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NOV. I b.U11U:51AMass. Vat. GuardoUNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTFOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACH USETTS

Civil Action No.1:11-cv

M A J S H A N N O N M C L A U G H L IN ,Plaintiff,v.LEON E. PAN ETTA , in his official capacity asSecretary of Defense;ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., in his official capacity asAttorney General;ERIC K. SHIN SEK I, in his official capacity asSecretary of Veterans Affairs;UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,Defendants.

DECLARATION OF M AJ OR SHANNON M CLAUGHLINMajor Shannon McLaughlin hereby declares, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1746, as follow

1. I am a M ajor in the United States Army, currently stationed in MilforMassachusetts. I am a Military Dual Status Technician, pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 102must retain my m ilitary guard status under Title 32 in order to m aintain m y fulltime femploym ent. Accordingly, I am a m ember of both th e United States Army and a meMassachusetts National Guard.

2. My military service began in April of 1998 when I joined the Navy

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Nov. lb.1)11 10:52AMass. Vat, Guardoafter ten m onths and finished law sch ool, I then transferred into the Ca lifornia N aso I could become a JAG officer. The National Guard offered me a positioLieutenant, and I received my commission in July of 2004. I then transferMassachusetts National Guard in 2005, where I served on active duty for two promoted to Captain in 2005 and w as promoted to Major in October of 2010.

3. I always felt a calling to military service. I have always felt that thiserve the country that I love.

4. I have received several commendations for my service. My awardsMeritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal (with two Oak Leaf Clusterand M arine Corps Achievemen t Medal (with a Gold Star); the National Defense SeGlobal War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism ServicArm ed Forces Reserve Medal with Mo bilization Device, the Navy and M arine CoService Ribbon, the Coast Guard T eam C omm endation Medal with Operational DDevice, the Meritorious Unit Commendation Award, and the United Nations MFormer Yugoslavia.

5. I met my wife Casey in 1998. We dated for a few months, and th

separate ways. In D ecember of 20 08, we became reacquainted and fell in love.6. In Decem ber.2009, I married Casey in the Foxborough town hall in F

Massachusetts.

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Nov. 15 .G11 10:52Aass, Vat, Guardo,Officer In-Charge of DEERS eligibility, and she told me that person was SergeanRobertson. I then asked if she could introduce me to him. He greeted me and 1 towanted to enter my sam e-sex legal spouse into DEE RS. He said "no, ma'am." He this was "official policy" that could not be helped.

8. Through these efforts, we intended to obtain the sam e benefits thatmarried servicemembers receive: a military dependent ID card for Casey, enrollmein TRIC AR E, life insurance for Casey under the Servicemembers' Group L ife Insura(SGLI), dental care for Casey, and , in the event 1 die wh ile serving my country, the sbenefit.

9. These benefits are critical to me and to Casey and to our future togsafe and secure in the knowledge that Casey is cared for and will benefit from mymake me a m ore focused servicemem ber, will help alleviate the anxieties I experiethe job, will improve m y m orale, will provide us with an improved standard of liviof stability, and w ill allow us to plan our futures together the way opposite-sex coup

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed on Novem ber 16, 2011.

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minwee eabe ftlerali6 it mod swalit1 May COORTWY Se IEMmenu. el es t i lreva-.u_y ma=Oin%m asa as) Wed said seal of Ow To** at rases es thisWM_A .? 91--ZallitaLwm..../a s)

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JA. Oflak CNN t t t t Nf t ti Ott 1404.11, %Lai- Cis ask Set 114

TOWN OF FOX ilotvoutou40 South Street

Fosborough, Massachusetts 02035

I Robert E Cutler, the undersigned. hereby certify that I hold the Office of Town Clerk of the Tow*of F os borough In the C ounty of Norfolk, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and that the Records ofRath , Marriages and Deaths are in my custody. The following Is a true copy of sold records.

Resowne HoPlace al MornaythCm or TowsDim of Numige D EC EM BER 1 5 , 2 0 0 9nNeeksIL A a w w o w saw d Hasp et twins d delof WealOOthIarNO04464 (Witt LAUGHLIN __.IA AMUSURNA M E RAGEACLAUGHLINMAR 11A SAU R N A M EFCLAUGHLINTER MARRIAGE

4ATE OF SIRTNyen 5 OCCUPATIONATTORNEY 12ATE OF BIRTH1977 11 OCCUPATIONTEACHERkiStraget00 FOXBOROUGH BOULEVARD *3202No e ST 14 RESIDENCE00 FOXBOROUGH BOULEVARD endNO & STan'OXBOROUGHA ZIP2035TXYW NrOD E (TryOXBOROUGHA ZIP2035oll,OD E' NUMBE1 OFECONDM A R R I A G EAla lot led. etc I 7A WIDOWEDIVOR DIVORCED 15U M B E R OFIRSTM A R R I A G E(1st, 2nd, 3rd. etc I5A WIDOWEDOR DIVORCEDliNalAekETHODE ISLAND 16 BEINgbfffINCEHODE ISLAND.... "45i1 Of 11101)tateAW OFATHLEEN-VA17i (Coy or town)State or cnestwErupcxMOTHIMILAIWILENT WILLIAMF R A P 4 C I S MCLAUGHLIN, J 17 NAME OFESORAHMOTHER/PARENT18 NAME OFIMERTFATWIC1CtostNetousANN LEMIIPMto PlAnitAitENTPA FATHER/PARENT

il l Off 11111TIWTION OP MAltriEsopZemabove rnentioned persons was dub enured by OW In the nscards_ol g p e Ct7THECEaccord:dufo.4 2 0 1 1 OCILIRT WAIVER10 Ateaw Aativ (Yaw)y Ofwle RaystrartM003CRCOGH Z hr Tommunuiralth offilassachundtsDEPARTME NT OF PUISL1C. H E A L T HREGSTRY Of VITAL RECORDS AND STATISTICSCERTIFICATE OF MA RRIAGECase 1:11-cv-11905-RGS Document 16-1 Filed 11/21/11 Page 1 of 1