First Case

Although he felt he had done his best, the Navy mustered him out last May for "shirking." What hurt even more was that the "undesirable discharge"* kept him from getting back his old job. Then 45-year-old Ryland B. Compton, of The Bronx, heard of a provision in the G.I. Bill of Rights covering such grievances, promptly hired a lawyer to plead his case.

Holder of the Purple Heart and Silver Star for service in World War I, Compton had joined the Seabees in September 1942, became a chief electrician's mate. In Bermuda, on his first assignment, he came under command of an ensign with whom he did not get along. Complained Compton: "He was an overbearing kid of about 26 or 27, and you know it's pretty hard on older men who have been in their trade 15 or 20 years to have a youngster telling them what's what."

Eleven months later, after a row over a one-day pass which the ensign charged was unauthorized, Compton was sent back to the U.S. with his battalion, for leave and reassignment. But on his next detail at Camp Endicott, R.I., he found himself once more bossed by the same young officer, by now a lieutenant, junior grade. The lieutenant promptly began to ride him systematically, said Compton, gave him low marks in attitude and discipline, sent him on 15-mile hikes, imposed unnecessary discipline. When the next quarterly ratings were issued, Compton was found to be "unfit." He was discharged a day later.

Last week Ryland Compton won redress--with the first discharge reclassification under the G.I. Bill of Rights. After hearing his story, the Navy's Board of Review of Discharges and Dismissals upped his classification one degree, listed him as discharged "under honorable conditions."

The possibility of many another such hearing was indicated last week by a Navy announcement of discharges under less than honorable conditions. Since Pearl Harbor: 10,936 undesirable, 15,479 for bad conduct, 2,007 dishonorable.

* Between strictly honorable and strictly dishonorable cases, the Navy has three other discharge classifications: 1) under honorable conditions; 2) undesirable; 3) for bad conduct. The Army has only one other: without honor.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.