Biography
Australia Poole was a Black Army private from Indianapolis whose right arm was left partially paralyzed by a wound received during his second enlistment. Two days before his discharge date the Army told him a medical board could win him special discharge benefits; he signed one waiver extending his service to December 2, but when that date arrived and the board had still not convened, he took his discharge and refused to sign a second waiver. The Army — which never completed his separation paperwork — classified him a deserter. On June 6, 1974, on learning of the classification, Poole voluntarily returned to Fort Knox to clear the matter up and, despite his protests and the absence of any official document placing him in a holding status, was held there. The ACLU and National Council of Churches Clemency Information Center assigned attorneys Carol Wild Scott and Gerald Ortman to challenge the Army's discharge red tape in his case. Reconstructed from The Black Panther, December 21, 1974; disposition not located.