Expert: Rod Powers - 10/9/2009

Question
Rod,

My dad died at 93 years of age about 5 years ago. During his life he occasionally told us a story about why he was in the Army for such a short period of time. He was inducted 1/23/1943 and discharged(Honorably) on 9/30/1943. He said he was assisting with a surgery at a hospital in San Francisco in September of '43 and the patient being operated on was a military doctor. The patient, according to my father was "killed" by the doctor doing the operation and dad was immediately discharged - in his opinion, because he was a witness to the apparent malpractice. I would like to investigate this more for my own curiosity and also to maybe change his record as I understand AR615-360 was basically reserved as a catch all regulation that allowed swift discharge of homosexuals and other nefarious characters. I can provide dad's services number, SSN and other data if you can help.

Answer
Hi Jim,

During the WW II period, Army Regulation 615-360 was the authority for discharge for Soldiers who were deemed "unfit" for military service. This could be for several reasons, including disease, injury, mental illness, homosexuality, inability to pass the phyisical fitness or weight standards....I could go on an on.

The first step would be to request a *complete* copy of his military records from the National Military Personnel Records Center, to see what they say. Make sure you request a *complete* copy, which should also include a copy of his discharge paperwork (not just the summary form).

Details to request copies of military records can be read at: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/generalinfo/a/milrecords.htm

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my US Military information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
About.com US Military Guide
http://usmilitary.about.com