Robert Lam

Released
Full name:Robert L. Lam
Era:1940s
State:Washington
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Biography

Robert L. Lam, CPS worker 005781, described imprisonment at McNeil Island after leaving his Fort Steilacoom mental-hospital alternative-service assignment without permission. His oral history connects the departure to opposition to continuing conscription and doubts that Civilian Public Service operated under civilian control. He also described returning home to Illinois after discharge and a later cattle-boat relief trip to Europe. CPS service is distinguished from his prison custody.

Case

Charges: Unauthorized departure from Civilian Public Service hospital assignment; precise statutory charge unverified
Sentence: McNeil Island prison custody confirmed in Lam’s oral history. Imposed sentence, actual duration, precise arrest and release dates, and specific trial outcome are not supplied in the excerpt. His discussion of Portland judges dismissing other CPS cases is not imported as his own verdict. Source: Siuslaw National Forest and Portland State University History Department, Camp 56: An Oral History Project, pp. 130-135, excerpt https://stcpsarchive.z9.web.core.windows.net/cpsarchive/interview-robert-lam.html

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