How Long Should A Soldier Be Held To His Signed Word?

Great Debates
1

First of all, the Flamin’ Disclaimer: I read the cited article and am composing this O.P. with nothing but admiration and respect for Mr. Acevedo. There may well be a factual answer as to how long a soldier can legally be bound to a sworn affidavit. That’d be G.Q. There might be folks who would flame this OP as insulting or degrading. That’d be The Pit. It is meant as neither insulting nor degrading. I’ve got questions- a debate really- about the limitations of personal commitment and what happens when that bangs up against formal documents that are supposed to hold one forever.

Anthony Acevedo endured a horrible and remarkable journey at the end of WWII. He was told while still on active duty to sign an affidavit promising never to speak of what had happened to him and many others.

So, to me, the moral debate is this: How long can a soldier be held liable for such a sworn commitment to silence? How long SHOULD they be held liable? I know nothing of military law. Is there a statute of limitations on such a document? If so, what might it be?

He gave his word as a good soldier, and signed a document. The pain evident in the article tells me at least that this is a person who took his word as true bond. He kept silent for years, even as his government turned its back on him ( reduced benefits !! ) Should he have?

Does history relieve one of a commitment? Does the mind get a reprieve from the torture of the silence? Should he have spoken in 1953? 1949? 1967? How long should he have gone?

And, how early on in the game might he have spoken the real truth and had his entire Diary reprinted without being court-martialled ? Should the truth have won out over the signed affidavit?

Cartooniverse

2

Parts of the story don’t make sense. I can certainly understand the Army wanting to keep whatever techniques it has for freeing or resisting the enemy as POWs but I don’t understand why that would require Acevedo to keep silent about his entire experience as a POW. I’m sure there’s got to be a reason the Army required him to be silent but I’m not really buying the reason they give. It’d be interesting to find out the truth.

Odesio

3

Unless the information he was instructed not to reveal had been classified Secret or something like that, I don’t see how the document he signed could be used against him after he was discharged from the Army. It wasn’t a contract - he didn’t receive compensation for keeping that info secret. He was ordered not to talk about what happened to him. If he did so while he was still a soldier, he could have been prosecuted under the UCMJ. After he was discharged though, the UCMJ doesn’t apply to him.

4

My guess is that the US wanted to avoid even more backlash against Germany, especially as they became our allie (sp?) against the USSR post-war.

5

Purely my opinion. I think by the time the war became a historical event, detached from current events and most living memories; sometime in the 1980s or '90s. And at this point - meaning 2008 - I would almost go so far as to say one has an obligation to tell history first hand, while he still has the chance.

6

The Army doesn’t seem to care much about keeping it a secret anymore:

Note that Congress had spilled the beans a year ago:
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ca43_baca/berga_121907.html
"Rep. Baca Introduces Resolution Honoring Berga Survivors
Bill Honors Service of American Soldiers Detained at Nazi Camp in World War II
*Washington, DC – This week, Congressman Joe Baca (D-Rialto) introduced legislation to honor the heroic service and sacrifices of 350 American soldiers who were detained at the Nazi camp at Berga, Germany, during World War II. The bill, H. Res. 883, thanks these brave soldiers for their courage, and encourages greater recognition by all Americans of the service and loyalty of the soldiers detained at Berga, Germany.

“The World War II soldiers who suffered through terrible conditions at the Berga camp are real life examples of American heroes,” said Rep. Baca. “The courage and perseverance they demonstrated in enduring such inhumane conditions is awe inspiring. It is only fitting that Congress honor these men, whose sacrifices have sadly been forgotten by too many Americans.”

In December of 1944, more than 23,000 American soldiers were captured by Nazi forces at the Battle of the Bulge. In February of 1945, 350 of the soldiers were transported to a Nazi detention camp called Berga an der Elster. There the men were kept in inhumane conditions and forced everyday to do back breaking labor by digging an extensive network of underground tunnels.

The men were kept in horrible conditions for over 50 days, until the Allied forces freed them in late April of 1945. At least 70 American soldiers died at Berga or on the death march there, making it the highest number of American military fatalities at any German camp.

“As an Army Veteran myself, I was disheartened to learn that so many Americans were unaware of the sacrifices made by the soldiers at Berga,” commented Rep. Baca. “The legacy their bravery has created should be a lesson we all will remember.”

There was a book written in 2005/6:
Given Up for Dead: American GI’s in the Nazi Concentration Camp at Berga
By Flint Whitlock
Published by Basic Books, 2006
ISBN 0465091156, 9780465091157
283 pages
another in 2005:
Soldiers and Slaves: American POWs Trapped by the Nazis’ Final Gamble (Hardcover)
by Roger Cohen (Author)