Posted on 02/14/2018 8:28:34 AM PST by Salman
A California woman kicked out of the military 60 years ago for being a lesbian has finally had her rights restored.
In 1955, Airman Second Class Helen Grace James was targeted and investigated by Air Force officials for her sexuality, part of a massive effort to remove gay and lesbian service members known as the "Lavender Scare."
Now, at 90, and living in California, James filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month against the U.S. Air Force seeking to upgrade her "undesirable" discharge to "honorable."
This week, James's attorney received word the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records has agreed to change her status. "The Board has decided to upgrade Helen's discharge status to Honorable," James's attorney, J. Cacilia Kim, told The Washington Post.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Thank you.
They probably figured “Feh, she’s 90, she won’t collect Vet benefits for very long, and we don’t want the PR blowback from saying no.”
Wouldn’t she be owed back benefits though?
If they have decided she was wrongly discharged, she could have all sorts of back pay and benefits due.
I would think the decision opens a can of worms.
I’m stealing that if you don’t mind.
Nobody has a “right” to an honourable discharge if they were breaking the rules in place.
This stupid. It deserves what it got.
Fair enough.
I do have a problem with it. She lied in order to enter the military back then. She had to - the question was in the enlistment papers.
The fact that she lied to get in makes her service less than honorable.
If she’s having a discharge, she should have that looked at.
Stupid. So, can I get my speeding violation ex post facto dismissed because they raised the speed limit a few years later?
The law IN EFFECT at the time is just as valid.
Why this is a big deal is many people lied about their age and served honorably even heroically in WWII, Korea and Viet Nam and the best they got was a general discharge. You want to fix something, fix that.
That rug has some age on it.
She paid the penalty for her lie by 62 years living with an Undesirable discharge. Time served
Then at least give her a General, under Honorable. 62 years living with an U.D. is punishment enough don’t you think?
I wouldn't allow that.
Irrelevant non-sequiter
Apparently, the military is still firmly infiltrated by Leftists. Those that suffer from the homosexual disorder should not serve in the military. The military should not be normalizing disordered behavior.
“The case would take years to wind through the Fed Courts. She does not have years.”
But there must be a lot of people in the same situation that this ruling would set precedent for?
A court could easily rule that they are due a lot of money since they were denied years of pay and a 20 year retirement possibility. Or full retirement a lot earlier in one of the RIF periods.
And what RIGHTS would those be?
You left out the, "Oh... Wait..."
Who has to be alive?
There IS precedence...
Pope Stephen VI (896–897), who had his predecessor Pope Formosus exhumed, tried, de-fingered, briefly reburied, and thrown in the Tiber.[1]
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