III _8th Illinois (370th Inf.) receiving plaudits of citizens of
Houston_]
The Combatant Troops
————
It was our greatest hope, when we left that great city of the Middle
West, in May, 1918, that we might have the privilege of serving those
soldiers whom we had seen march proudly away about six months before,
and entrain for the city of the South, there to prepare to take their
part on the great western front, in the world’s greatest war. It was
at once a joyous and heart-aching privilege to follow them from the
spacious 8th Regiment Armory, through the penetrating breeze from Lake
Michigan, in order that we might see them bid a last adieu to those who
loved them most; the mothers, wives, and sweethearts who clung to the
car windows and steps for a last tearful embrace, as the train prepared
to move slowly away, bearing its burden of human freight, some of whom
were not to return, but were to remain resting in those fields whose
blood-red poppies seemed death’s perfect emblem of crimson beauty.
But failing to have the privilege of serving them, we desired in all
earnestness of heart to serve whatever other colored regiments were
marshaled in battle array against the foe; those who were facing the
shot and shell; the poison gas and liquid flame; the bombs from above
and the mines from beneath; who were struggling through barbed wire
entanglements, and sleeping in trenches and dugouts; who were suffering
in all possible ways from the wicked ingenuity of the Germans; who
went for days without food and drink; and who offered themselves as a
supreme sacrifice to help to make the world safe for democracy.
To these troops we owe much for our splendid record in the World War.
They summoned with superhuman strength the courage to overcome the
galling and heart-breaking discriminations which they had known before
they crossed the seas; the open and public discussion as to whether
colored men should be allowed to fight; the tragedy of Houston, and
the resulting discouragement at Des Moines;[1] the impudence of the
commanding officer at Camp Funston, and the pre-arranged and infamous
plan to discredit colored officers on the battlefields; all this was
sufficient to sap their very life blood before it had a chance to
crimson the soil of Flanders Fields; and it was to these troops that we
felt we owed all that could be given of service and devotion.
But we were not permitted to do this service for which we longed so
much, and consequently our chapter on Combatant Troops must be a record
of facts which we have gathered from officers and men of the different
organizations who have so kindly and willingly come to our assistance.
True, it is a brief record; the full record must be left to those who
write the histories; but we hope it is quite sufficient to establish
for all time the fact that these troops lived up to the full measure
of their opportunity; that whether under white or colored leadership,
they fought bravely and with undaunted courage; that their spirit of
patience and long suffering enabled them to overcome even the battle
of prejudice, which had followed them even into that war-torn country,
and which at times was more ominous and terrible than any war-weary
conflict; and finally that they won for themselves a crown whose glory
and beauty will increase with the passing of the years.