‘I’ll forever rest in peace’ – Decorated Army officer who hid his sexuality throughout his lifetime comes out as gay in obituary

After a lifetime spent hiding his sexuality, a decorated Army veteran from New York, USA has come out as gay in his obituary.

In a final message to the world, Col. Edward Thomas Ryan of Albany, 85, said he had always known his sexual orientation but was “afraid of being ostracized.”

“I must tell you one more thing. I was Gay all my life: thru grade school, thru High School, thru College, thru Life,” Ryan’s last words stated in the obituary that family members say he penned himself before he succumbed to cancer.

Despite keeping his sexuality secret,  Ryan revealed he was still lucky to enjoy a 25-year-long “loving and caring relationship” with a man named Paul Cavagnaro who he described as the “love of my life.”

According to the Vietnam War veteran’s nephew, Joseph Ryan, the couple’s relationship was something the whole family knew.

“He was a private person,” Joseph Ryan, 68, told The Post.

“They would go on vacation. Once he did retire, he would take a month off, and they would just put down where they wanted to go, any place in the world,” he added.

“So, we kind of knew, but he wasn’t one that would come right out and say anything … Our family isn’t one that tries to say anything about people.”

Col. Ryan who has been awarded several prestigious medals throughout his military career was scared of being ostracized by his Army colleagues, hence his decision to keep his sexuality secret.

During his time as a soldier, same-sex relations were grounds for discharge, even becoming explicitly banned from 1982 until 1994, when the Clinton administration enacted the controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

Even after retiring within the last decade, Ryan was scared he would be court-martialed for being an openly gay man.

“I’m sorry for not having the courage to come out as Gay. I was afraid of being ostracized: by Family, Friends, and Co-Workers. Seeing how people like me were treated, I just could not do it,” Col. Ryan wrote in his obituary.

“Now that my secret is known, I’ll forever Rest in Peace.”

He died from intestinal cancer and donated his body to the Anatomical Gift Program at Albany Medical College.

After students are done using his cadaver, his body will be cremated and buried alongside Cavagnaro, who tragically died in 1994 from a medical procedure gone wrong.