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Pride: The Story of the First Openly Gay Navy Seal
This story is a brilliantly strategic, empathetically driven, and timely account of the life of Brett Jones, the first openly gay Navy SEAL.
He is reverent to conservative values as a homosexual navigating the changes of current social instability in America. He effectively grabs the attention of a readership spanning a broad spectrum of political and social perspectives, and demands the revaluation of mainstream American norms regarding the acceptance and placement of homosexuals in society, work, and national narratives.
The pages bring you face to face with the author, through unbelievable emotional and physical investments on his road to military inclusion.
The honesty and deeply felt comradery paired with his humanistic love and understanding for an organization that threatened to abandon and discredit him will win hearts.
Brett Jones's book comes at a perfect time in our history. His story serves as a missing link that helps bridge the ever-growing popularity of gay marriage and traditional values.
About the author:
Born into a military family, Brett Jones spent his early life travelling around the world, living in the shadows of the Iron Curtain, the Korean Demilitarized Zone, and the Pyramids of Egypt.
He defied great odds to fulfill his dream of becoming a Navy SEAL, and served for almost a decade in the Navy. He served in two harrowing six-month deployments with SEAL Team 8, later becoming a plank owner of SEAL Team 10.
Brett received numerous awards and commendations during his Navy tenure, but was forced out of the closet, becoming the first openly gay Navy SEAL on active duty. After his honorable discharge in 2003, he continued his fight in the war against terror as a security contractor.
Brett currently resides in northern Alabama with his husband, former police sergeant Jason White, and their son. Together they founded and operate Riley Security, which continually raises the bar on private security in Alabama through its groundbreaking training program, exceptional hiring processes, and tireless dedication to their customers.
He is reverent to conservative values as a homosexual navigating the changes of current social instability in America. He effectively grabs the attention of a readership spanning a broad spectrum of political and social perspectives, and demands the revaluation of mainstream American norms regarding the acceptance and placement of homosexuals in society, work, and national narratives.
The pages bring you face to face with the author, through unbelievable emotional and physical investments on his road to military inclusion.
The honesty and deeply felt comradery paired with his humanistic love and understanding for an organization that threatened to abandon and discredit him will win hearts.
Brett Jones's book comes at a perfect time in our history. His story serves as a missing link that helps bridge the ever-growing popularity of gay marriage and traditional values.
About the author:
Born into a military family, Brett Jones spent his early life travelling around the world, living in the shadows of the Iron Curtain, the Korean Demilitarized Zone, and the Pyramids of Egypt.
He defied great odds to fulfill his dream of becoming a Navy SEAL, and served for almost a decade in the Navy. He served in two harrowing six-month deployments with SEAL Team 8, later becoming a plank owner of SEAL Team 10.
Brett received numerous awards and commendations during his Navy tenure, but was forced out of the closet, becoming the first openly gay Navy SEAL on active duty. After his honorable discharge in 2003, he continued his fight in the war against terror as a security contractor.
Brett currently resides in northern Alabama with his husband, former police sergeant Jason White, and their son. Together they founded and operate Riley Security, which continually raises the bar on private security in Alabama through its groundbreaking training program, exceptional hiring processes, and tireless dedication to their customers.
163 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 5, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 8, 2015
3.5 stars, rounded up for being a true story.
I picked up this book after seeing a story online about Brett, along with his husband (a former police detective) and their son, making a life together in Alabama. Brett became a SEAL during Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell, and I was interested in his story.
The book is a little dry, very much telling and not showing. Brett's childhood was fragmented and lacking in consistent role models, as the family followed his father to postings around the world. He paints a picture of himself as very hyperactive and oppositional, a wild kid who had trouble controlling his emotions and following rules. His father was gone a lot, and his mom couldn't cope with him, resulting in more than one boarding/correctional school situation. Somehow Brett came through his teen years, to the point of joining the Navy, with the goal of becoming a SEAL. It was a goal which he did achieve, although it took everything he had to get there.
There is only the undercurrent, really, of how being gay impacted Brett's teen years and Navy career. He mentions bits and pieces, but not with much emotion behind it. Part of that probably is his character, which seems unemotional and stoic; part is because clearly being gay was almost irrelevant in the most intense moments of his life - BUD-S training and becoming a SEAL. When you get 2 hours of sleep a night, under extreme training conditions of cold, fatigue and pain, nothing matters much except getting through to the other side. The descriptions of his training, the intensity and pride he felt in getting through it, is the most solid part of the book. His later romantic relationship with a Navy guy, which resulted in his accidental outing, receives a tiny fraction of the page time that training does.
This book does, toward the end, reflect the crazy irrationality of wasting lives, training, time and effort in the persecution of gays in the military. Fortunately those DADT days are gone. Although in one interesting line, Brett says he doesn't envy the men who now have to be out role models, as gay men in the military. His implication is that, for all the risks, the closet was perhaps easier. This is a fairly short and easy read, although what I brought out of it was more a combination of amazement that he survived his childhood intact, and a complete picture of BUD-S training, than a real empathy with what being gay in the Navy felt like.
I picked up this book after seeing a story online about Brett, along with his husband (a former police detective) and their son, making a life together in Alabama. Brett became a SEAL during Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell, and I was interested in his story.
The book is a little dry, very much telling and not showing. Brett's childhood was fragmented and lacking in consistent role models, as the family followed his father to postings around the world. He paints a picture of himself as very hyperactive and oppositional, a wild kid who had trouble controlling his emotions and following rules. His father was gone a lot, and his mom couldn't cope with him, resulting in more than one boarding/correctional school situation. Somehow Brett came through his teen years, to the point of joining the Navy, with the goal of becoming a SEAL. It was a goal which he did achieve, although it took everything he had to get there.
There is only the undercurrent, really, of how being gay impacted Brett's teen years and Navy career. He mentions bits and pieces, but not with much emotion behind it. Part of that probably is his character, which seems unemotional and stoic; part is because clearly being gay was almost irrelevant in the most intense moments of his life - BUD-S training and becoming a SEAL. When you get 2 hours of sleep a night, under extreme training conditions of cold, fatigue and pain, nothing matters much except getting through to the other side. The descriptions of his training, the intensity and pride he felt in getting through it, is the most solid part of the book. His later romantic relationship with a Navy guy, which resulted in his accidental outing, receives a tiny fraction of the page time that training does.
This book does, toward the end, reflect the crazy irrationality of wasting lives, training, time and effort in the persecution of gays in the military. Fortunately those DADT days are gone. Although in one interesting line, Brett says he doesn't envy the men who now have to be out role models, as gay men in the military. His implication is that, for all the risks, the closet was perhaps easier. This is a fairly short and easy read, although what I brought out of it was more a combination of amazement that he survived his childhood intact, and a complete picture of BUD-S training, than a real empathy with what being gay in the Navy felt like.
August 23, 2018
The only military memoir I've ever read that was a genuinely incredible book as well as having an incredible story that DID NOT have a ghost or co-writer is Warrior Soul: The Memoir of a Navy Seal. Even guys like David Bellavia and Jack Jacobs, tremendous speakers who do fantastic interviews, used a for-real writer when they put it down on paper because the medium is so different. I dunno if Brett pitched and got rejected or just wanted to do it himself (mad props bro) but if he'd had a Douglas Century or John R. Bruning this could've been something really incredible.
As it is, it's a mediocre book with a tremendous story. Brett frequently does that thing I hate where he starts a story, then goes back and talks about everything that happened first, then finally winds up where he started. I've only seen it work a handful of times.
Beyond this, the title is really kind of misleading - "the first openly gay navy seal". Naturally, not having heard of Jones before, I assumed that he served after the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. That is not the case. Instead he served in the closet but was found out after leaving an "incriminating" voicemail for his also-navy boyfriend. He was investigated and the charges were dropped. I'm not throwing shade on Jones's story - he obviously went through a great deal of discrimination for really stupid reasons and his leaving the military was a loss to all of us. BUT hesreallykindanotthefirstopenlygayseal.
He talks a lot about his growing up years, which is great, but then when he gets to his time in the service it's almost like he blows through it. There's no real sense of time once he joins the Navy - I had to look up an article on him to see how long he was actually in the service since the book almost made it seem like he had barely been in when he got out and that was not the case. He doesn't discuss his life after the Navy at all, beyond saying he started working as a defense contractor. From what I've read elsewhere I know he did that for several years before writing this book, and that he experienced discrimination there too.
Dude. That's a book in itself, where is it? He only talks about two missions he was on and has them so strewed across the book that one of them was placed in the text before he got to BUD/S. Dernit Jones! He obviously has had a really inspiring, amazing life, and no shade on his career, but as someone who has read their fair share of military non-fiction this is not how it's done. I hope he finds this review because I would like to personally plea for him to find a darn ghost and try again. I want to love this book but I feel like he didn't really meet me halfway.
As it is, it's a mediocre book with a tremendous story. Brett frequently does that thing I hate where he starts a story, then goes back and talks about everything that happened first, then finally winds up where he started. I've only seen it work a handful of times.
Beyond this, the title is really kind of misleading - "the first openly gay navy seal". Naturally, not having heard of Jones before, I assumed that he served after the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. That is not the case. Instead he served in the closet but was found out after leaving an "incriminating" voicemail for his also-navy boyfriend. He was investigated and the charges were dropped. I'm not throwing shade on Jones's story - he obviously went through a great deal of discrimination for really stupid reasons and his leaving the military was a loss to all of us. BUT hesreallykindanotthefirstopenlygayseal.
He talks a lot about his growing up years, which is great, but then when he gets to his time in the service it's almost like he blows through it. There's no real sense of time once he joins the Navy - I had to look up an article on him to see how long he was actually in the service since the book almost made it seem like he had barely been in when he got out and that was not the case. He doesn't discuss his life after the Navy at all, beyond saying he started working as a defense contractor. From what I've read elsewhere I know he did that for several years before writing this book, and that he experienced discrimination there too.
Dude. That's a book in itself, where is it? He only talks about two missions he was on and has them so strewed across the book that one of them was placed in the text before he got to BUD/S. Dernit Jones! He obviously has had a really inspiring, amazing life, and no shade on his career, but as someone who has read their fair share of military non-fiction this is not how it's done. I hope he finds this review because I would like to personally plea for him to find a darn ghost and try again. I want to love this book but I feel like he didn't really meet me halfway.
November 23, 2025
I enjoyed this book, but did find that it could be longer and we found out more about his husband and child. As a child and young teenager, he must have been a handful to his parents and family. While later the same family would throw him out for being gay and unfortunately, such actions by parents and caregivers of teenagers of gay, Lesbian, and bi people are far from unusual, especially in America, as it also happened to someone I once knew. While what he went through to get into the Navi Scals is really an eye opener the fact that it has such a high attraction rate of men not finishing it was not surprising.
While the Don't Ask, Don't Tell that was in the American military nearly got him thrown out of the American military only because he is gay, thankfully, such things have changed now, but he was on of the first to try and change it and the first Navy SEAL who was gay.
While the Don't Ask, Don't Tell that was in the American military nearly got him thrown out of the American military only because he is gay, thankfully, such things have changed now, but he was on of the first to try and change it and the first Navy SEAL who was gay.
August 1, 2015
This book only comes in at 140-odd pages, but it packs a punch. Jones's story of finding self acceptance and pursuing his almost impossible dreams in the face of insurmountable odds is something all people can relate to. There is power in its brevity. While being gay did make the journey harder for him, it is merely part and not the focus of the story. It is the journey of a lost boy from childhood into manhood, the struggle of finding and accepting oneself. It is a far better book than American Sniper. Not only does Jones do a better job of relating the experiences of training to become a Navy SEAL, he does it with far more emotional depth. It does not include much of his operational work, however - its true value lies in the journey, which is the hardest part.
February 10, 2016
I'm an AF Brat like Brett Jones is and it's interesting to see how he dealt with the constant change and turmoil of moving. I went with the flow, but he seemed to fight it with every move. I can see how this steeled him for wanting to become a Navy SEAL; he knew military life already, but longed for something to call his own.
There could have been a better job of editing the book as I saw a number of grammatical errors that weren't caught.
There could have been a better job of editing the book as I saw a number of grammatical errors that weren't caught.
October 26, 2021
Smooth Read
I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy read, and I really appreciated the author's sense of humor. I also admired the author's honesty, how nice it is to read something raw and straight forward.
I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy read, and I really appreciated the author's sense of humor. I also admired the author's honesty, how nice it is to read something raw and straight forward.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews