What did Leper escape?

At the end of chapter nine, Gene receives a telegram at Devon from Leper. His telegram only says that:

I have escaped and need help. I am at Christmas location. You understand. No need to risk address here. My safety depends on you coming at once.

Gene travels to Leper's family home in Vermont to find out what is going on with Leper. On the way there, he convinces himself that Leper, who is in the army, has escaped from spies. When he sees Leper, however, he learns that Leper has deserted from the army.
Gene is shocked. He becomes even more shocked and sickened when Leper tells him that the army was making him "psycho," a word that Gene finds harsh and clinical. Leper goes on to inform him that the army was going to give him a Section Eight discharge. He explains to Gene that a Section Eight is for "the psychos, the Funny Farm candidates."
Leper believes that this is worse than a dishonorable discharge and that it will bar him forever from any chance of getting a job. Therefore, he "escapes" or deserts from the army before that fate can befall him. As Gene tells his friends when he returns to Devon:

As a matter of fact Leper is "Absent Without Leave," he just took off by himself.