Navy Clears Gay WWII Vet's Record

I guess the saying better late than never still has meaning. However, it is disturbing that it took the Navy 70 years to correct a wrong that should never have been allowed to occur in a nation that claims to offer equality and freedom of religion to its citizens. The case in point involves now 89 year old Melvin Dwork (at left) who was expelled from the Navy for being gay during World War II. The Navy belatedly is changing his discharge from "undesirable" to "honorable." The kicker is that Dwork has discovered that it was his former boyfriend who outed him back in the 1940's. For years Dwork was denied military benefits because of the "undesirable" discharge. Sadly, there are many, many others who have suffered the same wrongful denial of benefits because of illegal religious based discrimination. Time magazine looks at the story and here are excerpts:

(SAN DIEGO) — Nearly 70 years after expelling Melvin Dwork for being gay, the Navy is changing his discharge from "undesirable" to "honorable" — marking what is believed to be the first time the Pentagon has taken such a step on behalf of a World War II veteran since the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."

The Navy notified the 89-year-old former corpsman last month that he will now be eligible for the benefits he had long been denied, including medical care and a military burial.

Dwork spent decades fighting to remove the blot on his record. "I resented that word 'undesirable,'" said Dwork, who was expelled in 1944, at the height of the war, and is now a successful interior designer in New York. "That word really stuck in my craw. To me it was a terrible insult. It had to be righted. It's really worse than 'dishonorable.' I think it was the worst word they could have used."

For Dwork, victory came with a heartbreaking truth: Last year, when the Navy finally released his records, he learned that his name had been given up by his own boyfriend at the time.

The decision to amend his discharge papers was made by the Board for Corrections of Naval Records in Washington In its Aug. 17 proceedings, obtained by The Associated Press, the board noted that the Navy has undergone a "radical departure" from the outright ban on gays that was in place in 1944. The board pointed out Dwork's "exemplary period of active duty" and said that changing the terms of his discharge was done "in the interest of justice."

So many lives damaged because of the special rights wrongfully given to Christianity in denigration of the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion for all. Thankfully, Dwork went on to be a successful designer in New York City despite his mistreatment by his own country and government.