Lot 481

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Description:


A fascinating grouping of printed regulations, guides, and completed soldier psychiatric evaluations from the headquarters of the 1584th Service Unit, based at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, all ca. early to mid-1944, all gathered in an officer's 'Section 8' file. Section 8 is a category of discharge from the military, used for a service member judged mentally unfit for service. Section 8 was also often given to cross-dressers, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The printed items in the file include medical and psychiatric examinations criteria, procedures for discharge, and physical profile serial. Also present are 22 reports, essentially all beaing 'Work Sheet for Officers Appearing as Witness Before Section VIII Board'. Each report names the soldier, with results of tests for mental acuity, Wechsler rating, disciplinary record, attempts to correct behavior, and comments, many of which prove quite interesting. Some men were perfectly fit, but suffered from enuresis (bed-wetting). One man spent nearly his entire training period in the guardhouse, having been continually drunk and once stabbing another soldier. Others were totally incapable of learning, or retaining anything that was taught to them, one having an IQ below 40 and could not sign his name after eight weeks of training. Yet another man was judged psychopathic after he claimed: 'I have clogged blood in my brain, and I feel hot in my head...' One man was described as: 'no psychotic condition...a low grade moron...' Some showed clear signs of ADD, not recognized as a mental issue at the time. Others simply failed to attend any drills, went AWOL, disrespected officers, etc. Saddest of all were the few reports that showed young men who desperately tried to learn, be accepted and succeed, but were hopelessly unable to do so because of poverty, childhood abuse, and mental defect. Symbolic (and cruel) is the 'eight ball' sketched on the cover of the officer's file.

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October 28, 2020 10:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake City, MD, US

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