He Tries to Pull Rank, Is Drummed Out of Job : Ex-Army Officer Fired From ROTC Program

Despite a long career of Army service, retired Lt. Col. Edward Gorre finally received an order he refused to obey.

Gorre, who founded and taught the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Lynwood High School for four years, was arrested for trespassing on the campus Sept. 7 when he showed up to begin the new school year.

The veteran officer had been fired over the summer recess after continuous run-ins with two retired Army sergeants who also worked as instructors in the cadet program. Gorre claimed that he outranked the two teachers, but they countered that Gorre was too dictatorial, had no authority to order them around and that they did not have to call him “sir.”

The Lynwood Unified School District sided with the sergeants, saying that no matter what the officer’s rank, all three of them had to take orders from school administrators.

What evolved was a heated dispute that culminated in Gorrre’s arrest a week before classes began.

Gorre, who lives in Sacramento, said that he received a form letter sent to all teachers in the district inviting them back in the fall but that when he arrived on campus an assistant principal and campus security guards were his only welcoming committee. They ordered him to leave.

“I am not leaving!” Gorre said he told the assistant principal. “I have every right to be here!” Gorre pulled out the letter as his defense, but said the official told him it must be a mistake.

As Gorre tried in vain to stand his ground, two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were called to Lynwood High. They handcuffed the former Army officer and whisked him off to jail for booking.

The incident came as a crashing blow to an old soldier whose award-winning program for 390 cadets was the largest of 50 participating high schools in California during the 1988-89 school year.

In the junior ROTC program, entering cadets learn such skills as marching in formation and administering first aid. Advanced cadets shoot M-16 rifles and are taught subjects such as how to read field maps. They perform in drill teams and honor guards and wear military uniforms to school twice a week. And, if they decide to enlist upon graduation, they automatically receive higher pay.

Reputation as Teacher

During his 15-year career teaching junior ROTC programs, Gorre earned a reputation as an excellent classroom teacher whose gung-ho drive and military zeal sometimes put him at odds with his bosses or teachers.

“Gorre is a headstrong guy,” said retired Army Col. Harold Lee, who directs the junior ROTC groups in San Francisco’s high schools. “He feels he is still in the Army, and that mentality does not work with the (high school) program.”

School administrators contend that Gorre had become too dictatorial in his four years running Lynwood High’s cadet program.

District officials said they suspended Gorre last April and formally dismissed him over the summer because he refused to be treated like any other teacher.

The Army has sided with the school district.

“Our feeling is that it is entirely a school matter,” said Lt. Col James Hunn, a Ft. Lewis-based officer who oversees junior ROTC programs in the 15-state Western region. “Col. Gorre overstepped the bounds of the people . . . who felt fit to hire him.”

Gorre, 59, points out that Army regulations clearly state that the officer placed in charge of the program is responsible for its activities and that his subordinates must answer to him.

The retired officer said he felt that the district’s position diminished the importance of his military rank and relegated him to equal status with the two retired sergeants who helped teach the program.

“I feel terrible, devastated,” he said. “I fought two wars for my rights and when I stand up for my rights, I get crushed. And the Army won’t even support (me).”

Was Enlistee

Gorre worked his way up through the Army ranks, from enlisted man to officer, while serving in the Korean and Vietnam wars before retiring in 1970. After receiving a four-year college degree, Gorre guided junior ROTC programs in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Guam before going to Lynwood.

All went smoothly until the 1987-88 school year, when Gorre said one of the sergeants started becoming insubordinate.

Gorre said he complained to the Army and the district, but neither would take action. Things only got worse after Gorre accused his two sergeants of not accounting properly for the unit’s supplies of ammunition--all of which were later found--and uniforms, some of which later turned up.

The Army is investigating the disappearance of uniforms, but Lt. Col. Hunn said Gorre’s allegations appear to be unsubstantiated.

Relations between the men deteriorated last April 19, when Gorre accused the sergeants of each overcharging the Army $76 on their travel vouchers.

When he confronted one of the sergeants, Gorre said the man shouted: “Get off my case! I don’t have to listen to you! The principal gives me orders. And I don’t have to call you ‘sir!’ ”

Lynwood High Principal Mickey Cureton refused to allow either of the sergeants to discuss the matter, nor would he talk about it himself.

Hunn said the Army investigated Gorre’s accusation and “found out there had been some mistakes in their travel vouchers, and those mistakes were cleared up. We couldn’t find any intent to defraud the government.”

Receives Suspension

Gorre said the sergeant with whom he had the blowup complained to the campus administration, which suspended the retired lieutenant colonel from his teaching duties pending a school district meeting six days later.

During that meeting, Gorre quoted district Supt. LaVoneia Steele as saying: “Your rank as lieutenant colonel doesn’t mean a thing in this district. . . . The two sergeants are equal to you and you all have the same status as faculty members.”

Gorre refused to accept equal status with the sergeants, so he remained suspended through the rest of the school year.

He was terminated from his job during the summer, but Gorre said he did not find out until he visited his Army superiors in Washington state. They showed him a copy of a certified letter that had been purportedly sent to Gorre by the school district stating that he had been fired.

Gorre said he never got the letter and later claimed he received a form letter from the district welcoming Lynwood teachers back for the new school year. Based on those developments, Gorre said, he thought the dispute had blown over.

In September, Gorre drove from his Sacramento home to Lynwood ready to teach students how to march and shoot. But instead of open arms, Gorre received only handcuffs.

Nowadays, as he awaits trial on the trespassing charge, Gorre said he is considering whether to try to challenge his dismissal through the teachers union. Though not a union member, he believes he has tenure afforded other teachers.

Despite his troubles, Gorre remains a big booster for the Army and the junior ROTC, in which he enrolled during high school immediately after World War II.

“I am a direct product of this program,” said Gorre, a compact man whose jet-black hair is flecked with gray. “It gives you a great deal of self-esteem. It builds your confidence.”