"I’ve never been allowed to arrive," says Peter Heidgerd, "but I have been the person I wanted to be."

While media attention has focused on Barack Obama commuting Chelsea Manning’s sentence yesterday for leaking hundreds of classified documents, the president also closed a painful chapter for another LGBT American.

On July 17, 1989, Captain Peter Heidgerd was convicted of “conduct unbecoming an officer” after being discovered in a homosexual relationship with another soldier. Heidgerd, who enlisted in 1983, was imprisoned for a year in Fort Leavenworth, the same institution that currently houses Manning.

But on Tuesday, President Obama pardoned Heidgerd, wiping his felony conviction from the record.

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His attorney, Robin Clark, says Heidgerd has carried the mark of his conviction for nearly 30 years “He had a felony on his record. So when he came back to Georgia to find a job he could not get one because no one would hire him with a felony on his record and less-than-honorable discharge.”

Heidgerd, now a landscaper, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he’s not bitter and credited his faith in Jesus for seeing him through.

“I’ve never arrived. I’ve never been allowed to arrive,” he said. “But I have been the person I wanted to be… I knew whatever I was as a person that I needed to love me and be me.”

“I didn’t need a president to pardon me,” he added, “but this helps.”

It’s not clear how the pardon will affect the status of Heidgerd’s discharge from the Army or if he will be eligible for benefits, though Clark expects information will be forthcoming.

In all, Obama pardoned 64 people this week—all but Heidgerd had been convicted of drug, financial or tax crimes. He also commuted the sentences of 209 people and ordered the release of almost 1,400 federal inmates sentenced under mandatory minimum-sentencing laws.

Also on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced the military’s equal opportunity policy would extend to LGBT service members, as well.

“Recognizing that our openness to diversity is one of the things that (has) allowed us to be the best in the world, we must ensure that everyone who’s able and willing to serve has the full and equal opportunity to do so,” Defense Secretary Carter told reporters. “And we must start from a position of inclusivity, not exclusivity.”

Four years after Heidgerd’s sentencing, the Clinton Administration put forth “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which barred homosexuals from serving openly, but stifled attempts at gay witch hunts.