Publisher's Weekly Review
U.S. Army Maj. Ronald Alley survived three years in a North Korean prison camp only to be charged with collaboration on his return to freedom. Found guilty, he was dishonorably discharged and sent to Leavenworth, the only U.S. officer in this century to receive such a sentence. This riveting book reveals what Sen. William Cohen of Maine, a partisan of the late Alley, has called a gross violation of justice. Novelist Snyder (Veterans Park recounts his obsession with the case, his alliance with Alley's widow and Cohen, and their combined efforts to lobby the Army Board of Correction of Military Records to reopen the case. These efforts included locating former POWs, at least one of whom testified against the major in the 1955 trial. After some five months of deliberations, the board ruled that the original verdict had been ``manifestly correct.'' Snyder argues convincingly that Alley was neither a collaborator nor a traitor but a victim of the McCarthy-era witch-hunt. Photos. (September) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
An impassioned piece of activist investigative journalism that sleuths the overlooked case of Army Major Ronald Alley, the only American soldier in this century to be convicted and imprisoned for collaborating with the enemy while a prisoner of war. The author is a former newspaper editor and novelist (Veteran's Park). Snyder, while editor of the Bar Harbor Times, received a visit from Alley, who hinted that a great injustice had been done him by the government. But before Alley could return the following week to tell his story, he died, victim of a massive heart attack. The author resolved to delve into his story, which began a frustrating eight-year search for the truth. At every turn, Snyder found obstructionism, and dissembling--and evidence that he himself was being followed and spied upon. The Army demonstrated a paranoia over reopening Alley's case that far exceeded the apparent significance of a case over a quarter-century old. Eventually, through interviews of fellow POW's, Snyder discovered the entire story of Alley's captivity, and of how his attempts to win better treatment for those in captivity led him to appear to make deals with his captors, and in general to go much beyond the written Code of Conduct that prohibited a soldier in captivity from giving more than his name, rank, and serial number. For stepping over these bounds, Alley paid the price of shame, despite his continued pride in his country, his Army, and his uniform (his widow had him buried--illegally--in his Army uniform). Through his investigation, Snyder managed to get the case reopened, but, sadly, the new tribunal, despite the more liberal code of the Vietnam years, refused to reverse the stern 50's decision. Snyder relates all of this in a manner that is sure to make every reader stand up with outrage, although one would wish that he had kept his own writing history and financial travails out of the story. A literary rescue operation that succeeds admirably, even if its subject still cries out for restoration. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Ronald Alley was the only soldier court-martialed and convicted of trading secrets with the enemy during the Korean War. After his three-year prison stretch, he returned to his native Maine still in disgrace. He died of a heart attack several years later. At the urging of Alley's widow, journalist Don Snyder began to dig into the assembled evidence pertaining to Alley's case, interviewing war buddies and examining heretofore classified army documents. The case possessed Snyder for four years, and the book he has written about his search for the truth is heartwrenching. Snyder was unable to clear Alley's name completely, although the conviction seems suspect given the facts the reporter uncovered: Alley was unpopular with his fellow soldiers, he had socialist leanings, and most importantly, the army needed to be seen ``cleaning house'' during the McCarthy era. PLR. 951.9'042 Alley, Ronald E. / U.S. Army Officers Biography / Prisoners of war U.S. Biography / Prisoners of war Korea (North) Biography / Korean War, 1950-1953 Prisoners and prisons / Korean War, 1950-1953 Collaborations [OCLC] 87-13307
