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Posted on 08/03/2005 7:05:55 PM PDT by Rodney King
AUGUST 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, which TSG obtained from the Military Personnel Records center in St. Louis. You'll find highlights from the file on the following 18 pages. 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. (18 pages)
"Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory"
Traffic!
stand up ,freak out, fall on the floor
Jimmy Hendrix don't jump no more.
Hedricks defined the the electric guitar for a whole generation.
He was awesome. God only knows what he would have been playing today. What a loss.
happens to me too, particularly when i'm thinking of my old Epiphone Genesis...
Maybe Crosstown Traffic?
I play an Alverez Yairi.
Interestingly enough, "Purple Haze" was actually a metaphor for a top secret mission in Cambodia. Many rock historians credit the the song to Hendrix, but it was actually written by Congressional Medal of Honor winner and all-round dashing fellow John Forbes Kerry, who can be heard playing bass on the track.
While this info on Hendrix might be interesting, I have to ask how TSG has any standing to request these files. What right do they have to see these personnel files? I thought only family members could request them after the servicemember's death.
I've heard of that record. It was produced by Albert Gore, yes ??
Something's not computing.
Excellent find. I remain a big Hendrix fan. All you have to do is listen to Pali Gap, Villanova Junction, Voodoo Child, etc., etc., to realize that he was the greatest electric guitar player ever.
Hahaha!
The only thing you overlooked in that report is that it was Karl Rove who ordered Kerry into Cambodia. Thus, the purple haze. Which Rove caused.
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This is Jimi carrying on an intelligent conversation...
Whats with the threads bashing Jimi lately?
He and his publicist lied
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