"Sgt. Matlovich Vs. US Air Force" airs 1978

Sergeant Matlovich vs. the US Air Force, first televised August 21, 1978, is the true story of Sgt. Leonard Matlovich, who was dismissed from the Air Force for being gay and his fight to be reinstated.  Matlovich worked to combat racism in the Air Force in the early 1970s and realized that gays also face similar discrimination.  He became an outspoken advocate for the gay community and was given and general discharge from the force.  

His fight to be reinstated became a groundbreaking episode that helped rally the LGBT community.  He took a settlement from the Air Force and he became an activist for gay rights. He was the first openly gay person to be featured on the cover of a major newsmagazine Time.  

The movie starred Brad Dourif in the title role.  David Ogden Stiers, Rue McClanahan, Marc Singer, and Mitchell Ryan.  

Matlovich died in 1988 just before his 45th birthday. His tombstone in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington DC (since he wasn't allowed to be buried in Arlington Cemetery) does not bear his name, but has the inscription:

"When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."

Murder, She Wrote episode "Murder Takes the Bus" 1985

A very Agatha Christie, "the-murderer-is-one-of-us" episode of Murder, She Wrote, Murder Takes the Bus, aired March 17, 1985.  Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) and Sheriff Tupper (Tom Bosley) are stranded at a road-side diner.  Jessica finds one of the passengers stabbed to death with a screwdriver.

The episode had a stellar cast including Rue McClanahan, Linda Blair, and Larry Linville.  

Rue McClanahan born 1934

Wonderful and hilarious Rue McClanahan, born February 21, 1934 in Healdton, Oklahoma(!), became a favorite of television fans when she appeared as ditzy neighbor Vivian Harmon on the sitcom Maude starring Bea Arthur.  She starred in Mama's Family with Vicki Lawrence as Aunt Fran and a guest appearance on Murder, She Wrote with Angela Lansbury.

Then she landed a role that cemented her fanbase forever, when she was cast as the seductive, unashamedly promiscuous Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls with Betty White and Bea Arthur.

She remained active by appearing in roles throughout the 1990s and 2000s when she starred as Peggy Ingram in the mini-series Sordid Lives, a prequel to the movie of the same name.

Rue left us in June 2010 when she suffered a brain hemorrhage.

We miss you, Blanche!