Posted by
The Chopping Block on Friday, July 11, 2008 3:02:46 PM
On June 13, 1942, Coastguardsman John Cullen stumbled upon one of the most outrageous acts of war that, until 9/11, had ever taken place on American soil. During a routine midnight beach patrol along a dark and foggy beach on Long Island, he came across a group of men dragging their boat from the surf up onto the beach. Their responses to his questions, and their subsequent attempt to bribe him with a fistful of money, led him to suspect something dire and dangerous. Without any weapons save a flashlight, he wisely backed away into the fog and ran back to the Coast Guard station for assistance. By the time he and his mates had returned with weapons at ready, the group of men were gone.
John Cullen reported the situation to his commander and subsequently to the FBI. Acting on this information and working quickly and efficiently all the men in “Operation Pastorious”, the code name of the German invasion of America designed to disrupt our industrial capabilities, were captured.
FDR ordered that a military commission hear the case. This was the first such tribunal to be convened since the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and was conducted in the strictest secrecy. The prosecution team was headed by Attorney General Francis Biddle and the Army’s Judge Advocate General Myron Cramer.
The trial took one month and all men were found guilty. Two were sentenced to prison, one for thirty years, and one for life. The other 6 were sentenced to the electric chair, a sentence that was carried out at noon the day of their sentencing.
When the nation is at war, the capture of enemy combatants must be dealt with swiftly and judiciously. Anyone found attempting acts of war within our borders must be dealt with exactly as FDR did.