One of the Boys: Homosexuality in the Military during World War II Essay

All over the history of the United States’ military, its handling of sexual minorities such as homosexuals has changed both as popular and medical knowledge regarding homosexuality have changed and as the requirements of the armed forces themselves have altered. According to Paul Jackson (2004) in his book â€Å"One of the Boys: Homosexuality in the Military during World War II†, regulations have more and more shifted away from criminal trial to the release of homosexual military servicemen in reaction to varying opinions among medical professionals regarding the root and true causes of homosexuality. Nevertheless, Jackson (2004) claimed that within an institution that has formally forbidden the service of sexual minorities, particularly homosexuals ever since the 1940s, and the real execution of the ban has varied across branch of services and time, in addition to commanders. Throughout the time of war, rates and levels of dismissal have dropped as manpower requirements have increased as well. Many instances subsist of gay and lesbian military servicemen who have served with the information and consciousness of their commanders and colleagues. Moreover, not merely does a service member’s likelihood or opportunity of being dismissed differ by branch of service, but female military personnel likewise consist of an unequal number of those estranged under the rule. In writing about gay and lesbian history, the historian should decode and interpret the coded phrases that were employed to cover up homosexuality, and I believe that Jackson has done a commendable and marvelous job of this. His book is a thoroughly-researched analysis of homosexuality in the Canadian armed forces for the period of the war years. In writing the book, it is Jackson’s aim to investigate the existence of homosexuality in the military during World War II and to be able to share the result of his study to the readers. I can say that he has achieved these goals because this work has extensively studied the subject and is an outcome of hours of studying police reports, court-martial transcripts, conducting dozens of interviews, and pouring over psychiatric. In writing this book, I can say that Jackson has discovered and exposed a lot of homosexual experiences, and therefore has carried out an important involvement both to the social history and the queer history of the World War II. According to Jackson, throughout the period of World War II, military leaders engaged in extensive debate regarding the practices, rules, and policies connected to homosexuality in the armed forces, and substantial amendment of regulations took place all over the services. Furthermore, World War II needed a mass mobilization not like any formerly observed in the United States’ history. In fact, as asserted by d’Emilio (1998), the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 caused the instant registration of over 16 million men. Meanwhile, Jennings (1994) and the National Defense Research Institute (1993) said that discussions and debate regarding homosexual policies originated both from the prevalent disparity in the treatment of individual cases and the United States government’s dependence on the psychiatric establishment to help in discharging soldiers who were regarded as ineligible or unfit to serve. On authority, as I have previously said, the author presented several ideas about the subject by means of employing a wide array of sources such as personnel and psychiatric files, long-closed court martial records, oral histories, films, and unit war diaries. Jackson was able to consistently present his findings and views as he relates the struggle and hardships of queer military servicemen of all branches and ranks of the Canadian military to blend in and integrate and prevent losing their reputations and careers. According to Jackson, homosexual men were frequently well-liked and accepted within their units. However, if charged of homosexual behavior, they were asked to undergo psychiatric tests, prison terms, courts-martial proceedings, and finally dishonorable and shameful discharges. I think that Jackson’s ideas are credible and the findings and information are clearly presented. On perspective, I believe that Jackson’s work is not tainted by a clear bias that ignores or understates evidence and thus not favor one perspective alone. Moreover, the book imparts statements with adequate evidentiary support. Meanwhile, regarding the content of the book, when you read the book, it seems as if it is two books merged into one: on the one hand, it is a social history, and on the other hand, it is a policy analysis. The first three chapters of the book discuss how the institutions of the Canadian military tried to control homosexuality. In Chapter 1, Jackson examines the somewhat baffled efforts of the military to describe and delineate its policy regarding homosexuality. Next, Chapter 2 looks at the court martial proceedings of those military servicemen accused of homosexuality-related legal wrongdoings. Then, Chapter 3 of the book illustrates how military psychiatrists attempted to stress and affirm their authority and power over homosexuality as a medical concern. The last two chapters seemed to be a methodical reading of their respective principal sources, which are psychiatric examinations and court martial transcripts. I believe that Jackson analytically transports the reader through the a variety of stages of the psychiatric evaluation and court martial processes, giving personalized and detailed descriptions of how these two branches of the military coped with the concern of homosexuality, the first as a medical concern and the second as a moral and legal one. This difference between approved and formal military rule denouncing homosexuality and the usual acceptance of homosexual behavior is revealed in the first chapter of Jackson’s book, which looks at the a variety of aspects of the military’s rule on homosexuality as created by the military police, the National Film Board, the RCAF, and the medical services. The general organization of the first chapter of the book portrays a somewhat inconsistent and disorganized methodology in dealing with homosexuality in the Canadian military, which included cruel and brutal investigations on the one hand, and customary denials on the other hand. Moreover, Chapter 1 highlights entertainingly in the author’s ironic so-called â€Å"Routine Order† on homosexuality, wherein he explains the de facto military rule on homosexuality, without an official and formal rule. According to Jackson, the de facto military rule was to disregard or renounce homosexual behavior except if the person behind it was an eccentric or nonconformist or else has a behavioral problem. The de facto rule says that any punishment must be manageable or light for military men in combat units, and heavy and grave for noncombatants, except if they were popular and accepted. Persistently, the author thinks that the Canadian military attempted to disregard homosexuality except if the persons were difficult to handle or were showing their sexuality. Jackson says that this implicit rule originated from the 1940s concept or notion of sexuality, which states that every soldier was supposed or assumed to be male, heterosexual, and masculine, and in the absence of tremendous proof or confirmation to the contrary, would be considered as such. Meanwhile, the second half of the book is mainly a social history of homosexuality in the armed forces in the period of World War II. The book’s Chapters 4 and 5 discuss the experiences of queer and odd military servicemen in Canada and abroad; while chapter 6 inspects the effect of homosexuality on the military’s morale, cohesion, and esprit de corps. Personally, I think that these chapters of Jackson’s book depended mainly on war diaries and oral histories as well as the sources utilized for the previous chapters, and illustrate clear pictures of the experiences of queer military servicemen during wartime. Definitely, I think that these sections of the book evoke Desmond Morton’s outstanding work regarding the experience of Canadian military servicemen during World War I. By means of utilizing the personal reminiscences of various veterans, a number of whom are explicitly homosexual, whereas others are married and already have grandchildren, the author investigates the numerous aspects of the homosexual encounters and experiences that happened during the war, the stories and accounts of coming to consciousness of a different sexual orientation and behavior, the conflicting responses to these encounters, and the truthful account of brief sexual frolics in London hotel rooms for common enjoyment. Personally, I think that of specific concern in these parts in the book is Jackson’s portrayal of the open sexuality in England during wartime that would surely be interesting for British historians. In his book, Jackson exposes the label that homosexuality in the military was simply the result of an all-male situation, or that these experiences constantly concerned a blend of a masculine top and feminine â€Å"queen. † Despite the fact that this was the conventional representation and impression of homosexuality during the war, it was far from being its lone sign or even the prevalent one. Based on the investigations of Jackson, he found out that it is apparent that there was a stern unwillingness or reluctance on the part of authorities to dismiss homosexuals from military service. Jackson discovered that courts martial were mainly employed to discourage homosexual activity, but hardly ever led to the dismissal of noncommissioned military servicemen. Generally, the serviceman would be condemned and punished to serve time in a detention center, after which he would be permitted to go back to service. Meanwhile, military officers were more possible to be dismissed if they are found guilty, but were on the other hand much less possible to be sentenced. Jackson asserts that the motive or explanation here agrees with the explanation as to why psychiatrists were extremely hesitant, compared with the courts martial, to proclaim that a military officer or serviceman was homosexual. Furthermore, Jackson suggests that the medical archetype of homosexuality structured a homosexual as an antisocial, degenerate person a point of view revealed in the moral norms of the court martial officers. Nevertheless, it was difficult to resolve this idea with the healthy, productive military men who stood under inspection and scrutiny; thus, a lot of these men were set free, particularly when they had colleagues ready to guarantee for their good character. Regarding the effect of homosexuality on the military’s morale, esprit de corps, and unit cohesion, the author not astonishingly discovered that in recognized units a court martial of a charged military serviceman was more often than not more destructive to morale than the homosexual military man himself. Jackson said that frequently these men were well liked and well incorporated, and their fellow military servicemen hesitant to bear witness against them. Furthermore, the concern about sexuality was more difficult in training camps, when bonds had not yet been established. Nevertheless, Jackson also said that sexuality was not any greater an obstacle than a person’s behavior, ethnicity, race, or a lack of physical ability, all of which caused challenges to building unit cohesion throughout this period. In the meantime, I believe that a remarkable amount of research and study was obviously done in completing Jackson’s book, and I would be negligent and thoughtless if I will not talk about the visual part or element of his book. I think that the author portrays a remarkable and extraordinary array of war art, as well as several masterpieces by gay war artists that demonstrate facets or characteristics of homosexuality and the homosocial ties or connection that were established during the period of the war. A lot of these works or creations show and exemplify same-sex emotional connections and homoeroticism in the military more noticeably and openly than a chapter of text can illustrate. Together with imagery and descriptions from photos of young soldiers, stills from NFB films, and drag shows together, these pictures and examples add a rich and remarkable visual component or facet to the text. Meanwhile, Jackson said that the ban of the service of sexual minorities ever since the 1940s has not caused their discharge from the U. S. military. A lot of service members are not aware that they are homosexual when they enlist; while others do not regard themselves as homosexual, although their actions fits the military’s stringent definition. A number of these military servicemen who do recognize as sexual minorities join anyhow since they would like to serve their nation or as a consequence of the job prospects the military offers. The majority of these military servicemen work in virtual silence, informing just other gay and lesbian service members or a small number of trusted heterosexual contemporaries. Then as Sobel et al. 2000) and Berube (1990) said, despite the fact that military inquiries have led to the discharges of more than 100,000 service members since the 1940s, experts have the same opinion that a lot more have worked without being discharged. Moreover, as societal outlooks toward homosexuality have generally turned out to be more open-minded, there has been growing evidence and confirmation of acceptance among several heterosexual military personnel also. Nevertheless, the authorized and certified policy mandates removal of all recognized homosexual military servicemen, notwithstanding conduct and irrespective of their record. Even those personnel members who undergo acceptance from their contemporaries stay to be in danger that a change in command, an unanswered advance, or the antagonism of one person could bring about the end of their military careers. In the book, Jackson (2004) said that in 1943, new Navy regulations focused on homosexuals instead of sodomist. In addition, the National Defense Research Institute (1993) said that criminal penalties for sodomy were not, nevertheless, in fact removed. Those who engaged in same-sex sexual behavior were either to be administratively discharged or allowed to resign, unless their behavior was violent or involved a minor. Berube (1990) claimed that the Navy directive likewise noted that the policy applied to the Women’s Reserve also. Under Army policies, those who were not â€Å"confirmed perverts† and who were viewed to have a salvage value were to be returned to duty following proper disciplinary action. Then, by the year 1944, the medicalization of homosexuality was finished. Berube (1990) also asserted that the Army circular widened the category of offenders who may possibly be reclaimed from those who had gone off track to the true or confirmed homosexuals whose cases practically point to the likelihood of reclamation. In addition, the Navy’s 1944 circular introduced for the first time in that military branch the idea of those who have homosexual tendencies and stated that even if no sexual contact in fact took place, those with homosexual tendencies were to be recognized and prohibited from serving in the military or dismissed upon discovery (National Research Defense Institute, 1993). Personally, I believe that the reader should likewise praise Jackson for his utilization of explicit and frank language in explaining and illustrating homosexuality in the period of World War II. I personally think that not merely does this suggest or reveal the real language employed in the records Jackson discovered, but it is suitable or proper to the sexually-charged work he is discussing and doing. Moreover, I also think that the author conveys the story and information about the subject with enough wit and candor. Therefore, I am awed that Jackson managed to obtain the subtitle for his segment on inter-rank relationships, entitled â€Å"Officers and their Privates† past his editor. All in all, I extol Jackson for his interesting and frequently intimate story and description of the experiences and experiences of homosexual military servicemen that will be interesting to both a general and academic readers.