[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17778]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO SAMUEL SNOW

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CORRINE BROWN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 31, 2008

  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay 
honor and tribute to the memory of Samuel Snow, of Leesburg, Florida.
  In 1944, Samuel Snow was among a group of black American soldiers 
involved in the largest and longest U.S. Army court martial of World 
War II.
  Mr. Snow, then a 19-year-old Army private, and 42 other black troops 
were tried at Fort Lawton in Seattle for the death of an Italian Army 
prisoner of war. All 43 were accused of rioting, while three of the GIs 
were charged with first degree murder. Mr. Snow was one of two men 
still alive to tell the story.
  Mr. Snow enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1944, in New Orleans. His 
enlistment helped fill a need for black soldiers to fill segregated 
units to be shipped to Japan. As Snow packed to get ready to be shipped 
out, a fight broke out between a large number of black soldiers and 
Italian POWs.
  Only two attorneys were appointed. They had just two weeks to prepare 
a defense and no access to key evidence. After the Army's longest court 
martial of World War II, 28 soldiers were convicted--and it was all 
wrong. 13 acquitted and charges against two others were dropped.
  He spent a year in confinement. This was the largest court martial 
during the war, and the only time blacks were tried for alleged 
lynching. Mr. Snow was issued an ultimatum: Go to prison or receive a 
dishonorable discharge.
  Last October, the Army overturned those convictions after Seattle 
author Jack Hamann's investigation proved the soldiers were unjustly 
tried in his book ``On American Soil.'' Their convictions were all set 
aside. On Saturday, July 26, the Army officially apologized in a 
ceremony at Fort Lawton in Seattle in front of family and friends of 28 
of the soldiers. Only 2 of them are still alive and Sam Snow was 
determined to attend the ceremony.
  Mr. Snow travelled to Seattle from Florida and was admitted to a 
Seattle hospital Friday night. He smiled when his son Ray read the 
honorable discharge petition to him following the Saturday ceremony. At 
12:45 a.m. Sunday, Samuel Snow died of congestive heart failure.
  His son, Ray Snow, who traveled with him to Seattle, said ``Getting 
that honorable discharge was more important than his health.''
  Sam Snow, on a previous visit to Fort Lawton, said that ``we hope 
this never happens again and I am proud to be an American.''
  Samuel Snow was a speaker at my Veterans Braintrust at the 
Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference this past 
September. His is very moving story and if there is one thing to learn, 
it is that we must always be vigilant against injustice.
  He is survived by his loving wife, Margaret Snow; son, Ray; 
grandchildren, Maurice Snow, Denise S. Norwood, Marvin J. and Ray L. 
Snow; and three great-grandchildren.

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