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Jimi Hendrix Army Discharge paper


Rabs

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Can't help but think about how fruitless the wars the U.S. has fought. The conscription was also very race-based. I talked to white guys who were drafted that maybe knew one or two other buddies from their high school class that were drafted, while black folks have told me that every male in their class were drafted. Interesting if it's true.

 

Why would anyone want to go to war, when at best, if they survive, they get to go back to their career and their families? The wars we're involved in these days are even worse. Shame.

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Can't help but think about how fruitless the wars the U.S. has fought. The conscription was also very race-based. I talked to white guys who were drafted that maybe knew one or two other buddies from their high school class that were drafted, while black folks have told me that every male in their class were drafted. Interesting if it's true.

 

Why would anyone want to go to war, when at best, if they survive, they get to go back to their career and their families? The wars we're involved in these days are even worse. Shame.

The Revolutionary War....fruitless?

Many think otherwise.

 

You see, our country wouldn't even BE a country without that war.

Think about it.

Sometimes wars are necessary.

Yeah, I said it. :)

 

Jimi knew what he wanted to do.

And it sure wasn't the Army.

Thanks for posting that Rabs. :)

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The Revolutionary War....fruitless?

Many think otherwise.

 

You see, our country wouldn't even BE a country without that war.

Think about it.

Sometimes wars are necessary.

Yeah, I said it. :)

 

Jimi knew what he wanted to do.

And it sure wasn't the Army.

Thanks for posting that Rabs. :)

 

msp_thumbup.gif

 

 

 

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I'm looking forward to the lost Green and Blue carbons of that laundry bill and the never-before-seen Tuesday laundry bill coming out next year.

 

rct

 

Copies of the laundry bill?

 

Nay Sir!

 

What we are looking for are stained sheets of "supersoft" Time magazine found in a lavatory when Stroble and Maddox were looking for Private Hendrix.

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He was more into music than war. He was in the service for his second time of "joy riding" in a stolen vehicle. The judge gave him the option of time in jail or the military. I have a colleague friend who went through the same scenario and he wound up serving in the highly "we had no business there" desert storm nonsense.

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Copies of the laundry bill?

 

Nay Sir!

 

What we are looking for are stained sheets of "supersoft" Time magazine found in a lavatory when Stroble and Maddox were looking for Private Hendrix.

 

But can his sister, estranged brother, step-father, and 23 cousins sell said "supersoft" Time magazine? Takes a lot of newly discovered material to keep all them peoples in Benz's and such.

 

rct

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It sounds to me like he was encouraged to do military service rather than joining of his own volition.

 

I probably wish I hadnt read that as it now colours my judgement a little.

I just find this to be a mildly amusing side note to who he became...

 

He was obviously never meant to be in the army.... It doesn't detract for me who he was and the amazing music he made. We all have a past and most of us did stupid things when we were young.. So what.

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I just find this to be a mildly amusing side note to who he became...

 

He was obviously never meant to be in the army.... It doesn't detract for me who he was and the amazing music he made. We all have a past and most of us did stupid things when we were young.. So what.

Wait on? Who did stupid things when they were young?

 

I’ve continued doing them ever since~

 

Yes why he went in is a mystery to me too. Then we all might have some sympathy about why playing guitar turned his head back then, don’t we?

 

A tragically wasted life at too early an age unfortunately, like so many others.

 

Gotta be a hell of a band up there alright! (whoops “hell” might not be the best word in this instance)

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Wait on? Who did stupid things when they were young?

 

I’ve continued doing them ever since~

 

Yes why he went in is a mystery to me too. Then we all might have some sympathy about why playing guitar turned his head back then, don’t we?

 

A tragically wasted life at too early an age unfortunately, like so many others.

 

Gotta be a hell of a band up there alright! (whoops “hell” might not be the best word in this instance)

 

"When I die, I want people to play my music, go wild, and freak out an' do anything they wanna do." -- Jimi Hendrix

 

He may have been one of the greatest guitarists in the history of rock 'n' roll, known for playing his signature left-handed Stratocaster with his teeth before setting it on fire, but the man who would become known the world over as Jimi Hendrix first cut his teeth as a Soldier in the Army -- and didn't exactly set the world on fire.

 

 

Brought up in a broken home in Seattle, young James Marshall Hendrix's stint in the Army wasn't necessarily voluntary: he was already honing his guitar skills in 1961 when a run-in with the law over stolen cars led to a choice: he could either spend two years in prison or join the Army. He enlisted on May 31, 1961 and was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, where he was stationed in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

 

 

As you'd expect, young Private Hendrix's rebellious attitude didn't especially wow his commanding officers -- among his many faults, he slept while on duty, required constant supervision, and wasn't a particularly good marksman. According to reports, he was a "habitual offender" when it came to missing midnight bed checks and was unable to "carry on an intelligent conversation." True to his calling, he continued playing guitar while off-duty, which didn't endear him with the other men in the barracks, who just wanted a good night's sleep. His constant noodling led one of his commanding officers to comment, "This is one of his faults, because his mind apparently cannot function while performing duties and thinking about his guitar."

 

Although Hendrix had signed up for three years of service, Captain Gilbert Batchman had had enough after one year, and made the case for Hendrix to be discharged, as his problems were judged to not be treatable by "hospitalization or counseling." An alleged ankle injury during a parachute jump gave Young Hendrix the opportunity to bow out of active duty with an honorable discharge, and he was happy to oblige. It can be said that at least he had the benefit of dental care while in service at Fort Campbell and California's Fort Ord -- care that would come in useful later in his musical career.

 

Hendrix might not have been a great fit in the U.S. Army, but the military's loss was rock music's gain, as a few years after his discharge he exploded onto the London music scene with his band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, unleashing his first hit single, "Hey Joe." The rest is history, and three years and three landmark albums later, Jimi was dead after an alleged overdose of sleeping pills left him choking on his own vomit -- a death that is still partially unexplained even today, with several of Jimi's old associates claiming foul play -- but his fiery creativity and groundbreaking axe work have stood up to the test of time.

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bah- so what if he wasn't a good soldier? who among us is good at everything we ever tried? surely each of us has failed at something, somewhere in our lives?

i would go as far as to say that anyone over the age of 30 who claims to never have failed at something either haven't lived well, or they're a liar.

 

considering the times, i would bet that he went in voluntarily, because jobs were probably not real plentiful. he was probably told (as many of us are) that if he kept his nose clean, the army could be a dependable living. he went for it, and it was totally not for him.

i mean, if you think about it, how many people would really care who he was if he was as great a soldier as he was a guitarist, only instead of? some people find their place in life, and some don't. for jimi, it wasn't the army.

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As has been said, he went in semi-voluntarily. The military life didn't suit him and would suit me either. That's why I appreciate the men and women who do serve, both in the military, police, fire and other types of service. They do jobs that I certainly wouldn't want to be doing and I'm thankful for them. I also tend to thank them for their service. I think that's part of Jimi's fire and passion in his music is his rebellious nature. He certainly didn't have an easy childhood.

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Not surprised. He was consumed with the guitar. He would have been a liability. Better to spend the training on someone else.

 

I salute everyone who's served and is serving. It's a difficult subject, because war is people doing things to other people so that they die, and is inextricably linked to politics - whose side are you on?

 

And throughout history, the moneyed boys have bought their way out. A lot of veterans, throughout history, have had very little say in whether to fight or not to. Vietnam is a perfect example.

 

It's disgusting how returning vets were treated.

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