The “homosexual tendencies” that got Jimi Hendrix discharged from the army in 1962
A rock star like Jimi Hendrix serving in the army sounds as farcical as Willie Nelson working as a narcotics officer, or Ice Cube enrolling in the police.
This isn’t even because Hendrix was a devoted anti-war activist or anything so bold as that. But, fundamentally, Hendrix was chaos. His discipline extended to an almost religious devotion to practising guitar and everything else he approached via emotion and creativity. All of which made him an incredible artist, but not the most reliable of souls in any other situation.
That’s what makes Hendrix serving in the military so baffling. His spirit was as free as the day is long; images of him trussed up in his uniform, hair cut short, with his lips and fingers free of an otherwise ever-present cigarette feels fundamentally wrong. So, how did he end up there? Well, unsurprisingly, it wasn’t really his choice. The truth was a little more complicated than that, and connected to Hendrix’s early life.
Hendrix grew up dirt poor in Seattle, Washington. The son of alcoholic parents whose father struggled to find work after being discharged from the military, the young Hendrix discovered his musical talent very early. However, not every aspect of his life went as smoothly as his musical education; Hendrix struggled so badly with his studies that he dropped out of high school.
By then, he’s been playing guitar with some local bands professionally, but those gigs were few and far between. Like many other kids his age, Hendrix passed the time between gigs with some petty crime.
The only issue was that he got caught. After being caught driving a stolen car twice, Hendrix was given the choice of jail or the army.
How did Jimi Hendrix fare in the army?
After completing eight weeks of basic training, Private James Marshall Hendrix was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I don’t think I’m blowing anyone’s mind when I say that this did not suit the young Hendrix. Within days of his assignment, he was writing to his father saying what a massive mistake he’d made and that he needed his guitar if he had a hope in hell of surviving the experience.
Now, any fan of the guitar genius probably has heard a few legends about his time in the armed forces. Chief among them that he was caught on a few occasions sleeping with his guitar, with the jury out on whether that’d meant in the literal or metaphorical version of the statement. It’s probably not true, but Hendrix was doing everything he possibly could to get discharged.
The most infamous of these tales was booking a session with Fort Campbell’s psychiatrist and telling him that he was “in love” with one of his bunkmates. At the time, being gay in the military was a fundamental no-no, and Hendrix committed to the bit. A doctor at Fort Campbell, Captain John Halbert, gave him a comprehensive medical evaluation, “diagnosed” him with homosexuality and recommended his discharge as a direct result.
By this point, both Hendrix and the army were scrambling for reasons to discharge him, and this was all the excuse they needed. Interestingly, his discharge from the army was “honourable”, rather than the dishonourable discharge that most recruits who were found to be gay received at the time. Perhaps both parties knew exactly how bad a mix this was and just wanted to see the back of each other.
It certainly did Hendrix himself a world of good.