Army says sorry to black WWII soldiers

You know if they waited this long to apologize to some old soldiers, I just wonder what this is going to do now. I would imagine not much because the damage has already been done and it's been so long ago. Sun-Times:

The Army formally apologized Saturday for the wrongful conviction of 28 black soldiers accused of rioting and lynching an Italian prisoner of war in Seattle more than six decades ago.

''We had not done right by these soldiers,'' Ronald James, assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs, said Saturday. ''The Army is genuinely sorry. I am genuinely sorry.''

Relatives of the soldiers joined elected officials, military officers and one of the defense lawyers to hear James give the apology before hundreds of people in a meadow near the old Fort Lawton parade grounds and chapel in Discovery Park.

In addition, the soldiers' convictions were set aside, their dishonorable discharges were changed to honorable discharges and they and their survivors were awarded back pay for their time in the brig.

All but two of the soldiers are dead. One, Samuel Snow of Leesburg, Fla., planned to attend the ceremony but wound up in the hospital instead because of a problem with his pacemaker.

The convictions were overturned in October at the prodding of Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle), largely based on the book On American Soil about the riot on the night of Aug. 14, 1944, and subsequent events at Fort Lawton.

Dozens were injured in the melee that started with a scuffle between an Italian prisoner of war and a black soldier from the segregated barracks near the POW housing. A POW, Guglielmo Olivotto, was found hanged the next day.

The Army prosecutor was Leon Jaworski, who went on to become special prosecutor in the Watergate scandal.

Forty-three black soldiers were charged with rioting and three also were charged with murder. Two defense lawyers were assigned to the case and given two weeks to prepare without ever being shown an Army investigation criticizing the way the riot was handled.

Only two of these soldiers are still alive today. Surely it takes time to turn the wheels of justice but this seems like an empty gesture to me. These veterans had to suffer this for most of their lives only to see the Army realize their mistakes years later. Very unfortunate.