The Colorado statesman., 1919-03-01
EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESS BY
DIR. r. r. MOTION.
CONTINUED from page ~

heard many stories also of the Ne
rroes strict honesty. Prof. ii. o. COOK
Of Kansas city Mo-, who was IN
France in the Y. NJ. c. n. work whlle
aiding two wounded members OF the
regiment in the Champagne offensive
was gassed and when he became un-
conscious he carried on his person
| more than 10000 francs which the
bovs in the regiment had handed him
| when they went over the top. Before
he was sent to the hospital this money
was taken from him and kept by the
regimental sergeant, Major White, ana
when Prof Cook regained conscious
ness his first thought was of the mon
ey which he had on his person, ana III
all of the steps necessary for nm TO
have the bag containing the money re-
| turned to hint must have passed
! through the hands of more than TWEEN
| ty-five men-there was not penny
missing.
General Sherburne, a citizen of Bos-
| ton who commanded the l67th Field
| Artillery Brigade of the 92nd Division.
| told me that the men at all times
showed combatiVeness and fine spirit
of cheerfulness and Willingness. The
brigade. he said, performed every task
il was called upon to perform and
there was nothing but praise for its
work.
Throughout my association with the
| officers and men of the brigade, they
showed AN eagerness to learn, deter
mination to excel and fidelity to the
rules and ideals of military service
which / have never seen eXcelled.
In talking with General Goubet, he
mentioned that he was never more
touched than when he went to console
| one of these coIored regiments under
| his command which had come out of
action with nearly one-half either
| killed or wounded, and found the other
/ half patching up the wounds and try
| ing to help their wounded comrades.
| and that they sat around on the ground
and on their kits and sang such music
| as he had never heard before. This
| seasoned soldier had to stop talking to
mop the tears from his eyes at the
| spirit which enabled these men, amidst
| such disaster, to be so generous and
so kind. He said, THAT one thing alone
win prevent forever your race from
being rushed anywhere"
General c. c. BalIou and Col Car
! penter spoke in the highest praise of
| the valor and courage almost to a
man, of the officers and men Of the
92nd Division. even under the most
trying and difficult situation This
division was composed almost entirely
| of colored men
We rode for about a thousand miles
in the war zone, and everywhere Were
| graves RACED BUILDINGS, artillery
plowed fields until it became almost
/ depressing Graves Were everywhere
! to be seen. At many points there
would be five or six off in the middle
| of a field. with nothing to mark them
but wooden crosses and the helmets of
/ the men who had worn them. each
buried where he fell
afterwards came back down the
MOUNTAINS. riding in the automobile of
| the commanding officer. After while
| this officer told the chauffeur to stop
that we might get out, and we went
| over to field where was a little
graveyard with some fifty graves of
colored soldiers. near Point a -Mousson.
about midway between Nancy and
Metz. The officer, Colonel Carpenter.
from South Carolina, a West Point
man. took off his hat. and as we stood
| reverently in silence he said: These
men, DIR. Motion. came over here with
thousands of their fellowmen to fight
for our country-for democracy. i do
not know how much about democracy
they understood, but to me no Drawer
soldiers ever faced an enemy than is
true of these men whose remains lie
buried here. These men gave their
lives-all they had-for humanity and
/ believe that America is going to ac-
cord them. those who come back,
fuller measure of citizenship than they
have ever before received: at least |
think il ought to do it,"
The Negro in this, as in other wars,
has with other American citizens
shown his courage, loyalty and valor
and a Willingness to give of his means
as well as his life to the service of his
country and humanity, and as he and
the other members of his race take
up life in our country when peace is
finally declared as other American citi-
pity at the hands of other races or the
American nation. but he does ask what
every decent American should have
an absolutely equal chance with every
other American citizen to live his life
amidst wholesome surroundings: to be
educated and trained. and to share
equally with other Americans in the
blessings and privileges of American
citizenship