African American soldiers cleared of wrongful WWII lynching convictions in Seattle
Honored by his country at last, man accused in WWII lynching dies in peace
By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
P-I REPORTER
When the moment Samuel Snow waited most of his life for finally came, he didn't speak. He just took the plaque affirming his honorable discharge, an honor that had been stolen from him more than six decades ago--held it against his chest in a Seattle hospital bed, and smiled.
That moment Saturday, family said, made his life complete.
A few hours later, Snow died at age 83.
"My father went home," son Ray Snow said, "to present his God his discharge papers from this life."
In 1944, Snow left Seattle as a 19-year-old in handcuffs, convicted of rioting on a night that led to an Italian POW's death. He and the other 27 convicted black soldiers knew they were innocent. During a Saturday ceremony at Discovery Park, where the slaying occurred at an Army fort 64 years earlier, a top military official formally acknowledged the men's innocence and offered words most of those convicted never lived to hear.
"We're sorry."
To read the full article, go to Seattle PI website at: