Law on back pay proposed in Fort Lawton case

WASHINGTON — Samuel Snow got a check from the Pentagon after the Army announced last October it would overturn convictions of Snow and 27 other African-American soldiers wrongly tried for rioting at Seattle's Fort Lawton in 1944.

The check was for $725 — the amount of pay that Snow, now 82, lost while serving a year in an Army lockup.

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., have introduced legislation to make the military pay much more to Snow and the other surviving Fort Lawton soldier, and to the families of those who have died since the convictions.

The legislation would calculate the back pay in current dollars with interest. That could change the $725 sent to Snow to about $88,000, according to Nelson's office.

McDermott has been the strongest proponent of a review of the Fort Lawton incident. He became involved more than two years ago, after reading a book by local journalist Jack Hamann, "On American Soil," which documented the role of racism and inappropriate tactics used by the military to prosecute the men and stymie their defense.

At the time, black soldiers at the Army base were segregated and barracked near about 200 Italian prisoners of war. One night, a fight erupted between the soldiers and POWs, and an Italian soldier was found hanged the next day.

Forty-three black soldiers were tried together. There were 28 convictions for rioting, and two for manslaughter. Some men were sentenced to as much as 25 years, and almost all received dishonorable discharges.

That meant they could not get GI benefits after the war, continue as career military or get civil-service jobs because of the court martial on their records, Hamann said in an interview.

After the October announcement by the Army Board of Correction, one of the largest reversals involving a military court, McDermott and Nelson prodded the Pentagon to increase the amount given to Snow and the others.

Army officials said no regulation provides for paying interest, damages beyond back pay or inflation.

McDermott wrote the Pentagon in December, saying, "If the Army does not have the discretion to increase the compensation offered and legislation is required," he was ready to get to work.

Hamann said the money is secondary to the soldiers and their families. "They want their names cleared first and foremost." But he added, "This would send a powerful message."

Meantime, he said, Snow has not cashed the $725 check.

Alicia Mundy: 202-662-7457 or amundy@seattletimes.com