Command Influence A story of Korea and the politics of injustice eBook Robert A Shaines
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“I hope our dearest wish can move the heavens, And the heavens send us fresh spring water and peaceful doves.” - from “Daffodils of the Sun” by Seo Young-sun
George C. Schreiber was a twenty-five year old second lieutenant in charge of an Air Police guard unit in Pusan, Korea. A year earlier, in 1951, he had innocently been teaching fifth and sixth grade children in Brookfield, Illinois. A year later, he was convicted by a general court-martial of premeditated murder. The unconscionable injustice made no sense to twenty-three year old Air Force lawyer Robert A. Shaines and Schreiber’s story has haunted his thoughts ever since. Command Influence chronicles Shaines’ first hand observation of the dramatic events leading up to the trial of Schreiber and two of his contemporaries and shows how he, Schreiber and others became pawns in a power game among ambitious and vindictive men eager only to please those who could advance their military careers. This series of events would ultimately involve the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Governor of Illinois, the President and the Supreme Court of the United States and bring about a change in the law which would reach the highest levels of government. A fascinating tale of military and legal history, Command Influence is also a captivatingly personal vindication of the conscience of the author, who comes to understand that he and Schreiber were a couple of dedicated, but naive and trusting young fellow officers whose lives and characters became permanently shaped by these events. Both were victims in their own ways.
Command Influence A story of Korea and the politics of injustice eBook Robert A Shaines
This riveting personal memoir tells how a young military lawyer persistently attempted to secure justice for his client under the code of military justice during the Korean War. In Jan, 1953, Robert Shaines, a recently trained JAG Officer, arrived with his unit in sub-zero Korea outfitted in only summer uniforms. This was the first of many bureaucratic mishaps Shaines experienced. Only five months later he was assigned as defense counsel in a capital murder case.At the time, the Korean press and government was charging the US military with abusing Korean citizens in a brutal way. From appearances, The US Army hoped to clear these claims with a designated human sacrifice. George C. Schreiber, a twenty-five year old second lieutenant, was accused of ordering the execution of a still unidentified man apprehended for looting. "Both Schreiber and I were really pawns in a power game among ambitious and vindictive men, eager to please those whom they felt could advance their military careers," writes Shaines.
Schreiber was convicted, but the uproar over the injustice ultimately involved the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Governor of Illinois, and the President of the United States. A Supreme Court decision in this case has been cited in recent lawsuits limiting the president's power to try Guantanamo Bay detainees by military commission. Shaines augments his excellent memory of these events with recently released documents and interviews with participants and their survivors, providing a dramatic chronology of otherwise all but forgotten events.
(A tip--I originally purchased the Kindle edition. The volume contains both photographs and reproduced documents which are more easily viewed in the print edition.)
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Command Influence A story of Korea and the politics of injustice eBook Robert A Shaines Reviews
"Command Influence A story of Korea and the politics of injustice" by Robert A. Shaines is a first hand account of the trial of Lt. George C. Schreiber by his military defense attorney, who is the author. At the time Mr. Shaines was a young idealistic attorney, part of a defense team which had a losing battle on their hands.
The story takes place in Pusan, Korea 1952. Lt. George C. Schreiber is the 25 year old second lieutenant in charge of the Air Police (Air Force) guard unit. The former fifth grade teacher from Brookfield, IL is charged and court martial for premeditated murder.
For 23 year old Air Force lawyer (and author of this memoir) the charge makes no sense and he does his best, convinced of Lt. Schreiber's innocence, to get the accused released.
"Command Influence" by Robert A. Shaines is a captivating book in which Mr. Shaines recounts his memories as a defending lawyer in the case of The United States v. Lt. George C. Schreiber. Lt. Schreiber was the appointed scapegoat in a trial for the murder of a Korean man (whose real name was never found). Mr. Shaines, a military attorney on the Lieutenant's defense team, was fighting a battle which outcome was already decided.
Part of the book is a scathing criticism of what was then the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), part of it is a memoir and part is interjections by Mr. Shaines himself. The title of the book comes from what Mr. Shaines said drove the trial - mainly that those in command influenced the outcome regardless of justice. Unfortunately "command influence" is still seen these days, if not in the courts then in reshaping history.
As a former solider myself I can certainly understand how a lowly grunt feels when being grilled by a superior officer, looking for the "right" answers regardless of what is just. On top of that keep in mind that not having the "right" answers could make your life extremely difficult - the last thing a grunt wants in a war zone.
Mr. Shaines goes to great lengths to make his point, that is that Lt. Schreiber was set-up by the commanding generals to appease the Koreans and the mother of the solider who actually killed the Korean man (the Lt. was charged with giving the order). The author provides letters, quotes court transcripts, conversations, press releases and other relevant material.
This is a very convincing memoir and I have no doubt, as does the author and anyone who actually followed the trial (including lawyers not on the team) as to Lt. Schreiber's innocence. It is fascinating to read the transcripts and get the lawyer's opinion of how those questions and answers made an important point during the trial, how the behavior affected the outcome and what it's like to deal with/ argue in-front of a hostile person who outranks you.
To me, the last few chapters were especially fascinating and by themselves worth the price of the book. Mr. Shaines goes on to explain how this specific court case is still relevant to this day. The case forced U.S. Congress to tweak the UCMJ and put better measures in place to protect civilians who have been discharged from the military. The implicaiton of this case still resound with us today where the President can order a citizen arrested without trial and the shadow of Guantanamo Bay floats over the news headlines almost daily.
However, I thought the book could be a bit better written and edited. The narrative didn't flow smoothly at times, some of the descriptions were reiterated unnecessarily and I don't know if it was essential at times to quote from the transcripts verbatim instead of simply summarizing questioning and adding the transcripts as appendices at the end of the book. Not that the transcripts (for example) weren't valuable, they were, but sometimes they just slowed down this important story and the feeling of how most all involved were simply pawns in a power game among the military high command.
This book details the authors experiences during the Korean War as a lawyer with the JAG Corps. While the book is mainly about a specific incident and resulting general courts-martial trial, there are also interesting glimpses into the living conditions of the soldiers in Korea, relationships with the indigenous population, and the high stress environment that combat support troops lived in. The main thrust of the book is the description of the difficulty that a criminal defendant and his defense attorneys encountered in the military justice system then in place particularly with respect to the intentional and undue influence on the proceedings by the superior officers in the chain of command.
What does it take to write a story that captivates the mind ? Essential traits must show through the pages. Truth is so much stronger when couched in the unlikely scenario of wartime. Bob, my younger brother and I lived mirror lives. Both commissioned from Air Force ROTC, he as a Legal Officer, JAG, who served with troops. I as a Contracting Officer with career civilian trades. While Bob was in Korea, we exchanged letters, tapes, photos during his tour. The torment to write his book was spoken about but easily put aside. Now it is done and truth has been told. The folly, the bungling, the humor, the hardships, tell a vivid side of Command Influence and how the lives of those became a story within stories.
Stuart Shaines
This riveting personal memoir tells how a young military lawyer persistently attempted to secure justice for his client under the code of military justice during the Korean War. In Jan, 1953, Robert Shaines, a recently trained JAG Officer, arrived with his unit in sub-zero Korea outfitted in only summer uniforms. This was the first of many bureaucratic mishaps Shaines experienced. Only five months later he was assigned as defense counsel in a capital murder case.
At the time, the Korean press and government was charging the US military with abusing Korean citizens in a brutal way. From appearances, The US Army hoped to clear these claims with a designated human sacrifice. George C. Schreiber, a twenty-five year old second lieutenant, was accused of ordering the execution of a still unidentified man apprehended for looting. "Both Schreiber and I were really pawns in a power game among ambitious and vindictive men, eager to please those whom they felt could advance their military careers," writes Shaines.
Schreiber was convicted, but the uproar over the injustice ultimately involved the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Governor of Illinois, and the President of the United States. A Supreme Court decision in this case has been cited in recent lawsuits limiting the president's power to try Guantanamo Bay detainees by military commission. Shaines augments his excellent memory of these events with recently released documents and interviews with participants and their survivors, providing a dramatic chronology of otherwise all but forgotten events.
(A tip--I originally purchased the edition. The volume contains both photographs and reproduced documents which are more easily viewed in the print edition.)
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