Efforts by a Queen Anne author and a Queen Anne congressman have resulted in overturned convictions for four African-American soldiers in a case linked to a riot and a killing at Fort Lawton in 1944.
The author, Jack Hamann, wrote about the World War II incident in his book "On American Soil," which details the successful prosecution of 28 African-American soldiers for their part in a riot between them and Italian prisoners of war, and for the lynching death of one of the Italians. The 28 were dishonorably discharged, and they served anywhere from a year to 25 years in the brig.
It was the largest court-martial of the war, but Hamann found in his research that the prosecutor in the case withheld crucial evidence that could have cleared the men.
The book came out around three years ago, and it caught the attention of Queen Anne resident and U.S. Representative Jim McDermott. "I barely finished reading it before I directed my staff to prepare legislation to reopen the cases," he said at the time.
With the bipartisan cooperation of Republican Representative and House Armed Services Committee chair Duncan Hunter, the effort was fast-tracked last year by shifting it to the Army Board of Correction of Military Records.
The effort paid off on Oct. 26, when the Army board took action, ruling that the convictions of the four men should be set aside and that their trial was "fundamentally unfair." McDermott agreed, according to a press release from his office. "Justice wasn't blind, but it could only see the color of skin," he said.
Only one of the four soldiers, Samuel Show, is still alive, but the overturning of his and the others' convictions should allow them to receive honorable discharges. The surviving soldier and the descendents of the other three will also be entitled to back pay, according to the press release.
Descendents of the other 24 convicted soldiers men have not yet made a claim for redress, according to the Army.
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