WASHINGTON — For the first time ever, a gay couple appears in a holiday video from the U.S. defense secretary to American military personnel around the world.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made the video with his wife. A photo montage in the video shows a U.S. sailor proposing to his partner at a naval base.

‘The holiday season is a chance to remember what matters most and for many of our nation’s military families the holidays are a joyous time – a time to reunite,’ says Hagel’s wife Lilibeth as the image of the sailor proposing to his boyfriend appears onscreen.

The photo from August 2012 shows submariner MM2 2nd Class Jerrel Revels proposing to his boyfriend, Dylan Kirchner, at a naval submarine base after six months at sea.

Revels proposal came two years after the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’, a Pentagon policy that banned openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the U.S. military.

Hagel announced in November that he plans to retire as U.S. defense chief.