I'm Rory Stewart and I grew up wanting to be a hero and I'm still fascinated by the ideas of heroism.

In my new series, I'm taking in the long sweep of history from Achilles to Zelensky and asking, what is a hero?

Simply doing your job, being a decent human being.

A true hero is someone who just kind of shines by

their own light and that light is to be recognised by others. The long history of heroism

with me, Rory Stewart. Listen on BBC Sounds. Now it's time for witness history with me, Rachel Gilman.

Today we're going back to September 2011

and the repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy,

which had banned LGBT people who served in the US military

from being open about their sexuality.

The breakthrough for LGBT service people was signed into law by President

Barack Obama. Some of you remember I visited Afghanistan just a few weeks ago. And while I was

walking along the rope line, there was a big crowd, about 3,000. A young woman in the uniform was

shaking my hand and other people were grabbing and taking

pictures and she pulled me into a hug and she whispered in my ear. Get, don't ask, don't tell,

done. Before President Obama's move, Don't Ask, Don't Tell had meant that any LGBT service

people in the US Army, Navy, or Air Force

had to hide their sexuality from their colleagues. At times it was difficult and very challenging

because when you serve in the military, you're responsible not only for your soldiers, but for your

soldiers' families. Don't Ask, Don't Tell was Army Policy for the greater part of Lieutenant Colonel Heather

Mack's Army career.

As a leader in the military, I would always ask about my soldiers and how they were doing

...