Jimi Hendrix pretended he was gay to win discharge from the US Army
Publicly he claimed he was discharged after breaking his ankle. But medical records say he was discharged in 1962 after convincing an Army psychiatrist that he was in love with a squad member. Even though his legendary appetite for Women proves he was lying, Apparently he just wanted to escape the Army to play music
By: Snapper - 5th August 2005 at 10:36
“Wash your mouth out my boy!”
What a choice of words.
By: F-18 Hamburger - 4th August 2005 at 13:40
psh, ever thought that he could be BI!!
and why not, he gets the best of both worlds!
By: steve rowell - 4th August 2005 at 10:29
3–Days before Private James Marshall Hendrix (Jimi to his friends) was officially drummed out of the military, Army brass delivered withering assessments of the 19-year-old soldier. Hendrix, Captain Gilbert Batchman reported, slept on the job, had little regard for regulations, and was once “apprehended masturbating” in the latrine. Sergeant Louis Hoekstra noted that Hendrix was a “habitual offender” when it came to missing midnight bed checks and that the Seattle teenager was unable to “carry on an intelligent conversation.” Hoekstra added that Hendrix, who was once suspected of “taking dope,” played a musical instrument while off-duty, “or so he says. This is one of his faults, because his mind apparently cannot function while performing duties and thinking about his guitar.” Those are just two of the gems contained in the late rock star’s nearly 100-page Army file, The documents track Hendrix’s messy 13 months in the Army, beginning with his May 1961 three-year enlistment, which came with his assurance that he wasn’t a Commie and a handwritten explanation about a juvenile burglary arrest. Hendrix, records show, was a terrible marksman and a recidivist truant. Weeks after ordering a physical and psychiatric examination of Hendrix (who was attached to the 101st Airborne Support Group in Fort Campbell, Kentucky), Capt. Batchman sought to discharge a soldier who was an “extreme intravert” and whose many problems were not treatable by “hospitalization and or counseling.” Included in the Army’s discharge request were various statements from fellow soldiers, all of whom thought Hendrix deserved to be bounced. James Mattox, for example, recalled an April 1961 incident in which he, Hendrix, and four other soldiers were assigned to wash a ceiling. When Hendrix, who occasionally napped during the cleaning assignment, disappeared at one point, Mattox went looking for him. He quickly found Hendrix in the latrine, where he was “sitting in the last commode. I thought he was sitting there sleeping so I stood on the stool in the commode next to his and…there sat Hendrix masturbating himself.” For his part, Hendrix–who apparently hated life as an enlisted man–did not challenge the discharge request, according to a signed statement. At the time of his expulsion, Hendrix was allowed to leave the military with some parting gifts, including some Army-issued clothing. He also benefited from frequent dental care at Fort Campbell and California’s Fort Ord, which probably made it easier for him to subsequently play that black Stratocaster with his teeth.
By: dcfly - 3rd August 2005 at 23:31
Hendrix gay? Wash your mouth out my boy! 😀
Whether he was or wasn’t, he was still one of the greatest guitar legends ever! 😎
Hendrix wasn’t ONE of the greatest guitar legends…!!!
He was THE greatest…!!!
By: J Boyle - 2nd August 2005 at 03:59
Probably wasn’t the first guy to escape (or leave early) national service that way!
By: planejunky - 31st July 2005 at 11:34
Hendrix gay? Wash your mouth out my boy! 😀
Whether he was or wasn’t, he was still one of the greatest guitar legends ever! 😎
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July 31, 2005 at 5:55 am