The New York herald., 1922-01-18
BLACK CAP AND ROPE
IN SOLDIER GRAVES
Evidence Of Hanging Removed
Before Shipment, Senate
Inquiry Learns.


WASHINGTON. Jan. 1T.---Afttr preseil-
ststion OF testimony by way of denial,
War Department records submitted to-
oay to the Senate committee investi-
eating charges that American soldiers
had been hanged without trial In France
showed that from the bodies Of two men
dug up in the little cemetery at Bazailles
the ropes and black caps in which they
were put TO death on the gailows had
not been removed prior to burial.
Edward E. Lamb Of Hartford. Conn.
Colonel overseas. testified that In the
case OF one of the men hanged the body
" as placed quickly in a coffin and so
far as he recalled the rope and cap were
left just where the hangman had placed
them. But In both casea other wit
nesses declared. they were removed be-
Tore the bodies were prepared for ship
nnent home to relatives.
Senator Watson, Democrat, (Ga.)
whose charges concerning Ilegal execu-
tions led co the investigation. sharply
attacked the burial of men hanged for
'unnentionable crimes alongside OF
soldiers who fell in battle. Asking u
witness IL white men and negroes were
y .
the Senator was told they were--that all
were soldiers.
Saw Negroes Bodies.
John Sebastian, a sailor OF Jackson
Vile, Fla. told how, when prisoner at
Gievres. he saw the bodies of two ne
groes lying face down on the ground
and was informed by the guard that
two negroes had been lynched. He was
unable. however. to say whether the
bodies were those of the men put to
death by d soldier mob.
Taking up the case OF Benjamin King
Of Wilmington. N. c.. reported by the
War Department as killed in action. and
said by former witness to have been
lynched. the committee called Vainey y.
Wells OF Wilmington. who said King
was q member of his platoon
II saw King just before we jumped
off in battle and never saw him again.
said Wells. II am satisfied he was
killed in action. King was one of the
best soldiers in the outfit, and there
never was a complaint against him."
Richard c. Sullivan of Somerville.
Mass, an assistant embalmer with the
Graves Registration Service. declared he
saw two bodies taken up with rope and
black cap intact.
Everybody helped prepare for ship
ment home was positively identified"
said Sullivan.
was there any evidence that the
heart and brain were removed from the
bodies OF the men hanged" asked Sem
ator Watson.
II did not notice"
one Cemetery for All.
Were the men buried in a separate
part of the cemeteryT
They were not"
'Tf the skulls had been opened TO re-
move the brain would you have noticed
it?" asked Chairman Brandegee.
"Undoubtedly."
When Col Lamb took the stand he
was asked:
Did you witness any executions in
France?"
"Yes. two at Bazailles. Both were
court martiaIed." he said. I'm the case
OF the second man hanged 1 think the
body was placed quickly III coffin
with the rope and cap still on it.
What is the probability Of men being
hanged without trial7" asked the chair
man.
mot the slightest" Col Lamb re-
Piled.
"And you mean TO say that these
men hanged for an almost unmention-
able crime were Durteu afOnE WIN IN"
honorable dsad?" Senator Watson
asked.
"Yes They were our men who hal
fallen and paid the extreme penalty"
The care taken by the Graves Regis
tration Service In making sure of the
Identification of each soldiers body was
described by Capt. Charles J. Wynne Of
Washington. in chareg OF records.
2,Of6 Unfdentffieu Dead.
''of the 1900 bodies shipped to the
United States every s.-eic one was
identified" said Capt. NNynnc. "The
records thus far show 2.01S unidentified
dead. The chance Of mistakes in id sn-
tification was very small"
The first woman to appear before the
committee. Mrs. Griffiths Of Washing-
ton. whose husband. Col. Richard H.
Griffiths. was killed in France. told Of
going TO France IN an effort TO locate
and identify his body.
at was a hsadless body" she de-
clared. and there was no tag on IT,
Are you sure the body was or was
not that OF your husbandT" Senator
Overman asked.
1T was quite impossible TO teii.'
Mrs. Grifflths declared there we're 10
Identification marks or crosses abovs
the graves At the cemetery where her
httrt ,. or,1 a A,sV tail