Gerber v. United States

2 Cl. Ct. 311, 1983 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1777
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedApril 20, 1983
DocketNo. 534-80C
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 2 Cl. Ct. 311 (Gerber v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gerber v. United States, 2 Cl. Ct. 311, 1983 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1777 (cc 1983).

Opinion

ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION AND DEFENDANT’S CROSS-MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

OPINION

YOCK, Judge:

In this military pay case, plaintiff, Lester C. Gerber, instituted this action pro se seeking a change in his military discharge status from general under honorable conditions to a medical disability discharge, and compensation that would flow therefrom.

Plaintiff moved for summary judgment and defendant filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. For the reasons discussed herein, the defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment is granted, plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is denied, and the case is to be dismissed.

Background Facts

Plaintiff enlisted in the Air Force at the age of 19 on January 21, 1947, and was honorably discharged on September 22, 1949. Plaintiff thereafter tried to reenlist but was rejected on December 13, 1949, for failure to pass the Air Force aptitude test. On March 2, 1950, plaintiff was able to enlist in the Air Force and was honorably discharged on November 12,1953. Plaintiff reenlisted on November 13, 1953, and was honorably discharged on December 12,1957, having attained the grade of staff sergeant. On December 13, 1957, plaintiff reenlisted for a term of six years. However, on December 28, 1959, plaintiff was tried by special court-martial convened at Lincoln. Air Force Base, Nebraska. Plaintiff was charged with violating Article 86 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. § 886. This charge contained five specifications of failure to go to his appoint[313]*313ed place of duty. Plaintiff was also charged with violating Article 92 of the UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 892. This charge contained one specification of failure to obey a lawful order. Plaintiff entered a plea of not guilty to all charges and specifications, except for two of the specifications of failure to go to his appointed place of duty to which plaintiff entered a plea of guilty. Plaintiff was found guilty of all charges and specifications and sentenced to a bad conduct discharge, forfeiture of $70 per month for six months, confinement at hard labor for six months and reduction in grade to airman basic. The military convening authority reduced the duration of the forfeiture and the confinement to three months each but otherwise approved the sentence. The officer exercising general court-martial jurisdiction approved the findings and sentence as modified by the convening authority except for disapproving one of the guilty findings of a failure to go specification. On May 25, 1960, the Air Force Board of Review affirmed the findings and sentence.

Subsequent to the court-martial, a clemency investigation was conducted and arrangements were made for a medical evaluation, to have the mental and physical condition of the accused determined. As a part of the medical evaluation conducted after the court-martial and before sentencing, a conference was held consisting of the presenting physician, the psychiatric staff, the members of the medical board, and social workers from the hospital staff and the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks. There was unanimous agreement among the conference members that plaintiff suffered no recognizable emotional illness and that he suffered no physical impairment other than the oral bleeding resulting from gingivitis.

The results of the medical and psychiatric evaluations conducted in April of 1960 reveal that there was no organic disease found upon thorough workup of plaintiff’s complaint of chest pain and dizziness; and that the clinical impression was psycho-physiologic musculo-skeletal reaction and car-dio-pulmonary reaction manifested by hyper-ventilization and anterior chest pain. The psychiatric summary concluded that there was no evidence of a major mental illness, nor evidence of organic brain disease. The Board also noted the predominant use of such regulatory devices as hyper-repression, hyper-suppression, hyper-emotionalism, and displacement. The psychiatric syndrome was acute situational maladjustment. The Medical Board report of April 12, 1960 found plaintiff physically fit for duty and qualified for general military service.

Plaintiff received a separation physical on July 11, 1960, wherein the summary of defects and diagnosis were recorded as one defect, that of severe hemorrhagic gingivitis. Plaintiff was pronounced fit for duty. On July 25, 1960, plaintiff was discharged with a bad conduct discharge.

Plaintiff filed an application with the Air Force Discharge Review Board (AFDRB) dated October 18, 1961, for review of his discharge, to have it changed from a bad conduct discharge to an honorable discharge. Plaintiff alleged that: his court-martial records were unjust and contradictory; his constitutional rights had been violated; and that his court-martial had resulted from a personal grudge of the commanding officer. On February 12, 1962, following a hearing before the Air Force Discharge Review Board at which plaintiff, who was represented by counsel, appeared and testified, plaintiff was informed that his bad conduct discharge had been changed to a general discharge under honorable conditions.

Plaintiff first applied for YA disability benefits on October 26, 1974, by filing a claim for a nervous condition. The VA rating decision of April 18, 1975, determined that the nervous condition was a constitutional or developmental abnormality under the law. Plaintiff filed a notice of disagreement, and upon review, the VA announced on July 16, 1975, that entitlement to service connected disability for a nervous condition had not been established.

On April 18, 1975, plaintiff amended his appeal to the VA to request a service-con[314]*314nected disability rating for cirrhosis of the liver. Plaintiff was rated as nonservice connected: 30 percent Laennec’s cirrhosis with anicteric hepatitis; 10 percent diabetes mellitus; 0 percent hypertension; 0 percent situational maladjustment history, resulting in a combined percentage rating of 40 percent nonservice connected.

The VA later (April 18, 1978) upgraded the 40 percent rating to a 50 percent non-service connected rating, and also determined that plaintiffs ailments did not meet the minimum schedule requirements for pension purposes.

On December 4, 1974, plaintiff filed his first of several applications with the Air Force Board for the Correction of Military Records (AFBCMR). In this application, plaintiff requested that his general discharge from the service be changed to a medical discharge with a reinstatement of rank and service. In that application, plaintiff indicated that he had been unjustly court-martialed during the time he was ill.

The AFBCMR requested a review of the plaintiff’s service record by the Office of the Judge Advocate General for the Air Force and its recommendations. The Chief of the Military Justice Division of that office by memorandum dated March 16,1976, recommended that there be no change in this general discharge status, since a review of the records indicated no illness at the time of trial that would cause anyone to question his competence to stand trial. The memo concluded that the plaintiff’s application, relating specifically to the offense for which he was convicted, be denied.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

D'Andrea v. United States
27 Fed. Cl. 612 (Federal Claims, 1993)
Kirwin v. United States
23 Cl. Ct. 497 (Court of Claims, 1991)
Dean v. United States
10 Cl. Ct. 563 (Court of Claims, 1986)
Yokum v. United States
9 Cl. Ct. 602 (Court of Claims, 1986)
Jamison v. United States
9 Cl. Ct. 297 (Court of Claims, 1985)
Jones v. United States
9 Cl. Ct. 292 (Court of Claims, 1985)
Caravella v. United States
9 Cl. Ct. 280 (Court of Claims, 1985)
Huntzinger v. United States
9 Cl. Ct. 90 (Court of Claims, 1985)
Slotnick v. United States
8 Cl. Ct. 784 (Court of Claims, 1985)
Stampados v. United States
8 Cl. Ct. 684 (Court of Claims, 1985)
Waldorf v. United States
8 Cl. Ct. 321 (Court of Claims, 1985)
Bellamy v. United States
7 Cl. Ct. 720 (Court of Claims, 1985)
O'Neil v. United States
6 Cl. Ct. 317 (Court of Claims, 1984)
Blaine v. United States
5 Cl. Ct. 502 (Court of Claims, 1984)
Schultz v. United States
5 Cl. Ct. 412 (Court of Claims, 1984)
Parker v. United States
2 Cl. Ct. 399 (Court of Claims, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2 Cl. Ct. 311, 1983 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1777, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gerber-v-united-states-cc-1983.