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07-07-2004, 10:25 AM
German 'invasion' of 1942 spawned military tribunals
July 6, 2004
BY CONNIE CASS
WASHINGTON -- A German submarine slipped through dark waters toward New York's Long Island in June 1942, creeping so close it bumped the sandy bottom. A second settled into shallows along the Florida coast. Each sent ashore four men, who dragged explosives up the beaches.
They were under orders to blow up American railroads, bridges and factories. But none got the chance. All eight were arrested within two weeks. Within two months, six were executed.
They got justice in a secret trial that has become the basis for President Bush's plan to use military tribunals to try terrorism suspects who aren't U.S. citizens.
The Nazi case was a precedent for last week's Supreme Court ruling that the government can detain ''enemy combatants'' but must let foreigners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, challenge their detentions in U.S. courts.
The justices have yet to rule on Bush's decision to revive military tribunals for the first time since World War II. Both supporters and opponents use the German case to buttress their arguments.
The team that landed on Long Island was led by George John Dasch, a German-American former waiter with a silver streak in his hair.
Shortly after midnight, a Coast Guardsman encountered the four men, who claimed to be fishermen. He heard one speak German.
Dasch answered Guardsman John Cullen's suspicions by shoving $260 into his hand and telling him to forget what he had seen.
Cullen ran back to the Amagansett station and reported the encounter.
The two teams headed for Chicago and New York, buying new clothes and fancy food. One of them, Dasch, sneaked off to Washington to betray the mission.
Duane Traynor led the FBI division that investigated reports of sabotage. On June 19, he got a mysterious phone call from a man who turned out to be Dasch.
''He said he just came back from Germany and had a lot of information,'' Traynor recalled from his home in Springfield, Ill. ''I said, 'Fine, come and see me.'''
Although Traynor had been briefed on the landing of German saboteurs, he didn't suspect his caller -- until he saw Dasch's hair.
''I knew immediately I might have one of them," he said.
With Dasch's information, the FBI rounded up the other saboteurs within a week.
A second turncoat, Ernst Peter Burger, aided Dasch in his plan to confess. The group's youngest member, Herbie Haupt, said he also intended to contact the FBI, saying he joined the mission only to get home to family in Chicago, where he grew up.
For America's leaders in 1942, there was no doubt of the Germans' guilt and the need to try them before a military tribunal.
President Franklin Roosevelt wanted death sentences, and the Army's top lawyer said a civilian court likely would impose only two-year prison terms. Also, a military proceeding could be closed to the public.
''We didn't want the Nazis to know how we captured all these people so quickly,'' Traynor said.
So Roosevelt created a military tribunal. By doing so, he could establish looser trial rules and grant himself sole power to review the verdict.
''There were things done in that trial that would never pass muster today,'' said Lloyd Cutler, a junior member of the prosecution team. He later served as White House counsel and advised Bush's Defense Department on tribunals.
The Germans' military attorneys asked the Supreme Court to consider if it was constitutional to deny them the right to be heard in civilian court. Under great pressure to support a war president, the justices announced their decision -- the trial could go on.
The justices said uniformed soldiers should be held as prisoners of war, but ''unlawful combatants'' who sneak into the country dressed as civilians can be tried by military tribunal.
July 6, 2004
BY CONNIE CASS
WASHINGTON -- A German submarine slipped through dark waters toward New York's Long Island in June 1942, creeping so close it bumped the sandy bottom. A second settled into shallows along the Florida coast. Each sent ashore four men, who dragged explosives up the beaches.
They were under orders to blow up American railroads, bridges and factories. But none got the chance. All eight were arrested within two weeks. Within two months, six were executed.
They got justice in a secret trial that has become the basis for President Bush's plan to use military tribunals to try terrorism suspects who aren't U.S. citizens.
The Nazi case was a precedent for last week's Supreme Court ruling that the government can detain ''enemy combatants'' but must let foreigners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, challenge their detentions in U.S. courts.
The justices have yet to rule on Bush's decision to revive military tribunals for the first time since World War II. Both supporters and opponents use the German case to buttress their arguments.
The team that landed on Long Island was led by George John Dasch, a German-American former waiter with a silver streak in his hair.
Shortly after midnight, a Coast Guardsman encountered the four men, who claimed to be fishermen. He heard one speak German.
Dasch answered Guardsman John Cullen's suspicions by shoving $260 into his hand and telling him to forget what he had seen.
Cullen ran back to the Amagansett station and reported the encounter.
The two teams headed for Chicago and New York, buying new clothes and fancy food. One of them, Dasch, sneaked off to Washington to betray the mission.
Duane Traynor led the FBI division that investigated reports of sabotage. On June 19, he got a mysterious phone call from a man who turned out to be Dasch.
''He said he just came back from Germany and had a lot of information,'' Traynor recalled from his home in Springfield, Ill. ''I said, 'Fine, come and see me.'''
Although Traynor had been briefed on the landing of German saboteurs, he didn't suspect his caller -- until he saw Dasch's hair.
''I knew immediately I might have one of them," he said.
With Dasch's information, the FBI rounded up the other saboteurs within a week.
A second turncoat, Ernst Peter Burger, aided Dasch in his plan to confess. The group's youngest member, Herbie Haupt, said he also intended to contact the FBI, saying he joined the mission only to get home to family in Chicago, where he grew up.
For America's leaders in 1942, there was no doubt of the Germans' guilt and the need to try them before a military tribunal.
President Franklin Roosevelt wanted death sentences, and the Army's top lawyer said a civilian court likely would impose only two-year prison terms. Also, a military proceeding could be closed to the public.
''We didn't want the Nazis to know how we captured all these people so quickly,'' Traynor said.
So Roosevelt created a military tribunal. By doing so, he could establish looser trial rules and grant himself sole power to review the verdict.
''There were things done in that trial that would never pass muster today,'' said Lloyd Cutler, a junior member of the prosecution team. He later served as White House counsel and advised Bush's Defense Department on tribunals.
The Germans' military attorneys asked the Supreme Court to consider if it was constitutional to deny them the right to be heard in civilian court. Under great pressure to support a war president, the justices announced their decision -- the trial could go on.
The justices said uniformed soldiers should be held as prisoners of war, but ''unlawful combatants'' who sneak into the country dressed as civilians can be tried by military tribunal.