Kansas City, Missouri (CNN)  -- The coffee was brewing and we were just starting our day when the telephone rang the morning of July 5, 1999. It was a call that every parent prays never will come. The Army colonel was calling from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where our son was based in the U.S. Army. A fellow soldier had attacked our son, Barry Winchell. He had been taken to a civilian hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. We raced to the Kansas City airport. When we arrived at the hospital, Barry was clinging to life. His face was unrecognizable. Contrary to what the colonel had said on the telephone, Barry had not been kicked in the head by the other soldier. He had been beaten with a baseball bat as he slept in the barracks. The doctor said he had irreparable brain damage and recovery was unlikely.
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Pat and Wally Kutteles have worked 10 years to repeal "don't ask, don't tell"
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Their son, Pfc. Barry Winchell, was beaten to death with a bat as he slept
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He went through constant, vicious harassment after rumors he was gay, they write
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They believe DADT prevented him from reporting harassment to superiors
The attitude of society toward gays serving in the military has changed in the 17 years since @placeholder went into effect.