Eric Alva, the first American service member to be injured in the Iraq War, has been waiting for gays to be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. armed forces all of his adult life.

So the Texan had three words -- "I am ecstatic" -- when he was asked about the recent movement in Washington to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" law.

Earlier this week, the nation's top uniformed officer said it was wrong to force people to lie about who they are in order to defend their country. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, set the stage for Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who said he and others need a year to determine the best way to repeal the ban without creating mayhem.

Alva, a Marine who lost his right leg when he stepped on a land mine outside of Basra, acknowledges that some gay activists think President Obama, Gates and others are moving too slowly to repeal the Bill Clinton-era law.

But Alva says he's not worried.

"I have a good, warm feeling," says Alva, who lives in San Antonio and was born and raised here. "Change doesn't come quickly. Remember how long it took President Truman to integrate the troops? And look at Judy Shepard. It took her 10-plus years to fight for a hate-crimes bill (that included sexual orientation), and she never wavered. She never lost faith."

Alva, 39, says he realized he was gay in middle school but kept the information to himself at home. He was raised a Catholic, he says, and both his father and grandfather served in the military.

After graduating from high school and doing poorly in his first year of college, Alva decided that he, too, wanted to serve his country. He lied about his sexual orientation on the application forms in order to fulfill that goal, he says.

The Marine, later a staff sergeant, served for 13 years, starting in 1990.

"The Marines were a passion," Alva says. "I loved it."

He says he probably still would be in the service if it were not for his catastrophic injury in March 2003. His right arm and left leg sustained permanent damage, and his right leg was simply gone.

As the first American casualty in the war, Alva achieved some degree of notoriety. He was visited by then-President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush and then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and Katie Couric.

It took Alva four years, until 2006, to tackle the issue he'd kept secret so long. When he finally spoke out against the ban on gays, he said he risked his life to save his country, but he still didn't have full rights as an American.

"I can't share my military benefits with my partner. If something happened to me, my pension would disappear. The house we own is only in my name. We're not recognized as a couple."

Today Alva sounds more optimistic when he speaks on the subject.

"I'm still serving my country," he says, "just in a different capacity."

Now, he says, he's fighting for civil rights.

Since leaving the service, Alva has earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees and launched a career as a social worker. He and his longtime partner, also a social worker, plan to adopt a child this spring.

claudia.feldman@chron.com