Leon Gilbert

Released
Gender:Male
Race:Black
Era:1950s
State:Pennsylvania
Support
Civil Rights
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Biography

Lieutenant Leon A. Gilbert was a Black officer of the segregated 24th Infantry Regiment court-martialed in Korea in 1950 for 'misbehavior before the enemy' after refusing what he called a suicidal order. Sentenced to death in a case the NAACP and Civil Rights Congress decried as a racial scapegoating, he had his sentence commuted by President Truman to 20 years.

Case

Charges: 'Misbehavior before the enemy' (refusing an order) — court-martial of a Black officer of the segregated 24th Infantry.
Sentence: Death, commuted to 20 years' imprisonment. Verdict as recorded: Convicted; sentenced to death, commuted by Truman to 20 years.
Convicted: Yes

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