JANUARY 20, 2008

The apology was sweeping, heartfelt and utterly unexpected.

During an emotional day celebrating of the life of Booker Townsell, Assistant Secretary of the United States Army Ronald J. James stood before a packed room of family, friends and dignitaries and offered a simple and unequivocal declaration:

“The Army is sorry. I am sorry.”

Drawing on his own family’s history of slavery and military service, Mr. James praised the patience and determination of those who had urged the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to take another look at the 1944 prosecution of 43 African-American soldiers at Seattle’s Fort Lawton. Evidence disclosed in the book On American Soil, said James, made it clear that Townsell and his fellow defendants had been denied a fair trial and were improperly convicted.

“Your father lost two years of his life, two years of his freedom and I suspect a measure of himself as a man,” James said.

The day began in bright sunshine and bitter cold, as the Townsell family gathered at Milwaukee’s Graceland cemetery, where Booker Townsell was buried in 1984.

Brigadier General Roger A Lalich of the Wisconsin Army National Guard led a moving memorial. An Army honor guard from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, fired a triple volley outside the cemetery’s small chapel, then proceeded indoors to fold an American flag and hand it to Mr. Townsell’s son and three daughters.

Mr. Townsell’s granddaughter, Lashell Drake, led Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) to the Townsell family plot, where Mr. Townsell was buried without military honors. It was Rep. McDermott who introduced the bill demanding that the Army reopen the Fort Lawton case; he appeared deeply touched.

“So much of what we do in Congress is abstract,” McDermott said. “Here is that rare instance where something we’ve done has a tangible effect, and I can look in the eyes of folks whose lives have been changed.”

At noon, an audience of several hundred family, friends, neighbors and media crowded into the Milwaukee County War Memorial for a series of tributes to Booker Townsell and his family. Speakers included Assistant Secretary James and Rep. McDermott, plus Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Wisconsin State Senator Spencer G. Coggs, Milwaukee Common Council President Willie Hines, Brigadier General Robert A. Cocroft (Ret.), civil rights attorney Howard Cooley, and On American Soil author Jack Hamann.

A declaration from Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle was read at the ceremony, as were proclamations from U.S. Senator Russ Feingold and Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI).

Lashell Drake led family tributes to Booker Townsell, which included comments from daughter Mrs. Marion Williamson and nephew Mr. Ricky Townsell.

Master of ceremonies James Hall was introduced by Mrs. Vel Phillips, a Wisconsin civil rights legend. The ceremony included performances by the St. Matthew CME Church Assemblies of Christ Choir and by theater artist Andre Lee Ellis & Company. The Invocation and Benediction were offered by Reverend Dr. Brenda L. Kearney.

In his remarks, Assistant Secretary of the Army Ronald James attempted to address those who might wonder why so much fuss was being made so long after the 1944 court-martial.

“The flaws in the initial investigation and the subsequent trial of these soldiers might conveniently be explained away by the exigencies of war, the procedural defects in the Articles of War, or by the oft-used phrase that ‘things were done differently back then,’” James said.

“However, that would not be right. The compelling case brought by this family cried out for a different response—for the Army to pause and reexamine the case with all the facts surrounding the trial available—and to finally concede that we had not done right by these soldiers.”

As he concluded his remarks, James opened a leather folder. As family members stood in awe, the Assistant Secretary presented a formal certificate, announcing to the world that Booker Townsell had been granted—at long last—an honorable discharge from the United States Army.