Thanks T.A.! Actually, he was court marshalled. I have the record -- it states he violated the 61sy Article of War. The specification reads:

In that Private Bernard....., Battery "E", 3rd Field Artillery, Ft Sheridan, Illinois, did, without proper leave, absent himself from his proper organization at Ft Sheridan from about Oct 12, 1938, until he reported himself at Ft Jay, NY, on or about Oct 19, 1938."

He was found guilty and sentenced to 18 days hard labor and forfeiture of $8 pay.

HOWEVER. There is a military history report that was requested by ED Devlin, Unit Head of 13th Sch. Sq., Scott Field, Ill. It does not mention the court marshall but says instead that he was honorably discharged as a PFC, 5th Signal Co., Camp McCoy, after having served with Hq., Hq Btry and Combat Train, 2nd Bn, 3rd F.A.

None of this other records mention this court marshall.

Anyway, I'm probably harping on something that might not make a difference but I think it does show how these records are all over the place. As I mentioned, he was AWOL one other time and there are records for that indicating he was reported by a Pvt. Ivie B Knight, Air Corps, Philippine Islands. Thought that was weird, considering there's nothing in the records to indicate he was in the Philippines at that time...
There is also a record that states he was court marshalled for disobeying the lawful order of an NCO but it's never mentioned again, nor is the being AWOL as reported by Pvt. Knight.

Also, another question (you knew that was coming, didn't you?). One of his records says that he was transferred from Hq Co, 35th Infantry, APO 25 on 20 Nov 1945. He was sent to 229th General Hospital, APO 713, and left there 25 Dec 1945. Any idea where this place was?

More thanks . You guys are a wealth of knowledge. I'm happy to have found this board and will no doubt stick around. I'm a genealogy buff (in that vein, if anyone would like assistance there I'd be happy to reciprocate for all the help you've offered) but this military business confuses me .