Nathan White
HM2, U.S. Navy (1950-1954, 1956-1957)
I joined the navy on October 6, 1950 when I was 18 years old. I went to Great Lakes, IL for boot camp and Hospital Corps School. Then I went to the Naval Hospital at Beaufort, S.C. I worked on a combination medical and psychiatric ward for seven months, then in the special diet kitchen for seven months, and finally in the hospital commissary for another seven months.
I was at Beaufort from March 1951 to December of 1952. I reported to Camp Pendleton, CA in January of 1953 for combat training in preparation for Korea and service with the First Marine Division. The combat training was finished in March of 1953 and I went on a troop ship to Korea, arriving in early April, 1953.
I first served in an artillery battery in the 11th Marines, First Marine Division. Then I went to headquarters where I received a field promotion to HM2 which was equivalent to Staff Seargent in the Marines. The shooting in the war ended on my 21st birthday, July 27, 1953, while I was a headquarters, 11th Marines.
After the shooting ended I went back to a Medical Company. I served in two other medical companies until I was rotated back to the States in June of 1954. We arrived at San Francisco and went down to Camp Pendleton after a few days. I stayed at Camp Pendleton until I was sent down to San Diego to be discharged. I received an Honorable discharge on August 5, 1954 and then went to college until I decided to re-join the Navy in February of 1956.
I was sent to Parris Island, S.C. and was assigned to work in the personnel office. I had a friend at the Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, and he wrote that he thought I would like the Laboratory School at Bethesda where he was stationed. So I put in for it and it was granted. I had been at Bethesda for about six months when one day I was called out of class by two men in civilian clothes. They drove me to my living quarters and had me open my locker. They examined all my personal belongings and found two letters from civilian gay friends I had not answered yet. Then they told me I was being processed for an undesirable discharged, because a corpsman I knew at Parris Island had named names when he was caught in a homosexual act. I did not fight it and was discharged in February, 1957, as "undesirable." I requested a hearing in 1980 and received an Honorable discharge on March 28, 1980. There was a note on my discharge stating that I was not recommended for re-enlistment because of homosexuality.