The reason I am writing is I thought you might be able to offer me some advice. To begin with I am a white male, twenty-two years old. I graduated from high-school in 1954. In 1955 I joined the Navy for a four-year enlistment. In January of 1958 I was picked up by a Washington, D. C. "Plainclothes Detective" on a morals charge. I received an Undesirable Discharge from the Navy in March of 1958. I haven't completely gotten over the shock of my discharge. I went to New York City last September and got a job as a typist until May of this year.

After my release from the Navy I told my brother that I got an Undesirable Discharge for a passive homosexual act. He is an electrician and he was trying to get me in the union and a job as an electrician apprentice. When I was in New York I wrote my brother a letter and hinted I was gay. He realized what I was hinting about and wrote that I should go to a doctor and get cured. When I came home from New York City he said that the union wanted a copy of my discharge and that the union job was out. For about a month after I came back from New York City, my brother would hardly speak to me. Then he started to talk and treat me like he did before he knew anything about my discharge. I am not working now, since for a lot of jobs I could get, I would have to have a Honorable Discharge. I am so afraid and embarrassed that people will ask for a copy of my discharge or my selective service classification that I keep putting off looking for a job. None of my family except my brother knows about me or my discharge. I told them I received a Medical Discharge for a bad knee. My family can't understand why I don't at least look for a job.

I was stationed in San Diego for a while when I was in the Navy and I love that part of the country. I hope to live out there some day, but first I

have to find a job and realize that my Undesirable Discharge isn't the end of my life.

I will end up in a mental institution if I don't find a job and stop sitting around the house brooding over my discharge. I agree with your ONE's January Editorial about teen-agers not being able to receive the magazine. I don't think I would be in the mess that I am right now, if I could have received ONE when I was in my teens. If you could offer me any advice I would deeply appreciate it. Please acknowledge my letter even if you can't offer me any advice. Thank you. Respectfully yours,

Dear J. K.:

J.K.

To me the best part of your letter is but first I have to find a

job and realize that my Undesirable Discharge isn't the end of my life." This positive attitude on your part indicates a healthful trend.

Surely there must be small business concerns like privately owned gas filling stations, lunch counters, handy man and errand service, etc., where there is not such a detailed investigation of your past experience as there is in union and government controlled organizations. However, I could be wrong as I am not a vocational counselor. Employment conditions vary from state to state and city to city.

I know personally a number of young men with a problem similar to yours who did get jobs-not entirely to their liking-but jobs with salaries, once they made up their minds that that they would find work in spite of an Undesirable Discharge.

Perhaps by now you are already at work. I hope so, and that you will eventually return to the West Coast if that is still your wish. Sincerely,

Blanche M. Baker, M.D.