Undesirable Soldier

O

Orleander

OH JOY!!!!
Valued Senior Member
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Well, its about time! :bravo: To be honest, I didn't even know 'undesirable' was a discharge category.


AN DIEGO — Nearly 70 years after expelling Melvin Dwork for being gay, the Navy is changing his discharge from "undesirable" to "honorable" — marking what is believed to be the first time the Pentagon has taken such a step on behalf of a World War II veteran since the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."
The Navy notified the 89-year-old former corpsman last month that he will now be eligible for the benefits he had long been denied, including medical care and a military burial.
 
That's a story that raises some mixed feelings. It's great that they corrected their mistake, it's just sad that it took them 67 years and four intervening wars.
 
I hope his son's.. or nephews are honored to this as it took them 67 damn years.
 
Nearly 70 years after expelling Melvin Dwork for being gay, the Navy is changing his discharge from "undesirable" to "honorable"
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Kind of like saying that your sorry for executing the wrong person once it has been done. Once it has been done it is very difficult to ever reinstate what was lost.
 
He is a wealthy man now so he had teh money to fight it til he died. It wasn't about benefits but about honour. I hope they reinstate some of the soldiers who desperately need teh benefits in their golden years.

It's nice that this generation is fixing what a previous generation did. Remember, at that time it was considered a mental disorder. It wasn't any different than kicking out a schizophrenic or a pedophile.
 
Orleander said:
He is a wealthy man now so he had teh money to fight it til he died. It wasn't about benefits but about honour. I hope they reinstate some of the soldiers who desperately need teh benefits in their golden years.

It's nice that this generation is fixing what a previous generation did. Remember, at that time it was considered a mental disorder. It wasn't any different than kicking out a schizophrenic or a pedophile.
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I think it is. Are number one objective in life is to reproduce, plain and simple, homosexuals do not, and SHOULD NOT do this. Attraction is produced in the mind, is it not? Nothing against homosexuals just my opinion.
 
Orleander said:
He is a wealthy man now so he had teh money to fight it til he died. It wasn't about benefits but about honour. I hope they reinstate some of the soldiers who desperately need teh benefits in their golden years.

It's nice that this generation is fixing what a previous generation did. Remember, at that time it was considered a mental disorder. It wasn't any different than kicking out a schizophrenic or a pedophile.
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Umm why would discharging someone on the grounds of mental illness be concidered "dishonerable". A medical discharge isnt dishonerable
 
Knowledge91 said:
I think it is. Are number one objective in life is to reproduce, plain and simple, homosexuals do not, and SHOULD NOT do this.
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Right, so it's also a mental disorder to not want kids at all? Even if hetero?
 
Knowledge91 said:
I think it is. Are number one objective in life is to reproduce, plain and simple, homosexuals do not, and SHOULD NOT do this. Attraction is produced in the mind, is it not? Nothing against homosexuals just my opinion.
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"Attraction is produced in the mind" is not the same as making a conscious choice, as you are trying to imply. Besides humans are not the only animal species that have homosexuals. So it would seem to be more normal than you are trying to make out.

Try and think of it like this. If you actually had a choice in who you were attracted to, why would you ever put yourself in a position of being called a sick freak so unnatural that it was every 'normal' persons duty to persecute or shun you or beat you to a pulp. Never mind if you were brought up religious, you know you can never be saved because God hates you.
 
Asguard said:
Umm why would discharging someone on the grounds of mental illness be concidered "dishonerable". A medical discharge isnt dishonerable
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Its not dishonourable. Where did you get that? :shrug:
They were considered undesirable because homosexuality was classified as a mental illness, right up until 1973. And I believe people with mental illness are undesireable in the military.
 
Orleander said:
Its not dishonourable. Where did you get that? :shrug:
They were considered undesirable because homosexuality was classified as a mental illness, right up until 1973. And I believe people with mental illness are undesireable in the military.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term Section 8 refers to a category of discharge from the United States military for reason of being mentally unfit for service. It also came to mean any serviceperson given such a discharge or behaving as if deserving such a discharge (as in the sentence "He's a Section 8"). The term comes from Section VIII of the World War II-era United States Army Regulation 615-360, which provided for the discharge of those deemed unfit for military service.

In the 1950s, Section 8 discharges were commonly given to service members found guilty of "Sexual Perversion," and it was classified as an undesirable discharge, depriving the serviceperson so discharged of veteran's benefits but not resulting in the loss of any citizenship rights, such as the right to vote.

Discharge under Section 8 is no longer a military reality, as medical discharges for psychological/psychiatric reasons are now covered by a number of regulations. In the Army, such discharges are handled under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Active Duty Enlisted Administrative Separations. Chapter 5, paragraph 13 governs the separation of personnel medically diagnosed with a personality disorder.

The meaning of Section 8 became known in households worldwide as it was used often in the 1970s TV series M*A*S*H, in which the character Corporal Klinger was constantly seeking one.
 
Orleander said:
yes, but he was never dishonorably discharged.
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Yes, but it still deprived benefits.

In the 1950s, Section 8 discharges were commonly given to service members found guilty of "Sexual Perversion," and it was classified as an undesirable discharge, depriving the serviceperson so discharged of veteran's benefits but not resulting in the loss of any citizenship rights, such as the right to vote.
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KilljoyKlown said:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term Section 8 refers to a category of discharge from the United States military for reason of being mentally unfit for service. It also came to mean any serviceperson given such a discharge or behaving as if deserving such a discharge (as in the sentence "He's a Section 8"). The term comes from Section VIII of the World War II-era United States Army Regulation 615-360, which provided for the discharge of those deemed unfit for military service.

In the 1950s, Section 8 discharges were commonly given to service members found guilty of "Sexual Perversion," and it was classified as an undesirable discharge, depriving the serviceperson so discharged of veteran's benefits but not resulting in the loss of any citizenship rights, such as the right to vote.

Discharge under Section 8 is no longer a military reality, as medical discharges for psychological/psychiatric reasons are now covered by a number of regulations. In the Army, such discharges are handled under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Active Duty Enlisted Administrative Separations. Chapter 5, paragraph 13 governs the separation of personnel medically diagnosed with a personality disorder.

The meaning of Section 8 became known in households worldwide as it was used often in the 1970s TV series M*A*S*H, in which the character Corporal Klinger was constantly seeking one.
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Sizophrenia isbt a personality disorder and classing the mentally ill as "undesirable" seems like a cheep way to avoid paying for the cost of treatment for someone suffering PTSD. Further more would it be right to deprive a VC medal winner of there medal and there benifits because they developed sciophrenia or other mental illness?
 
Sizophrenia isbt a personality disorder and classing the mentally ill as "undesirable" seems like a cheep way to avoid paying for the cost of treatment for someone suffering PTSD.
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They don't do that now though.
The book I'm currently using for PTSD is written by someone who works with the VA PTSD program, at a director sort-of level.
Their PTSD programs are really quite good now.
 
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