Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1922-02-18
CHARLES YOUNG, COLONEL.

Tho tidings just relayed from the
Ltberian boundary Of the passing OF
Charles Young deeply stirs the emo.
lions For there was but ono Charles
Young, and there was no regular
army colonel like him. Upon
his shoulder-straps tho colonel's eagle
bore an especial signiffcanee-he had
SCARED to win it and none other of his
kind had ever achieved 1t. For this
mans skin was black. He was Of race
despised, IN American with the bar
sinister stamped upon him.
He was OF those OF our countrymem.
for whom, SO some would have IL,
there IS ordained only Illage, serfdom
the ranks, and the prtvate's uniform,
but never the officers. Distinction and
leadership are not to be theirs; good
enough they are to be thrown into the
maelstrom Of world war by the hun.
dred thousand, but not good enough to
lead others or themselves. Was there
not Congressman in Washington
once who safid Of our Union that It els
not worth n curse rs long rs n dfstinc-
ton exists between Negroes and
horses?"
Yet here was this man Charles
Young who truly recognized such dis
tinctfon. When but lad he dared to
enter the portals Of West Point dedi-
Gated to the military caste and the
white. For five long years lie endured
'ostrac'sm and insult, but would not be
denied. Where others had failed he per
severed and triumphod. There was a
German general about that time,
when It was still fashionable to regard
the Prussians as the ablest sons OF
Mars, who visited West Point. "What
was it," he was asked, "thnt you liked
best there?" 1.-THE best thing saw was
a black cadet in charge Of section Of
artillery; that is soldier"
And so Charles Young went forth a
lieutenant to rise by steady steps In
the two cavalry regiments OF tho
blacks. He knew how to avoid the pit.
falls laid for him; he understood per-
fectly that for him there must be n
special code Of uprightness and OF du-
ty. For him would be fatal the slip
that meant CLOSING laughter for one OF
lighter I, skin. So he bore himself
blamelessly and looked daily in the
eyes Of -hll men without shame, with.
out fear, and with great pride.
not to offend and yet how to keep
complete self-respect. He intruded no.
where. yet he asked all the rights of
his uniform and so compelled the re.
spect Of his associates that, be it set
down to tho credit of the army, he OBJ
tanned the Justice which alone he ask
ed.
So it came to pass that years after
hc had had his baptism Of fire he com.
manded a battalion Of his regiment In
the field in Texas where black men
were once slaves, and there he messed
for months with his subordinate ofIic.
ers, every one Of whom was white It
was social equality II YOU please, that
dreaded scourge to Offset which men
are burned and hanged each year I'm
der the Stars and Stripes. But nothing
happened in this organization; there
was no friction, no quarrel and no cat
aclysm. 49, "s- .. ,~.'-''. o." .. -
The heavens above did not fall;
neither did any inspector-gener re-
port. aught but what was good md sol.
dierly Of this battalion Perhaps It was
because Of this. perhaps because It wac
known that OF all the smaller volun.
'teer bodies Of the Spanish War there
was none better than Charles Youne's
Ninth Ohio Separate Battalion with
which no white man served) that when
Charles Young was Northumberland
and our flag went into Mexico in 1916
he led his entire regular regiment aft.
or its colonel was disabled.
1t was John J. Pershing who com.
manded that column sent, fruitlessly,
to capture Villa, dead or alive" and
throughout 1t was Pershing who kept
Charles Young at the head Of the
Tenth Cavalry when it would have
been easy to put white colonel over
the black lieutenant-colonel's head.
Alas, the Justice Of the service end
ed there-without question because
woodrow Wilson. the Southerner. was
PRESIDENT. Soon there were military
medical men found who discovered in
CHARLES Young a disease no civilian
opportunity TO show What 4 icoIored
oomrilander could do wtlen til. kreat.
est OF wars Was ut hand i ektaS for