Army & Navy – COMMAND: Selfridge Justice

As the courts-martial sitting on the Selfridge Field cases worked down the defendants in rank, sentences rose in severity. The commanding colonel, William T. Colman got off lightest: demotion to captain (TIME, Sept. 27) for drunkenness and careless use of firearms in shooting a Negro private. A lieutenant colonel found guilty of drunkenness and fraudulent transfer of soldiers was ordered dismissed from the service. A major and a warrant officer also were sentenced to dismissal.

By last week the unsavory cases at the Michigan air base were concluded. The court ordered a dishonorable discharge for Master Sergeant Myron B. Collins. The charge: accepting bribes for his “influence and action” on improper enlistments and transfers. He also got prison time: 18 months’ confinement at hard labor. Collins, 37, eleven years an enlisted man, had testified against his superiors in the previous cases. Said he ruefully when he heard the sentence: “Wasn’t that a dandy?”