CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Two women have become the first same-sex couple to marry on a Marine Corps base, after the Camp Pendleton base chapel honored their request to hold a wedding ceremony last week, Duffel Blog has learned.

Sgt. Theresa Lovelace and her partner, Cynthia Downonu, married on June 12, just weeks before Lovelace is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan as a supply non-commissioned officer responsible for the 2014 drawdown. It was a decision that would have been impossible a few years ago, before the don't ask, don't tell law requiring them to keep their relationship a secret was repealed.

"We submitted a request to have the wedding on base, along with a photo of us together, and we received a response almost immediately," Cynthia said. "We actually received several calls from Marines volunteering to assist with the wedding. They said they wanted the first same-sex wedding to be perfect."