Army widow to finally see justice for her late husband of 60 years

October 23, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. -  A six-decade fight for justice for a World War II veteran is finally coming to an end.  The family of deceased Leesburg, Florida veteran Samuel Snow is to be given the back pay with interest Mr. Snow lost 64 years ago when he was wrongly convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, imprisoned and tossed out of the service. 

Margaret Snow, now in her late 70s, and her son Ray, are due to meet with Sen. Bill Nelson at 2 p.m. in Orlando today.  It was Nelson who for the past year publicly pounded on Army brass to make good in the Snow case.  He will personally deliver the check for $27,580.

Snow's case first came to light in October 2007 when the Army admitted it had made a mistake in wrongfully convicting Snow of participating in a 1944 melee at Seattle’s Fort Lawton that resulted in the lynching of an Italian prisoner of war.

Following the reversal of Snow's conviction, the military sent him a check for lost pay: a whopping $725.  The Army argued it only owed Snow money in 1944-dollars.  

In response, Nelson and U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, of Washington state, filed legislation in January to force the military to award interest on back pay owed to Snow – and, to any others in similar circumstances who have convictions overturned by the courts or Army’s Board for Correction of Military Records.  The measure was included in a broader defense spending bill Congress passed just last month and the president signed just last week.

The check Nelson is giving to Margaret Snow is the $725 in back pay for Snow compounded over 60 years at 6 percent interest.  All told the Army's pay to the family amounts to $28,305.

"This is a case of a wrong finally being made right," said  Nelson.

For more than 60 years, Snow paid a price for a crime he did not commit, while always maintaining his innocence. The Army's court martial, imprisonment and dishonorable discharge denied him a lifetime of opportunities that included going to college and getting higher paying jobs. 

Despite the setbacks, Nelson said Snow never held a grudge against those who falsely charged and imprisoned him. 

"Having to face what he faced might have been too much for some to overcome," added Nelson.  "But not Sam, he was guided by his faith and love for his family." 

Instead, Snow returned to Leesburg after the war and married his wife of 61 years, raised two sons and a daughter working as a custodian and was a pillar of his church and community.    

In July, the Army awarded Snow an honorable discharge and a public apology for wrongfully convicting him.  The very day after the discharge ceremony in Seattle, Snow died. 

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