In Need of Correction


This file appears in: Leon Jaworski
In Need of Correction

During his JAG career, Jaworski tried the Fort Lawton riot court-martial—a case involving African American soldiers and the death of an Italian POW. Most of the servicemen were convicted, receiving dishonorable discharges and hard labor. Through the work of investigative reporter Jack Hamann in his book On American Soil, the US Army Board for Correction of Military Records opened an investigation into the court-martial. In 2005, they overturned the soldiers’ convictions. They found Jaworski and the prosecution committed an “egregious error” in their handling of the case by withholding evidence about a possible white suspect and granting the defense barely over a week to prepare for trial. As a result, the Army provided the African American soldiers—or their surviving kin—with honorable discharges, military honors, and back pay.


This file appears in: Leon Jaworski