I went to Ft. Bliss prepared to apply for a discharge a second time. Upon my arrival, a Chief Warrant Officer took note of my refused application and could see that artillery training would not work well for me. He invited me to work in his office to interview new Basic trainees and utilize the new DD214 personnel form. While in a “casual” company at Ft. Devens I had been given assignments in a personnel office and learned how to make the transition to the new form. This worked well for both me and the personnel office. An important part of this new work was interviewing new recruits and helping them complete the DD214s. As can be imagined, the new freshly head- shaved soldiers, maybe away from home for the first time, were nervous. Their time with me was an opportunity for them to relax for this short time. I liked the work. One time as I completed an interview I saw that my next trainee was John Steinbeck IV. Heavens. Yes, it was the famous writer’s second son. He was not nervous, I was!
Once settled into life at Ft. Bliss I started the second quest for discharge. During this time I became friends with Robert Dahl, a supply sergeant in our casual company barracks. He always had Barbra Streisand playing on the record player in the supply room. Robert was an actor who had studied with Sandy Meisner in New York City. We continued to see each other after our military time. Robert came to Goshen and stopped by to visit James Dean’s in Fairmount, Indiana.
Another character I bonded with in the casual company was Richard Honeycutt from LA. Once our company was preparing for a General Inspection. Polishing brass for uniforms, cleaning stairways with toothbrushes, spit shining shoes, cleaning gunk from behind stoves in the mess hall, standing in formation to be inspected - - a totally stressful preparation for a General who would walk through in a few minutes to review the troops and the conditions of the barracks and mess hall. One day when we were called into formation by the company commanding officer, Honeycutt had placed a sign on his hat a that read “Fuck The Army.” We were standing at attention while the officer was sidestepping down the row. Standing before Honeycutt the officer said, “Honeycutt, what is that on your hat?” Honeycutt pulled the sign off, deliberately looked at it, and read in a loud voice, “FUCK THE ARMY”! While this was going on, the spit shines were melting off our shoes in the West Texas sun. The day of the actual inspection, the General walked through our barracks with shirt buttons open, unshaven, and seemingly a little tipsy. Another day serving in the national security business!
The response from the Department of Defense finally came within a matter of weeks. Even though I knew enough to expect a denial, I was still disappointed when it came. The next step was to consider refusing to perform duties. In consultation with Rev. Sherk, I set the stage for taking off my uniform and not reporting to work. Part of this process was to inform the company commander, Lt. Torres, of the plan. The day was set. When the company sergeant major came to my area in the barracks and ordered me to put on the uniform and report for work, I verbally refused. Next, Lt. Torres came to my bunk and ordered me to put my uniform on and report to work. Again I refused. This action initiated a court martial. In times of war this offense would merit a General Court Martial with a sentence of five years in prison. I’m not sure that Vietnam counted as a declared war. Col. Abraham Sweitzer Lincoln (powerful name) was in charge of the battalion in which my company was placed. He had the authority to discharge me at the time of my refusal. An Army lawyer, Capt. Boyko, took my case and used the discharge requests and work record to change the punishment to a special court martial with a maximum of six months in the post stockade (like a county jail). The decision made sense. If I had been sent home after taking the uniform off and refusing to perform duty, many others would have taken the same route out.
It took a month and a half before the court martial took place. I spent time in confinement in the barracks with reading and exercising as my main activities. Of course, three times a day I walked to the mess hall for meals. I wore tee shirts and jeans, feeling very noticeable alongside the uniformed soldiers. Most of the troops in the barracks were accepting and did not care about my situation. However, I remember one day being yelled at by one guy, “Golden, you are just hiding behind the Lord.” Was I?
Some days it was hard to grasp my motivation. Declaring oneself a conscientious objector could be very offensive, especially to those making a career in the military. One day I was called into an officer’s office for a strong reprimand for the position I had taken. This was difficult. I did not want to be offensive.
The last post in this series will focus on the court martial, the stockade time and the return home.
Howard,
Thanks for your response with the interesting Rohr piece. Hope you and Heart are well.
Rog
Roger is a steady and perceptive observer of what it is.