Other Than Honorable Discharge Benefits - US Veterans Lighthouse

12/17/2022

09/28/2022

USS Alabama and HMS Anson during combined exercises in the Atlantic - June 1943

Note the rear turrets on both ships are trained to Port forward.
Anson & Alabama were both the "New Kids in the Atlantic" at the time with both being commissioned in 1942.

IWM - Hudson, F A (Lt) Photographer
© IWM A 17582

09/08/2019

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris released a new plan Saturday that aims to expand Veteran Affairs health care and housing assistance for some veterans and reverse the Trump administration's ban on transgender recruits joining the military.

08/11/2019

6 yrs of Veterans Lighthouse and now I am the one divorced and homeless. My family left me for an Muslim whose whole family has been arrested by the FBI and took everything. Smh ..This is not going to be easy, folks! Wish me luck. I shall return to be of assistance whenever I get myself straighted out. - Sam

09/02/2018

We all must do our part to ensure our brothers and sisters in arms are given the respect they deserve.

Pvt. Treptow was killed while serving as a runner, or courier, for Company M in the battle of the Ourcq River on July 29, 1918. After Pvt. Treptow was killed, a diary was found in which he had inscribed the following pledge: ''America must win this war. Therefore I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone.''

08/07/2018

USVL-OTH will be reopening in October. Thanks to all of our supporters and admins who made this page the most popular source of OTH guidance and news. - Sam

09/10/2016

"I have held the police ranks of Corporal, Sergeant, and Lieutenant along with being a training officer all while having a Bad Conduct Discharge (BCD)." - LT Timothy Fugate

https://otherthanhonorabledischarge.wordpress.com/2015/11/25/oth-to-leo-working-in-law-enforcement-with-an-other-than-honorable-discharge/

Here is an inspirational message from former police officer Lieutenant Tim Fugate to OTH VETS that want to continue to serve their country in local law enforcement. – Sam Young, U.S. Veteran…

09/05/2016

Navy Officer who claimed to be an OTH Vet Get Ship Named After Him

In a public relations move to show its acceptance of the LGBT community, the U.S. Navy named a ship last week after Lieutenant (junior grade) Harvey Milk, a gay Korean War veteran who was given an Honorable discharge in 1955, but made a political career out of convincing the San Francisco community that he was Other Than Honorably discharged for being gay. Milk became Supervisor of San Francisco but was assassinated along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone in 1978 by former San Francisco Board Supervisor Dan White after the two had lobbied heavily against his reappointment.

Milk stated numerous times that he was discharged because he was gay, but Kansas City scholar Karen Foss confirmed his discharge from the Navy had no connection to his s*xuality and states, "While exaggeration is a frequent campaign tactic, in Milk's case such embellishments served to demonstrate his willingness to be part of the political system while also maintaining his distance from it."

San Francisco journalist Randy Shilts was also skeptical of this claim, stating: "Harvey Milk was no political activist, and according to available evidence, he played the more typical balancing act between discretion and his s*x drive."

The ship naming ceremony honoring Milk last Tuesday in San Francisco Bay was hosted by the likes of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, who echoed the late LGBT rights advocate when he remarked that “a more diverse force is a stronger force.”

In July 2016, US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus advised Congress that he intended to name the second ship of the Military Sealift Command's John Lewis-class oilers, USNS Harvey Milk. All ships of the class are to be named after civil rights leaders.

09/04/2016

I decided to create a USVL discussion board for Veterans who don't get on Facebook often or want to request assistance concerning their VA benefits. You can create an account or post anonymously without registering. You can also help other OTH Vets by telling your stories and catch up on the latest OTH regulations and news events as they develop. Feel free to contact us at: http://VeteransLighthouse.boards.net/

Visit our forum at: veteranslighthouse.boards.net

09/01/2016

Unfortunately, we had to change the name of the page back to OTHDB as we weren't getting many requests for assistance by using our organizational name (U.S. Veterans Lighthouse). Normally we get about 2,000-3,000 readers and dozens of requests per week. I changed the name to help protect the privacy of OTH Vets but it seems changing the name did more harm than good. Hope everyone is having a great day and as always THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE! - Sam Young, USVL

08/13/2016

New York Times - "The Board for Correction of Naval Records, which would be the final arbiter in my case, granted just 1 percent of other-than-honorable discharge upgrade requests from 2009 to 2012. From 2002 to 2013, more veterans were given “other-than-honorable” discharges than ever before. The rate is five times what it was during World War II, though there is no indication that service members these days are more “dishonorable” than their predecessors. Because of such discharges, more than 125,000 veterans who served since 2001 have been barred from receiving basic veterans’ services, including 33,000 who served in combat.''

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/09/opinion/what-the-military-owes-rape-survivors-like-my-daughter.html?_r=0

Service members who have been assaulted shouldn’t have to add “other-than-honorable” discharge to their injustices.

08/03/2016

After going AWOL to avoid his assailants, he was given an Other Than Honorable Discharge and denied benefits for more than 40 years. Minnix was ultimately diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. His PTSD was the result of what’s called military s*xual trauma. Shortly after he joined the military he was r***d, repeatedly.
http://www.opb.org/news/article/military-s*xual-assault-abuse-trauma-ptsd-discharge-status/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=FBOPB6474

Bill Minnix says he was r***d multiple times while in the U.S. Air Force. Now he's fighting to overcome the trauma and stigma associated with s*xual assault.