Little due process, less honor from U.S.Navy

GET OFF MY SHIP: Ensign Berg Vs. The U.S. Navy. By E. Lawrence Gibson. Illustrated by Vernon E. Berg III Avon Books. 385 pages: $4.95 (soft cover original).

By George Brown

On a summer day in 1975 aboard the USS Little Rock anchored in its home port of. Gaeta, Italy, the promising.naval career of twenty-four-year-old Ensign Vernon E. Berg suddenly was in ruins. Also in ruins was the teaching carcer of E Lawrence Gibson, approximately age forty. a Ċivilian instructor on the ship The two men were living together on shore in a homosexual umon that had been discovered by the Naval Investigative Service.

Separately but simúltaneously interrogated by the NIS. both. men admitted their relationship Gibson immediately was barred from the ship and from shore classrooms. being denied his civil service teaching position without a consultation with the Civil Service or without the right of a hearing "Get off my ship' ordered the angry executive officer to Gibson. The Navy, ma slower but no less sure manner. demanded the same of its com missioned officer, an Annapolis graduate, who three days later submitted his resignation But since bureaucracies mov slowly. Berg still was in the Navy over three months later, although banished from his ship and given a lesser position or. shore in Nor tolk. Virginia, while his resigna tion was being processed He now decided to fight for justice. for long-due change in the US Navy

E Lawrence Gibson has effeclively documented. analyzed. and presented this chilling experience" in "Get Off My Ship with the emphasis on Berg. as the Subtitie shows. "Ensign Berg Vs The US Navy The result is a documentary which at times reads like a novel or a play It is also a synthesis of much research on homosexuality. especially as related to the military and it is a comprehensive editorial stressing the impor tance of acceptance of homosexuals by the military. The book also contains an impressive love story, one which is not described at great length but which from the first pages to the last is beau tifully apparent

Berg predictably lost his hearang before a board of five Navy officers who at the outset

unanimously admitted that they did not think a homosexual should serve in the Navy. The only witness actually to accuse Berg was an enlisted man who gave an inconsistent and a blurry story about Berg's making a sex-. qual advance to him, a story which Berg denied. The board accepted the testimony gladly. gnoring the testimonies of others who gave good cause forTM Berg's remaining in the Navy. All concrete facts showed that Berg was a thoroughly compétenį officer highly motivated for an excellent naval career.

Of great significance is the fact. that one of Berg's major accusers. was kept top secret, being identifred only as GAP-1, which Gibe. son feels was actually two people whe with a third carned out a vendetta against Berg Berg was never permitted to confront this mystery element in any

manner

: Berg was represented by three attorneys one from the Navy one from the Air Force and the " third a "civilian under the joint Sponsorship of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. Lambda being the only homosexual civil rights organization authorized to prac tice law

However, the defense tho was struggling to make bricks with out straw. for the Navy board rejected its every request for fairness and reason. And in the Navy lawyer presiding as recorder completely independent of the board, the defense encountered a decided tõe Representing the government and thus in a sense an adversary. nonetheless the recorder by definition should be fan and impartial. But this recorder rapidly Cast himself in the role of prosecuting attorney The ultimate decision was made by a rest admiral not present at the hearing and the reader. unfortunately has the feeling that even if the board's recom mendation had been positive the adnals decision would have been negative

The book opens with a quotation from the fourth chapter of Ecclesiastes, part of which says. : one Two are better than one falls the other car: help his.com. And it two lie. "panion up again side by side. they keep each other warm It a man is alone am assailant may overpower him.

Vernon E. Berg 111 with E: Lawrence Gibson

Photo Credit: Jefemy Sundgaard

but two can resist This quota. .tion illustrates a strong aspect of the story for despite the trauma which both men lived through (and Gibson's 'damage in the affair cannot be minimized), they had each other Their strong relationship is especially under-scored in chapter nine. "If a Man Is Alone" a fine piece of writing that simply and poignantly described delicate yet powerful emotions Read it fellow gay. and be heartened Read it.

brother and sister heterosexual, and comprehend al

Gibson's writing is excellent journalistic when it should be. as much of it is for the complex pro...” ceedings analytical and explanatory when necessary: and sometinies verging on lean' lyncal prose

On June 3, 1976 Berg received a discharge under conditions other than honorable. After he appealed to US District Court. the Navy offered to upgrade his

HIGH GEAR Page 13

discharge to a general one if he would drop hitigation. He refused: Later he was offered an honorable discharge if he would “drop", litigation He refused Finally on April 14, 1977 the Secretary of Navy directed that Borg be issued an honorable discharge, retroactive to June 3. 1976. But Berg curtinued his hativ tle for reinstatement into the Navy as a homosexual officer (cont, on page 14)

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