Wednesday, February 01, 2006 1:11 PM
”ON AMERICAN SOIL: How Justice Became A Casualty of World War II”
Journalist and Author Jack Hamann to discuss his new book at the Los Angeles Press Club
– Wednesday, February 1st 2006.
On a hot August night in 1944, a soldier’s body was discovered hanging by a rope from a cable spanning an obstacle course at Seattle’s Fort Lawton. The body was identified as Private Guglielmo Olivotto, one of the thousands of Italian prisoners of war captured and brought to America.
The murder stunned the nation and the international community. Under pressure to respond quickly, the War Department convened a criminal trial at the fort, charging three African American soldiers with the lynching and firstdegree murder of Private Olivotto. Forty other soldiers were charged with rioting, accused of storming the Italian barracks on the night of the murder. All forty-three soldiers were black. There was no evidence implicating any of these men. Leon Jaworski, later the lead prosecuter at the Watergate trial, was appointed to prosecute the case and seek the death penalty for three men who were most assuredly innocent.
Through his access to previously classified documents and the information gained from extensive interviews, journalist Jack Hamann tells the whole story behind World War II’s largest army court-martial—a story that raises important questions about how justice is carried out when a country is at war.
A bill now before Congress, HR 3174, demands that the Secretary of the Army reopen the court-martial in light of the evidence disclosed in ON AMERICAN SOIL. The bill currently has 38 sponsors, and is before the Military Personnel subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee.
For more info about the book: http://www.jackhamann.com/
Among many stellar reviews from critics for ON AMERICAN SOIL, The Seattle Post Intelligencer dubbed Hamann’s work “ONE OF 2005’s 10 BEST BOOKS”. John Marshall, the book critic of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper writes:
“A notorious World War II event in Seattle gets a convincing revisionist examination in this painstakingly researched first book by one of the Northwest’s most respected television journalists. What has long been described as a “race riot” resulting in the lynching of an Italian prisoner of war at Fort Lawton in Magnolia turns out to be a much different story indeed, as well as a travesty of justice, thanks to the scrupulous spadework of the one-time attorney and his trusty research partner and wife, Leslie Hamann.
ON AMERICAN SOIL was previously named a “Discover Great New Writers” selection by Barnes & Noble, and the “Star of Washington” by Barnes & Noble booksellers in Washington State. It was also a “Top Ten Pick” by the American Booksellers Association.
About the author: Jack Hamann has been a news reporter, network correspondent, and documentary producer for more than two decades and was most recently the Seattle bureau chief for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. A veteran of PBS, CNN, and NBC, Hamann has won ten Emmy Awards for his work. He lives in Seattle with his wife. This is his first book.
WHEN: Wednesday, February 1st
6:30 p.m. – Reception, Food and Drink and author book signing.
7:30p.m – Discussion, panel and Q&A
WHERE: Los Angeles Press Club
The Steve Allen Theater
4773 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood CA.
PARKING: FREE: Lot adjacent to the LAPC/Steve Allen Theater building
COST: Free for LAPC members: $5 for non members, free if joining that evening. Donations appreciated.
CO-SPONSORED By ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL, MICELI’s RESTAURANT, PR NEWSWIRE
RSVP, to: rsvp@lapressclub.org
