Melvin Dwork, Once Cast From Navy for Being Gay, Dies at 94; New York Times, 6/16/16

Robert D. McFadden, New York Times; Melvin Dwork, Once Cast From Navy for Being Gay, Dies at 94:

"In 2011, after years of trying to remove the blot on his record, Mr. Dwork, supported by advocates for gay and lesbian military personnel and veterans, won his point. The Navy officially changed his discharge to honorable.

“It meant an awful lot to me because I know I never did anything disgraceful or dishonest,” Mr. Dwork said in a 2014 interview for this obituary, in which he spoke of painful military policies and glacially slow changes toward gay and lesbian service members.

Mr. Dwork, who became a hero to gay people for his persistence in fighting the dishonorable discharge, died on Tuesday in Manhattan, Alan Salz, the executor of his estate, said. He was 94.

Mr. Dwork was believed to be the first veteran of World War II to have an “undesirable” discharge for being gay expunged, although his case may have opened the floodgates for appeals in hundreds of similar cases. His was resolved shortly before the military ended its 18-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which barred openly gay people from service but prohibited discrimination against those not open about their sexuality."