celebrates 100th Birthday
He helped fend off fascism and keep the world safe for democracy in World War II, winning a Bronze Star for his heroism at the Battle of the Bulge. After the war he kept up the fight for freedom here at home, as an advocate for LGBTQ+ equality. He celebrated his 100th birthday last month.
The New York Post reported that Rupert "Twink" Starr hit the century mark on July 16 and celebrated the day at his Columbus, Ohio residence with friends and a cake that featured rainbow-colored layers.
The centenarian told local news station NBC 4 that it was "outstanding" to celebrate the day "with all these friends," adding, "I enjoyed this so much. I'd like to do this every year."
"Such a good group of friends," Starr continued. "I can't believe they've taken the time and the energy to come to wish me a happy birthday and sing happy birthday. It's overwhelming."
Starr's heroism was recounted when he was featured as a Veteran of the Day in June of last year at VAntage Point, a Veterans Administration website that celebrates American servicemembers.
In December of 1944, with his Infantry Division surrounded by Nazi soldiers, "volunteered to attempt to cross enemy lines to get a message back to the division headquarters," the account said. He was captured, and as a prisoner of war he endured a forced march and then survived more than a week locked up in a train boxcar without food or water.
"The training we receive in the military is [about] personal survival and ingenuity... to make a plan and proceed," Starr explained in comments he made to the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project.
"Starr spent four months in various prison camps in Germany before being imprisoned in Poznan, Poland," the VAntage Point article recalled. "In the spring of 1945, the Germans forced the men to march to eastern Germany before abandoning them to flee the advancing Russians."
Starr returned home in 1945, and completed a degree the following year. Then he found the man he would spend much of the rest of his life with. "Starr fell in love with interior designer Allan Wingfield, and the two were together for 53 years before Wingfield died in 2007 at age 80," the New York Post detailed.
By then, prompted by "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" — the policy that kept openly LGBTQ+ people out of the military and resulted in servicemen and women being discharged if they were outed — Starr had gone back into battle, fighting for freedom once more — this time against the policies of his own government.
"In 2004," the VAntage Point article documented, "filmmaker Patrick Sammon persuaded Starr to appear in the promotional video 'Courage Under Fire,' which aimed to defeat the policy. 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' was overturned in 2011."