+--------------------------------------+
| |
| _Dedicated to the women of our |
| race, who gave so trustingly and |
| courageously the strength of their |
| young manhood to suffer and to |
| die for the cause of freedom._ |
| |
+--------------------------------------+
_With recognition and thanks to the authors quoted in this volume
and to the men of the A. E. F. who have contributed so willingly and
largely to the story herein related._
_Contents_
†FOREWORD 5
†THE CALL AND THE ANSWER 9
†FIRST DAYS IN FRANCE 15
*THE Y. M. C. A. AND OTHER WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS 22
*THE COMBATANT TROOPS 41
†NON-COMBATANT TROOPS 96
†PIONEER INFANTRIES 112
†OVER THE CANTEEN IN FRANCE 135
†THE LEAVE AREA 159
*RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE FRENCH 182
*EDUCATION 199
†THE SALVATION OF MUSIC OVERSEAS 217
*RELIGIOUS LIFE AMONG THE TROOPS 227
†REBURYING THE DEAD 233
†STRAY DAYS 241
*AFTERTHOUGHT 253
——
† By Addie W. Hunton.
* By Kathryn M. Johnson.
_Foreword_
Remarkable achievements are worthy of remarkable acclaim. This
justifies our desire to add still another expression to those already
written relative to the career of the colored American soldiers in the
late World War. The heroic devotion and sacrifice of that career have
won appreciative expressions from those who, from a personal point of
view, know but little of the details. How much more then should they
who walked side by side with those brave men in France realize the
merit of their service and chant their praises. Surely they should be
best able to interpret sincerely and sympathetically, lovingly and
gratefully for our soldiers, as they may not for themselves, something
of the vicissitudes through which they passed as members of the
American Expeditionary Forces.
We feel, too, that almost fifteen months of continuous service that
carried us practically over all parts of France, and afforded a heart
to heart touch with thousands of men, is a guarantee of the knowledge
and devotion that has inspired this volume.
Memories will ever crowd the mind and cause the eye to kindle with the
light of loving sympathy as we recall our months of service at the
base of supplies on the coast of France. For there we were privileged
to learn something of the life and spirit of the stevedores, labor
battalions and engineers whom we served—more than 25,000 of them—who,
through all the desolate days of war, never ceased in their efforts to
connect America with Chateau Thierry, Verdun, Sedan, St. Mihiel and
other great battle centers of France. There we beheld combat troops,
filled with the spirit of adventure arriving fresh from America to
follow the trail to the already war-worn front. And there came also
those regiments that we called Pioneer Infantries, the imprints of
whose deeds of duty and daring are stamped all over France.
We followed our depot companies and engineers through those isolated
stretches and wastes where they performed tasks so essential in the
plans for victory.
After many months we went away from the confusion of war to beautiful
southern France. There we worked to make happy the days of the men who
came for rest and recreation to that wonderful Alpine region of Savoie.
There in the Leave Area, by the side of shimmering Lake Bourget, we
learned something more of the life of our soldiers as they fought or
worked on French soil. Every week, for five months or more, a thousand
or so men poured into Chambery and Challes-les-Eaux, and we saw in them
the gladness or depression of their service.
Far to the North we took our way, over devastated areas, and dwelt
midst the loneliness of poppy-covered fields in “No Man’s Land.” In
those Cities of the Dead, we beheld our soldiers summoned to the
supreme test of their loyalty and patience in the re-burying of the
fallen American heroes.
Back again to the coast we went to join in the great “Battle of
Brest”—the battle for the morale of the tired, anxious soldier waiting
for transportation back to home and native friendships. For six weeks,
from early morning to midnight, our huts at Pontanezen echoed to the
tread of thousands of feet. During that period it is estimated that
fifty thousand colored soldiers passed through the camp. Battle scenes
and war adventures were ended, but the memory was yet deeply poignant,
and often silences revealed the depths of experiences beyond the power
of all words. Because of all this, we strive to humbly recount the
heart throbs of our heroes.
Again the authors have written because to them it was given to
represent in France the womanhood of our race in America—those fine
mothers, wives, sisters and friends who so courageously gave the very
flower of their young manhood to face the ravages of war. That we then
should make an effort to interpret with womanly comprehension the
loyalty and bravery of their men seems not only a slight recompense for
all they have given, but an imperative duty.
We believe that undervaluation is a more subtle and unkind foe than
overvaluation, so that we have not refrained in our story from a large
measure of praise for a large measure of loyal and patriotic service,
performed ofttimes under the most trying conditions.
We have had no desire to attain to an authentic history, but have
rather aimed to record our impressions and facts in a simple way.
But wherever historical facts have been used, it has been largely to
justify the measure of praise accorded and to offset the criticisms of
prejudiced minds.
This volume is written at a time when, after the shock of terrific
warfare, the world has not yet found its balance—when, in the midst of
confusion, justice and truth call loudly for the democracy for which we
have paid.
If for all time the world is to be free from the murderous scourge
called war, it must make universal and eternal the practical
application of the time-worn theory of the brotherhood of man. May this
volume written in all love and truth, though perhaps imperfectly, serve
to lift some souls nearer to this ideal.
——————————————————