10 Most Notorious Walt Disney Urban Legends
9. A Dishonourable Discharge
At the age of 16, Walt Disney decided to drop out of high school with the intention of joining the army. It has since been rumoured that he was later dishonourably discharged, but in truth this wasn't the case as he never even joined the army in the first place, because he was too young.
Instead, he worked for the Red Cross, driving an ambulance, and it's here the legend appears to originate. Working in France, he was driving a truck loaded with supplies to help a devastated area when it broke down. A rule was that you were never supposed to leave your truck, and Walt didn't for two nights, but when no help arrived he left in search of a meal and a bed in the nearest town.
He was taken before the board with a real possibility of being kicked out of the Red Cross, but when it emerged that he was indeed waited and no one had went to help him, he was ultimately let off, and thus never discharged from the Red Cross, much less the army.