WW2 discharge papers; what does "days lost for Article of War (AW) 107" mean?

Articles of War, section 107.
Almost certainly, he got drunk and was put in confinement for a couple of days.
This article pertains to absence without authority, but it was commonly applied to Soldiers who got drunk to the point of not being able to report for duty the subsequent day. The time they missed was "lost" and they had to make it up before their term was over.

Hi. I'm not a member of the forum, but I've been looking into this question as well. A great many veterans seem to have more than 0 days indicated here, and I think civilians can jump to the worst interpretation of the phrase "Absent Without Leave." After all, there are circumstances under which being AWOL in a time of war is punishable by firing squad, yes? But the Article of War someone else quoted - correctly - indicates a spectrum of behavior. And some discharge papers indicate hundreds of days lost. Usually there was no accompanying court martial to account for this time, and usually the discharges are honorable in spite of whatever the case was. Here's a more innocent example of a situation that could land a soldier in the predicament of having to remain in service after he would otherwise have been dismissed, to make up for lost days. If he'd been doing something dumb that he had no business doing, either because he was drunk or because he was 18 and invincible, and he hurt himself badly enough to render himself unfit for duty, he might have been required to make up the time spent in recovery. Just a thought...

My father's discharge papers say " 500 Days lost AW 107 Current Enlistment." What do you have to do to get 500 days punishment?

For years I was trying to figure out what "55 days lost under AW 107 meant. Considering my dad was 16 (Normal for WWII) and in uniform as well as in Europe I give him a great deal of slack. I did much worse at 16 and I road the rank roller coaster while in uniform. He went in a PVT reached PFC and left a PVT with an Honorable discharge so all is good. I think he even told me the story of how he lost his rocker when he borrowed a Truck to run some of his guys into town and got caught returning the truck without picking up doughnuts for the gate guard at the motor pool.

Time Lost Under AW-107.
I see so many inquiries concerning this particular Article of War, it’s worth including-

"ART. 107. SOLDIERS TO MAKE GOOD TIME LOST. Every soldier who deserts the service of the United States, or who without proper authority absents himself from his organization, station, or duty for more than one day, or who is confined for more than one day under sentence, or while awaiting trial and disposition of his case, if the trial results in conviction, or who through the intemperate use of drugs or alcoholic liquor, or through disease the result of his own misconduct, renders himself unable for more than one day to perform duty shall be liable to serve, after his return to a full duty status, for such period as shall, with the time he may have served prior to such desertion, unauthorized absence, confinement, or inability to perform duty, amount to the full term to his enlistment."

The thing to remember during WWII is that the men were in "for the duration" so regardless, it didn't mean a whole lot. If this is on his honorable discharge, it wasn't very serious.

So far my dad's discharge papers beat all. His says "97 days lost under AW 107 ASR (2 Sep 45) - 92
Lapel button issued. Since he's no longer with us I can't ask him but I think it may have been when he had his appendix removed. From what I remember he was in Iceland but since his records are some of those that were destroyed I can't get his medical records. Just wondering if anyone knows if a surgery could have been included in this AW 107? I can't imagine my Dad leaving otherwise.

I had the same question when I saw my father's WWII discharge paper recently. But I believe I'm going to win the prize here -- my father had "56 days lost under AW 107"! I know my dad saw fighting in India, China, and Central Burma, and it must have been horrific because he experienced vivid military-related nightmares throughout his life, but I don't know if that had anything to do with his absence. He was a 100% reliable guy, hardly ever drank alcohol, and was honorably discharged at T/5 grade with a bunch of medals (ha, one was for good conduct). Any wild guess as to why someone could be absent for 56 days? Thank you for your service, all of you vets!

I just received copies of my grandfathers WWII discharge papers. He has "10 days lost under AW 107; lapel button issued". I am confused. Why would they issue him a lapel button for going AWOL?

Since he was drafted, could this be for reporting for service late?

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/AW/index.html

ART. 107. SOLDIERS TO MAKE GOOD TIME LOST.--Every soldier who in an existing or subsequent enlistment deserts the service of the United States or without proper authority absents himself from his organization, station, or duty for more than one day, or who is confined for more than one day under sentence, or while awaiting trial and disposition of his case, if the trial results in conviction, or through the intemperate use of drugs or alcoholic liquor, or through disease or injury the result of his own misconduct, renders himself unable for
more than one day to perform duty, shall be liable to serve, after his return to a full-duty status, for such period as shall, with the time he may have served prior to such desertion, unauthorized absence, confinement, or inability to perform duty, amount to the full term of that part of his enlistment period which he is required to serve with his organization before being furloughed to the Army reserve.

The previous paragraph is copied from the page at the link posted.

I interpret that to mean that Grandpa took a couple days off without authorization. Can't say as I'd blame him either.