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Fort Lawton Provision Signed Into Law
October 14, 2008

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) announced that the President signed the Department of Defense Authorization bill today that included a provision to award back-pay plus interest to the Fort Lawton soldiers absolved of any wrong doing for a World War II era crime they did not commit.  The provision is Sec 592 in S. 3001.

“Justice has prevailed, but more than that, the dignity, courage and honor lived by Samuel Snow, Booker Townsell and other African American soldiers throughout a half century of racial injustice will write a new chapter in American history that children will learn about for generations to come,” Rep. McDermott said.  “While no amount of money can ever repay the lost opportunities endured by these African American soldiers, they would be the first to say it was never about money, it was always about equal protection under the law for everyone in America.”

Rep. McDermott said he will remember this day and this piece of legislation as one of his greatest accomplishments for the people of the 7^th Congressional District.  “The call to action came from two constituents, Jack and Leslie Hamann, who wrote the book On America Soil,” McDermott said.  “Once they exposed the terrible injustice to a group of African American soldiers stationed at Fort Lawton in World War II, the people of the 7^th Congressional District were not going to settle for anything less than righting this terrible wrong.”

Recently, the Army held a ceremony at Fort Lawton and apologized to the families of the surviving soldiers.  As many remember, Samuel Snow, one of the two remaining survivors, came to Seattle for the event, but was hospitalized.  He died a few hours after his son brought his honorable discharge plague to his hospital room.

“In so many ways, Samuel Snow came to personify the bravery of these fine soldiers,” McDermott said, “and I hope in practice that Section 592 will come to be known as the Samuel Snow provision.  He made us all very proud, and he had us all very humble, and he showed a nation just how tall one man can stand by believing in justice and believing in America.”

McDermott also an explanatory document that was prepared following passage for transmittal to the President: “Joint Explanatory Statement to accompany S. 3001, the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009, defines and explains sec. 592 as follows:

“Interest payments on certain claims arising from correction of military records (sec. 592)

The House bill contained a provision (sec. 592) that would require the service secretaries to pay interest on claims arising from the correction of a military record that involves setting aside a conviction by court-martial. The provision would apply to any sentence of a court-martial set aside by a corrections board after October 1, 2007.

The Senate bill contained a provision (sec. 582) that would authorize the Secretary of Defense and the service secretaries to provide relief to a member or former member of the armed forces who, in the determination of the Secretary concerned, had suffered imprisonment pursuant to a court-martial conviction as a result of an injustice or error on the part of the Department of Defense or any of its employees acting in their official capacity. The relief provided would include the payment of monies, including interest, from funds available for emergency and extraordinary expenses under section 127 of title 10, United States Code. The agreement includes the House provision with an amendment that would specify that the interest paid be at a rate determined by the Secretary concerned, unless the Secretary concerned determines that the payment of interest is inappropriate under the circumstances.”