A heroic ‘criminal’ deserves a pardon

In the summer of 1948, a war raged over the future survival of the Jewish people. Heroes worldwide made great sacrifices to ensure that in the wake of the Holocaust, Jews would never again find themselves without a homeland. Among these heroes was Charles Winters, a young Protestant from Boston.

Rejected from the Army because of a handicap resulting from polio, Winters served his country during World War II as a government purchasing agent. After the war, though he had no tangible connection to the fledgling Zionist movement, Winters applied his efforts to aid a band of Jewish soldiers fighting for their independence in what would later become the modern state of Israel. Though their Arab adversaries were able to acquire weapons and support from other Arab forces, the Jewish resistance was struggling, hindered by a lack of friends and a British naval blockade of the Holy Land. Winters’ solution was to fly above the blockade. And asking nothing in return, that is precisely what he did.

Using the experience he gained from his government purchasing agent job, Winters partnered with several allies in the United States to provide the Zionist forces with heavy bombers. Eventually, he personally piloted a B-17 Flying Fortress across the Atlantic Ocean, delivering it to a group of rebels that would ultimately form the Israeli Air Force. The plane he flew as well as two others he helped secure comprised Israel’s initial heavy bomber fleet.

There is no way to overemphasize the importance of Winters’ actions. Without his help, it is very likely that the modern state of Israel would not exist.

But after returning to the United States from his clandestine mission, Winters was convicted of violating the 1939 Neutrality Act. He was subsequently fined $5,000 and served 10 months in prison for aiding the Jewish resistance in Palestine. Twenty-four years ago, Winters, then 71, died a hero to the state of Israel and a convicted U.S. felon. He is buried in a Christian cemetery just outside Jerusalem.

Charles Winters’ story should not end here.

The other two individuals involved in the effort to secure and deliver the planes, Herman Greenspun and Al Schwimmer, were also convicted of violating the Neutrality Act. But they never served time in prison and were subsequently pardoned, in 1960 and 2000, respectively. Winters deserves the same. In August, a presidential pardon request was submitted to the Department of Justice, bearing the signatures of 21 members of Congress.

Presidents are often asked to make impossible decisions —- such as choosing to send America’s best and brightest into harm’s way in order to protect this country. Even during the traditional pardon season, the time in which presidents often attempt to right the wrongs of the American justice system free of any fear of political consequences, presidents must choose between who deserves mercy and who does not.

Our current president will be judged in many ways by a variety of people, but no one could ever accuse him of ignoring his conscience. My hope is that in keeping with that legacy, President Bush will see fit to posthumously pardon Charles Winters for ultimately saving a nation and asking nothing in return.

The time Winters spent in prison and lived as a convicted felon can never be returned to him. But, with the stroke of a pen, the president can right a wrong over half a century old. I am confident that it will be one of the easiest decisions this president has ever made.

> Ari Morgenstern, a graduate student in political science at Georgia State University, is an Atlanta-based media relations consultant.