The Hawaiian gazette., 1916-07-14
Were Discharged Without Honor
From Twentylfifth Infantry For
Brownsville Rioiing
THEY RECEIVE FULL X III
PAR AND ALLOWANCES
Government Finds Men Restored
Were Not Entitled 70 Punish
Rl meat They Received

j VI 2
Adyiees just received In Honolplr
from the war department in Washing
ton, in connection with an inquiry re
gnrding the aftermath Of the Browns
vile (Texasl ARRAY of August, 1906
show that fourteen Of the colored sol
diers Of the Twenty.Hfth United states
Infantry, now stationed at schoHeid
Barracks, summarily discharged with.
out honor by President Theodore Roose.
welt, have been restored to the service
and have received fun pay and allow
anees for the period they were ont.
- The Brownsville ARRAY took place
August IS and II, 1906, and immedi,
ately after military investigation
President Roosevelt, ordered the dis.
charge without honor of those com
panies whose men participated in the
raid on Brownsville. A congressional,
Investigation, which lasted moro than.
year, followed, and the final action
was the passage of a resolution direct
ing the President to appoint board
of army officers with authority to per-
init the re-enlistment Of such Of the dis.
charged soldiers as were found qualified
for re.enlistment, such men TO be given
pay and allowances from the date of
their discharge as If honorally dis.
charged and Immediately reinstated..
Large Amounts Are Paid '..~
EpHap THE ro.ol,,k.o. Al. II
diers who have been re-enlis:cd in the
service and the amounts paid each are
as follows: Jones A. Coltrane (corpor-
ally, $2092.87; Edward L. Daniels (eSr.
Poral), $2055.45; Edward Warfald 4
(private), $l7OO.lS; Lewis J. BakerI !
......... Clifford L. Adair (priyat6,
$1790.30; Henry w. Arvin (pri2atb /
$2040,55; Calvin Smith (priyat9, ]
$I2S9.75; John Smith (privatej, $fI98..
90; Robert Williams (cook), $2419.65;
Winter Washington (corporal), Sl56S..
ID; Elias Cant (private), &20l5.s7;
John A.. Jackson (priyate3, '$2Ol0.a5;
samuel E. Scott (private), $I7g6l3;
William Van Hook (priVate), $l93S.G
Commenting editorially on the re-
storation of these soldiers of the TWEEN.
ty-ffth Infantry, The Sun New York;
says; :s.-,-,...' !" |
THE discharge without honor Of sew.
eral companies of the Twenty.GftA In
fantry, a colored regiment, for tom.
plieity in the Brownsville raid int the
summer of 1906 has proved blessing ;
in disguise to fourteen of the disgrAced
soldiers. They are serving again kith :
the colors, and each man must rckard ,
himself as Croesus, If he has not al ~,
ready dissipated the bounty bestowed !
upon him by just government. I'm. u,
listed men are generally improviA,nt. :
and the most impeeuniOus Qftal fare
the soldiers Of the colored Regiments, ,
who are born gamblers. Imagine, then
the beatitude of the fourteen lucky
soldiers Of the regiment under a cloud
when they found themselves back in
the ranks with arrears of pay ranging
IN amount from $l2S9.75 to $24l4.6
the last sum falling into the laI5 of '
Private Robert William, a troop cobk. :
Truth Never win Be Known
1.-THE truth about the Brownsville "
aid will never be known, although n
here were two Investigations, one by y
military court and the other by bon. :
sress, the latter dragging on for more q
han year. 1t was after the first in Q
that the battalion was sum
narily discharged, although most of the a
men who suffered c0nld have had no a
land in shooting up" Brownsville. D
some Of them knew nothing about II, "
md others sinned by silence, The mum. VI
'er Of soldiers actually guilty of gthe /
ItrOcity must have been small. n
Congress came ut last to the relief1 c,
# the helpless innocent by adopting Il
esolution directing the President to ap- b
'oint board of army officers to make h
What was practically q third inyestiga. r
ion. They were authorized to receive7K"l
md pass upon applications by the dis Z,
harged soldiers for reenlistment with m
'aek pay and allowances. Some of, the a
highest officers in the army were on
he board and they went over the old q
violence and listened to the pleas of "a
he APPLICANTS, several of whom had been q
witnesses in the military and congress ni
ional inquiries. These officers were b,
Onvinced that fourteen of the soldiers
ad nothing to do with the notorious ~
aid, 'either as principals or as aeces- II
cries, n
'ishonor Struck From Record
"And so their dishonorable discharge 81
'as struck from the record, and they Ia
esumed their rank and places in the |
rmy as II the Intervening years of :"
tigma had been wiped out, Bnt each "
ow had bank account, if he were ,i
hrifty. Three corporals, ten priyates hi
nd cook rejoined the old Twenty, az
fifth. Some of the innocent are dead; p'
Tiers, no doubt, are still recorded as hi
discharged without honor, being too ig- 81
GRANT to avail themselves of = the al
hance Of VindicntiOn. We. trust that sc
one Of the guilty is in the honor and
ack pay list. ~. -,.. .. ii
cit is a qualification to know that It
y this act of reinstatement justice II
as been done in some worthy eases, ,rd
nd that in effect the precipitate ac. 50
ion that caused the innocent TO suffer Eal
with the guilty stands v
Ondemned as irrational and uniuat - W