Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1918-10-05

stirring tale of two black heroes.
Ncedham Roberts and Harry Johnson
Git is rather pleasant that it should
be Mistah Johnson) who though both
wounded by enemy gronades, ono on
tho elbow forearm and left log, the
other on tho right hip and left log.
beat off raiding party of twenty-five
Germans, killing or wounding five Of
them.
1t was q good fight, with gronades,
rifles and at last q bolO knife. These
were cited to receive that wonderful
Croix dc Guorre of our sister Rcpub-
tic. and it would not perhaps DO pos
siblo TO better the simple description
OF them in tho final phrase Of tho
French text OF citation--'good and
brave soldiers"
The news was received at, homo
with delight by tho Negroes, and for
tho most part with simple ungru,lg-
ing and unsurpassed admiration by
the white press. Indeed on tho
whole 1t may be said that whatever
may be thought of the colorcd man
in times of peace, we confidently OK
pect him to be brave in War.
There is indeed long tradition Of
black bravery, from the day when n
Negro, Crispus Attacks was the first
man killed III the Revolutionary War,
down. There are famous names in
the roll, famous that is to Negroes,
possibly to them only. Students of
America might profitably read this
chapter Of the nations history, pos
sibly, shall we say in the Pullman
Portcrs' Review, an admirable publ
cation which probably few people
who travel on sleeping cars know.
There are, it appears, 1888 stars in
the Pullman Company's service flag;
1883 blacks who hitherto were only
modcstly ambitious to keep the world
we'll brushed and are now risking
their lives to keep it safe for better
future. There has perhaps been in
the past something family comic In
George tho porter; now he gives you
II deepencd sense Of the solidarity OF
America, and Il renewed conviction
that this war is essentially every
Americans war.
Even before the news began to
come from France, experts Of fight
ing thought we'll OF the colorcd sol
der. Colonel Moss, Il Louisianian,
who is in command OF the seth
,(Buifalo) Regt. has been considerably
quoted. At the outbreak of the
war he asked for colorod troops and
he believes they make good soldiers.
But he is scrupulously temperate on
the subject and says that it is unwise
to talk too much about anyone, black
or white, being cable to lick his
weight in wildcats"
But his imperturba bility is not
perfect for he permits himself to say
with an ill-hidden light of enthusiasm
in his eyes that "they arc the only
soldiers that will go into II fight sing
ing" lie corrccts this betrayal of
enthusiasm by an extremely shrcwd
observation concerning our attitude
towards the race. The Negro, he
says, gets too much credit when he
does II good thing---but he gets also
too much blame when he does bad
thing.
Colonel Roosevelt, speaking to the
Buffalo soldiers at Camp Upton,
made his own pleasantly turned
comment on this tendency when he
assured the boys that General Bell
was there to sec that they got what
they ought to havc when they bo-
haved themselves and also to see that
that got what they ought to have
when they didn't behave themselves.
And tho boys roarcd with delighted
laughing appreciation of his humor.
Humor is perhaps not commonly
enough considered in appraising tho
mental equipment Of n good soldier.
y young lieutenant Of the Buflaloes,
n Des Moines graduate, puts stress
on this point. A soldier who can
laugh and sing like the Negro can
not, no points ont, be unhappy long
nor troubled by premonitions OF evil.
Not to "caro which way the river
runs" is in this case a virtue. 1t
does away with complaining and tho
colorcd soldier IN the camps sums
things up with a cheerful philosophy
when he says cts n great life il you
don't weaken"
1t would be pleasant to linger OH
this topic with an anccdoto or two.
The two colorcd soldiers who in tho
early days were whiting out dummy
rifles from pine boards for drill pur-
poses expressed no impatience with
the war departments delays, they
only remarked as they piled their
jackknives that they were glad they
were not In the artillery! A raco
naturally inclined to contcntment.
Let us delay what reports there
are from the trenches Of actual bat
tic performance and consider some-
thing Of the situation OF the Negro
at the beginning Of the war. 1t is
rarely plain sailing for that race and
SO it need surprise no one to learn
that at tho beginning at least 1t was
not always made easy for the black
man to be a patriot and soldier.
Anyone who was in the South dur
ing April and May Of last year knows
how Immediately after the declara.
ton OF war a wave OF hysterical APP
prehcnsion ran over the land. 1t
was suddenly declared that tho Ger
man propaganda had been long and
successfully at work among tho col
orcd population. There were wild
rumors Of secret drilling and hidden
stores OF arms. One lurid unauthen-
ticatcd tale was OF a burial suddenly
stopped by the authorities because
Of the suspicious heaviness Of tho
coffin, which, being opened, disclosed
no stiff black corpse but cartridges
r,inocI