Leesburg veteran receives honorable discharge hours before death

Leesburg veteran receives honorable discharge hours before death
Sara K. Clarke Sentinel Staff Writer
July 28, 2008
Samuel Snow fought for more than six decades for justice, and an honorable discharge from the Army.

He got it Saturday -- just hours before his death.

The 83-year-old Leesburg veteran died early Sunday after receiving the long-awaited commendation. Snow was one of 28 black soldiers falsely convicted of starting a World War II riot that led to the lynching of an Italian prisoner of war at an Army base in Seattle.

"It meant giving him back his pride and dignity," said his son Ray Snow, 55. "It brought closure to a very sad part of his life."

Snow traveled to Seattle last week to receive his coveted discharge, but he was admitted to the hospital late Friday with heart trouble. He missed Saturday's ceremony, where relatives of the soldiers joined elected and military officials to hear the Army apologize before hundreds of people. But before he died, Snow heard an account of the event and was thrilled, his son said.

"I cannot describe the joy that radiated on his face," Ray Snow said.

Samuel Snow entered the Army as a teenager, dreaming of a military career that would pull him from poverty. Within a year, he was swept up in the largest and longest Army court-martial of the war.

Snow and the other 27 were convicted of starting the riot. Two of the soldiers were convicted of manslaughter in the Italian's death.
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