Evening star., 1949-09-11
Ryan's Lawyers Plan
Appeal 10 Navy Chief
To Grant CIemency

TFFSoi " VuvI tIliVI
To Grant CIemency
An appeal to Secretary Of the
Navy Matthews for clemency is
being prepared by attorneys for
Seaman Patrick James Ryan, "a,
who was sentenced to four months
imprisonment and a bad-conduct
discharge yesterday.
Ryan, who escaped from the
French Foreign Legion after Is
months of brutal treatment. was
convicted by general court-mar-
tial of three days and 20 hours
unauthorized absence from his
ship, the destroyer Dickson, which
left him behind in San Reno,
Italy, when he overstayed leave
IN July. 1947.,
Attorneys Walter Moorman and
Joseph Matthias, who won ac-
quittal for the young sailor on
charges of desertion, said they
will ask the Secretary to remove
the stigma of the bad-conduct
discharge from the record Of the
young sailor who fought with the
Army at Monte Casino: Anzio and
Normandy during the war.
He enlisted in the Navy follow
ing his discharge from the Army.
Stay of Sentence Sought.
Mr.. Moorman said he will file
a petition with Secretary Mat
thews tomorrow to ask that
Ryan's sentence be stayed pending
formal review. Later he will ask
that the verdict be set aside on
technical grounds of legal error
in the court-martial proceedings,
MIR. Moorman said. Should this
move fail, he will ask the Secre-
tary for administrative clemency.
An appeal to President Truman
could be made as a final resort,
Mr.. Norman said.
Ryan's attorney said he is anx-
ious to protect the young sailor
from any possible loss of his vet
eran's benefits under the G.I. bill
Of rights, particularly his hospi-
talization and education rights. A
Veterans Administration spokes-
man said q bad-conduct discharge
would result in a review of Ryan'S
record if he ever applied for any
benefits, but expressed the opinion
that disqualification and educa-
tional privileges would not be de-
MED.
In dismissing the desertion
charge, the Navy Court indicated
it believed Ryan's story that he
was shanghaied into the foreign
legion by French military police
when he appeared in Nice after
hiking from San Reno in an effort
to rejoin his ship.
Term Reduced by Admiral.
The court. however, imposed the
maximum sentence of six months
Imprisonment on the unauthor-
lied absence charge.
The sentence was reduced to
four months by Rear Admiral
Glenn Davis Of the Potomac River
Naval Command after reviewing
the case. He allowed the bad con-
duct discharge edict toStand.
Naval authorities pointed out
that time-off for good behavior
could result, in further reduc-
ton Of two months in the SEN
tence which Ryan has been or
dered to serve at the Naval Re-
training Command at Norfolk.
He began serving his sentence
Immediately after the verdict go4
the courtsSFas read to him yester-
day in a locked ward at the Naval
Medical Center at Bethesda where
he has been under treatment for
recurring malaria. He said he first
contracted malaria in Italy and
was seized with additional attacks
while fighting with the legion in
the jungles of Indo- China.
Ryan's story was one OF the
most dramatic ever unfolded be-
fore a Navy court martial. He
said a dark -eyed girl beguiled him
in San Reno and during Fourth
of July party he was given knock
out drops. When he came to his
ship had sailed and he was penni-
less and stripped Of Identification
papers. A friendly Italian helped
smuggle him into France and he
walked to Nice where his ship was
due to dock after maneuvers of
Italy.
Evidence of Beatings.
Ryan showed the court broken
teeth and a SCARED body to sup
port his claim that he was beaten
almost daily at legion training
camps in North Africa because
he refused to sign enlistment
papers.
He wrote letters almost daily to
the Navy Department and his
family and bribed Arabs to mail
them. One of the letters actually
got to the Navy Department in
Washington and a Naval attache
in North Africa was instructed
to demand the sailors release.
French authorities ignored the
request and Ryan was shipped
to Indo-C China. In october. 194S,
he deserted a jungle outpost and
made his way into China where
he said he lived on "any kind Of
food I could get-rice, grass. dogs,
rats" ..
He finally got word of his plight
to the United States Naval at
tache in Canton, China, last Feb
ruary and was brought to the
hospital at Bethesda where he
has been held in the locked ward
until his trial.
cLnIdan ThornI Gyouo