Dominic Moreo

Riot at Fort Lawton, 1944 Dominic Moreo

A midnight hanging and blood-splattered wounded. Come back to a summer night in August of 1944 at Fort Lawton in Seattle for an exploration of violence and mayhem. On that night two hundred American black soldiers attacked Italian POWs in their barracks and orderly room. After the belated arrival of MPs, dozens of the wounded were taken to the hospital. In turn, the War Department began a monthly IG investigation as to the causes of the riot and more. A court martial ensued and 28 soldiers were found guilty of participating in a riot. Other Italian and German POWs in the Seattle area during WW II however avoided mayhem.