U.S. Govt. Records
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Military scholar William Winthrop, U.S. Army Colonel, writes that the Discharge ‘Without Honor’ is “a species of discharge recently introduced into our practice,” but “the distinction between a discharge “without honor” and a “dishonorable” discharge is fanciful and unreal.” Winthrop, cited by the Supreme Court as recently as 2018, remarked that “it is open to discussion whether this newly invented form is legally authorized,” concluding that “the so-called discharge without honor is thus believed to be as unnecessary as it is of doubtful authority.”
Brownsville Affray – An egregious and historic injustice of American history, 168 black soldiers of the 25th colored infantry regiment (segregated) were framed for a shooting by racist townspeople in Brownsville, TX, where they had recently been stationed. All 168 men were summarily given administrative discharges “without honor” at the order of President Teddy Roosevelt, despite no evidence connecting them to the alleged crime. In 1972, the Army overturned the order and restored Honorable discharges to each soldier, although only one, Dorsie Willis, then 89, was still alive.
According to Pulitzer Prize historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, “Roosevelt’s handling of the Brownsville affair is a permanent scar on his legacy.”
