JANUARY 23, 2008

Two bills—one in the U.S. Senate and one in the U.S. House of Representatives—have been introduced in Congress to remedy an apparent oversight affecting defendants in the 1944 Fort Lawton court-martial.

HR 5130, authored by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) and S 2548, sponsored by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) both seek to revise Army regulations which seem to limit the awards for back pay and benefits available to the 28 former US soldiers whose 1944 convictions were overturned by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records.

Each bill has been referred to the Armed Services Committee in the respective chambers.

Press release, issued by the office of Rep. Jim McDermott on January 23, 2008:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – For more than 60 years, retired janitor and World War II veteran Samuel Snow maintained his innocence, while the U.S. Army treated him as a criminal.

They imprisoned him, took away his pay, had him dishonorably discharged, and left the Leesburg, Florida resident with no hope of receiving any future health or retirement benefits from his service during World War II.

That is, until last October when the Army admitted it had made a mistake when it wrongfully convicted Samuel Snow and 27 other black soldiers of participating in a 1944 riot at Seattle’s Fort Lawton that resulted in the lynching of an Italian prisoner of war.

But it wasn’t the Army’s admission that raised eyebrows. Instead, it was the paltry $725 the military paid Snow for lost pay for the time he’d spent in prison.

Now two lawmakers, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, have filed legislation directing the military to award interest on any back pay owed to Snow, and to others in similar circumstances who have convictions overturned by the courts or Army’s Board for Correction of Military Records.

McDermott and Nelson, who for the last two months have pressed the military to increase the $725 award, say the Pentagon’s inability or unwillingness to adjust Snow’s back pay to include interest left them with no other choice than to give Congress the final say.

McDermott said: “This was always about justice, not money, but the fact is Sam Snow, Booker Townsell and the other innocent African American soldiers were deprived of a lifetime of GI economic benefits dating back to World War II, and the least we can do is provide back pay with interest, which will amount to a lot more than the paltry $725 check Mr. Snow received for compensation. That’s what our legislation will do and in my judgment it is legislation that is right, just and fair.”

“We keep asking people to do the right thing, but it seems everybody’s looking for a way to prevent them from paying a fair settlement,” said Nelson.

In mid-December, McDermott and Nelson asked Army Secretary Pete Geren to revise the military’s decision and adjust Snow’s 1944-1945 pay upward. But a couple of days later, the Army chief’s staff said their hands were tied, and the two lawmakers vowed to legislate a just settlement in Congress.

Rep. McDermott and Senator Nelson introduced virtually identical legislation in the House and Senate today that would award back pay plus interest, to Samuel Snow and others. While an exact amount will vary by individual and the exact interest rate employed, both lawmakers said their legislation would result in compensation substantially higher than what Snow received last year from the Army.

Last Saturday, another of the wrongfully convicted soldiers, Booker Townsell, received military honors posthumously at a graveside ceremony in Milwaukee. McDermott and a representative from the U.S. Army joined the family at the ceremony.

Besides Snow, only one of the 28 soldiers involved reportedly still is alive.