Hendrix was booted from the armed services in 1962 after 13 desultory months as a private stationed in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In a May 1962 statement recommending that “Hendrix be eliminated from the service…as expeditious as possible,” Army Captain Gilbert Batchman delivered a withering assessment of the young soldier.
Hendrix, Batchman noted, was poorly motivated, had no regards for regulations, ignored supervisors, and was a “habitual offender” when in came to nightly bed checks. Even worse, Army brass suspected that Hendrix “was taking dope,” though a medical exam proved negative.
And then there was that guitar.
“Pvt Hendrix plays a musical instrument during his off duty hours, or so he says,” Batchman wrote. “This is one of his faults, because his mind apparently cannot function while performing duties and thinking about his guitar.”Oh, and Hendrix was also once “apprehended masturbating" in a latrine, according to the Army records.
2 comments:
The entire war establishment is such a little-boys club, it's a wonder they didn't build the Pentagon to resemble a tree-house.
Lester Young had a harder time in the service and didn't bounce back as readily. Laurel and Hardy movies show what it's really like.
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