Sailor Jerrel Revels publicly proposed to his boyfriend of 11 months after six months at sea on the USS New Mexico
This is one happy reunion. Sailor Jerrel Revels publicly proposed to his boyfriend of 11 months after six months at sea on the USS New Mexico (SSN 779). As soon as MM2 2nd class Jerrel Revels arrived at Pier 31 at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Connecticut, he went down on one knee, and proposed to his partner, Dylan Kirchner.
The engagement comes two years after the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” — the U.S. military’s ban on openly gay service members passed in 1993.
MM2 2nd Class Jerrel Revels proposes to his boyfriend, Dylan Kirchner, at the Naval Submarine Base
“It kind of tickled my mind every now and then that [he would propose] but I never expected this,” Kirchner told a reporter from The Day. “I didn’t really care everybody was around. It felt just like the two of us.”
The Day reports that “the couple, who have not yet set a date for their wedding, were amid a crowd of more than 200 relatives and friends who were on hand to greet the returning crew. After departing from the submarine base on Feb. 13, the New Mexico transited more than 34,000 miles in the European region, stopping at Norway, Scotland and Spain.”
Photo: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kristina Young / U.S. Navy Photo
