Army pays for old injustice

Orlando Sentinel

October 16, 2008

By Martin E. Comas

LEESBURG - The family of a World War II veteran who spent almost a year in a military prison after being wrongly convicted more than 60 years ago now may receive as much as $80,000 in back pay from the Army, according to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

"It's easy. It's clear. It's the right thing to do," said Nelson, D-Fla., on Wednesday, a day after President Bush signed a military appropriations bill with a provision that awards back pay plus interest to veterans whose claims arise from the correction of military records.

Samuel Snow of Leesburg was among 28 black soldiers falsely convicted of sparking a riot during World War II that led to the lynching of an Italian prisoner of war at an Army base in Seattle. Snow, a skinny teenager at the time, served almost 12 months in a military prison and was dishonorably discharged.

Snow died in July at age 83 just hours after receiving an honorable discharge and an Army apology during a ceremony in Seattle. He always maintained that he had nothing to do with the riot, which broke out at Fort Lawton in August 1944.

Last year, the Army overturned Snow's conviction and he was sent a check for $725 -- not adjusted for inflation.

Infuriated by the check's amount, Nelson took up Snow's cause in January, pressuring the Army to include the interest. Nelson said he called Secretary of the Army Pete Geren several times about Snow.

"I must have talked to him five times about this," Nelson said. "I told him that it was ridiculous."

But Nelson said Geren told him he didn't have the authority to award Snow more money.

Nelson, along with U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, then placed legislation in a military appropriations bill that awards back pay plus interest to veterans who have their convictions overturned. President Bush signed the bill Tuesday.

Geren now has the authority to pay Snow's family, Nelson said. "I want him to file it through and pay the man's widow what he's entitled to. . . . He [Geren] could do it tomorrow."

Nelson also sent a letter to Geren on Wednesday urging him to act.

"It took Snow six decades to finally clear his name and receive an apology from the Army," Nelson wrote in his letter. "While it was never about the money in his eyes, I'm sure he'd find peace in knowing the military took care of his wife and son by quickly awarding them the interest owed on his back pay."

Reached at her Leesburg home on Wednesday, Snow's widow, Margaret, called it "wonderful news" and praised Nelson.

"He still continued the cause and we sure appreciate it," she said. "I think it's tremendous."

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