Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-01-06
STAUNTON OFFICER
\ is GOOD WITNESS
in OWN DEFENSE
Tears Come as Others on
Stand Praise Conduct
Under Fire.
DUGOUT.KILLINC STORY
ENTIRELY DISCREDITED
Men Cited as Having Seen
Act Have No Knowl-
edge Of 1t.
SMITH CHANGES MS HEcrr.L
he' nrhm"nd Nc" md Two Other
NirEininns sumn,onrd-Con-
iinue Inquiry Tucsda..
DUCOUT-KlLLINC STORY
ENTIRELY DISCREDITED
snrrm CHANGES MS nEc,rAL
her hirhm"Hd Men mud Two other
NirEininns smnnonrd-Con-
tinue Inquiry Tucsda..
LEE stan corrcsrnnlen,.l

BE stan torrcSpon,Ientl
WASHINGTON. Jan. Biting hi,
lips To keep back the tears which
'welled in his eyes. Colonel Hicrome
l. opie today listened To witness
n'ter witness. all OF them men who
faced death with him on the fields Of
France. tear to shreds the charges
NJ murder. brutality and cold bIooded
ferocity laid before the senate in
Nts''SatinH COMMITTEES yesterday and
i"Ha! %! three former members OF
the one Hundred and Sixteenth In
fantry.
oScrwrought by the ordeal n, lis.
tenihg Tor two days To charges which.
II sustained. would blRckc1 his mill.
siary record and destroy his honorat le
'hame. the Staunton officer inomen.
SaFilS lost his composure when COL
onei John Philip mn praised him a.
one OF the most gallant and cour-
ageous soldiers in the Twenty. ninth
Division"
Heard Not One Rumor.
Colonel Hin. now a member OF Con-
Hrcss. tod OF having gone through
every company OF the Opie battalion
while investigating the rccommenda-
ZION that Opie. then major. be
awarded the Distinguished Service
Cross. He took enlisted men aside,
privately. and asked them II they
knew anything discrcditabic OF their
commander. He DID not hear a rumor.
he declared. of ans shooting.
III these men knew. or had ncard
ahSthihS against Colonel opic. am
positive wourd hav" heard H.. col
al ~
SIX "f ;h" witnesses whose tes,i.
in"nH helped clear Colonel Opie of the
black charges he is facing were en-
: listed men. WithnIt exception they
refuted the evidence given the com
mtttce by the three VINO accuse their
old commander.
IL the Investigation had concluded
today the Staunton officer would have
returned home secure OF his com
plete vindication. Recess was taken.
however. TO Tuesday morning at 10
o'clock.
This was done in order to allow
time for the Eummoning OF addi-
tional witnesses who have placed
heir-statements In the hands of Son
ator Thomas +. Watson. of Georgia.
Three Richmond Men Called.
Three Of the men who will appcar
tefore the committee Tuesday ar.
living in Richmond They are:
Charles +. Fox. 1928 Floyd Avenue.
James T. Carlton. l4li Beverly
Street.
William u. Gillic. a24 South Laurel
street.
Other witnesses summoned are Lev
T. Be'l. OF PURGE 'tville: :. !. Aibin.
OF Kernstown; John r. Lecdy. Of
S,rasburg. and Dewey Hester of Mar
ion. Hester, who is at the Southwest
ern State Hospital wired Senator
Watson today that he saw Major Opie
Kill man In France.
Both Men Very Nervous.
OF the three witnesses who have
appeared against Colonel Opie, LemueI
o. Smith. is an inmate OF the asyIum
ut Marion, and William F. st. John
is, by his own statement, going 10
that institution for examination. Both
testified that they had been very nerv-
Gus since their trying war eXperi-
ences.
Smiths account OF having seen Col
onel Opie shoot and Kill! his orderly
In duGout on the morning OF Octo-
Der 9. was branded as absolutely false
by the three men he swOre were with
him at the time. Smiths testimony
ala not agree. III several essentials,
with the letter written Senator Wat
son and turned over by him to the
committee.
Opic Reformed Lines.
Charles Franklin Coke, Of Lynch
burg: Howard n. F'ifer. and Beverley
wilkes, Of Richmond. testified TO hav-
Ing seen Colonel Opie reform groups
OF stragglers on the morning OF Octo-
per y. and send them lack to the front.
titer said he was standing only eight
feet from his commander, when Col
onel Opie snatched rifle from n SOL
:. dier and fired twice In front OF body
or heeing men, hating them and
sending them, back into the battle. He
I swore no man was hit and said he
was positive Opie fred we'll ahead .of
the foremost man.
IS Taking the stand in his own do
tense, after mastering his. emotion,
8 pColoneL. opie told of his movements IL,
Continued on Page 2, Col, rs T..
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