The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1943-09-25
! C0VER
THE

by
JOHN WOOD

y ASK ANY NUMBER Of Negroes
stationed at Scltridge Fic'd and
they VII tel you TIA, ro,a.e has
reached rew low sncc their
commando Col Villain r Col.
man was cleared 81 the shooting
az Pv;. william r M,Rae and al.
rios, COMP Nv a cou-'
nsrt.sl foF the unusual cleycrncSS
WITH which he irdd ICED IN skull
oGl,.cry ard. although found guilty
a. five charges OF violating FIVE
s',,'cs 90 war, received no other
pur ,hmcrt than a mid a1moni.
tlcr 20 go and sn nor ro-C
TIC boys AZ Sc,tr dee arc com
o. ~ Colman's pun shrcn; With
thet ~ Leroy Bowman. mon be- OF
The '2oni = shter sroan VINO is 70.
posted 20 have been coa;, mar
;is.cd. sentenced 70 serve SIX
months a. hard labor and shon-
orab,y DISCHARGED from tho sew
;cc Ans what was Rowman's
c.,7-e J was told hat BoNu7H
refused 20 keep MS plane no more
t5sH five hours Il was also told
TIA; flyers arc legally required
- stay alof, only four hours
ard brou2h; the plane down be
cause % a severe pan IN his back
Ne was ordered back up hu, ro-
fused 10 obey ne order and ~
SIS al,cee3 crime. the story GOES,
Bowman was court YrIar-laiigdi. ~
dcrcd 20 serve sX months ~ hard
labor and then .Shonorab,y q s.
charged from tho service. On The
other hand Colnan. who sho, Nc
Rae (and hc nigh, have killed
h.r) was charged with practically
every v.ols,.on o. articles OF war,
&c: was only reduced back to his
pc-nsnont rank o. captain
SAID orc flyer while telling tbs
S,9ry: There just isn't any such
thing as Justice in this mans army
where the Negro is concerned
The boys al Selfridge are feeling
mighty low.
* X y
THERE IS ANOTHER story al
Se'iridge, bearing on the Colman
case. that also has the boys asking
some questions. 1t concerns First |
Lieut. James s. Pughslev. whose |
testimony in behalf OF Colman gave
the former commander everything
but a pair Of wings. According TO !
Pu ghsley. Colman gave Negroes the
best OF treatment Cas IL he was sup
posed 70 have given any other treat
menD and saw 20 il that Negroes
were made comfortable. OH, YEAH.
II Colman was so concerned about
the welfare OF Negroes then why
did this same Pughsley tell me
tand John r Williams immediate
" after the shooting OF McRae
that Co.man was decidedly anti
Negro? That the morale OF Ne
Erocs al Selfrdge was sinking be-
cause OF Colman's attitude? Why
IS i. that First Lieutenant Pughs-
ley. who incidentally. was promo
ted 10 his present rank after a
quarter OF century in the service
suddenly changed his mind about
Colnan7 The boys al Selfridge
would Ike 70 have the answers TO
these questions.
); X *
AND WHAT ABOUT SGT. James
Dillard who borrowed the bandana
from Pughsley long enough 10 tes-
tify in Colman's defense? The
plain truth is billiard talks too
much After answering questions,
which was all he was supposed 10
do. Dillard volunteered the infor-
nation that one OF the men on his
outf,-thc 44th squadron-"has
vSnereal disease" Nobody asked
DiNard about the physical condi-
ton OF the men in the 44th. and
no ore except those close 10 the
man would have known that he was
taking treatments for this disease
II Dlllsud hadn't volunteered that
Who is paying Pughs-
ley and billiard for helping TO
~hitewssh the Colmsn case and
rnesring the 44th? The boys at
Selfridge would like 10 know the
answers 10 these questions.
X :; .:
POLICE COMMISSIONER with |