Chapter XXIV: Those Who Never Will Return

A STUDY OF WAR--ITS COMPENSATIONS AND BENEFITS--ITS RAVAGES AND DEBASEMENTS--BURDENS FALL UPON THE WEAK--TOLL OF DISEASE--NEGROES SINGULARLY HEALTHY--NEGROES KILLED IN BATTLE--DEATHS FROM WOUNDS AND OTHER CAUSES--REMARKABLE PHYSICAL STAMINA OF RACE--HOUSEKEEPING IN KHAKI--HEALTHIEST WAR IN HISTORY--INCREASED REGARD FOR MOTHERS--AN IDEAL FOR CHILD MINDS--MORALE AND PROPAGANDA.

It has been said that war has its compensations no less than peace. This saying must have had reference largely to the material benefits accruing to the victors--the wealth gained from sacked cities, the territorial acquisitions and the increased prestige and prosperity of the winners. There is also an indirect compensation which can hardly be measured, but which is known to exist, in the increased courage inculcated, the banishment of fear, the strengthened sense of devotion, heroism and self-sacrifice, and all those principles of manliness and unselfishness which are inspired through war and react so beneficially on the morals of a race. There are some, however, who contend that these compensations do not overbalance the pain, the heart-rending, the horrors, brutalities and debasements which come from war. Viewed in the most favorable light, with all its glories, benefits and compensations, war is still far removed from an agreeable enterprise.

Like so many of the other material compensations of life, its benefits accrue to the strong while its burdens fall upon the weak. A contemplation of the maimed, the crippled and those stricken with disease, fails to engender anything but somber reflections.

Owing to the advancement of science, the triumph of knowledge over darkness, the late war through the unusual attention given to the physical fitness of the soldiers, probably conferred a boon in sending back a greater percentage of men physically improved than the toll of destroyed or deteriorated would show. Yet with all the improvement in medical and sanitary science, the fact remains that disease claimed more lives than bullets, bayonets, shrapnel or gas.

Negro soldiers in the war were singularly free from disease. Deaths from this cause were surprisingly few, the mortality being much lower than it would have been among the same men had there been no war. This was due to the general good behavior of the troops as testified to by so many commanding officers and others. The men observed discipline, kept within bounds and listened to the advice of those competent to give it.

Out of a total of between 40,000 and 45,000 Negro soldiers who went into battle or were exposed to the enemy's attack at some time, about 500 were killed in action. Between 150 and 200 died of wounds. Deaths from disease did not exceed 200 and from accident not over fifty. Those who were wounded and gassed amounted to about 4,000.

It speaks very highly for the medical and sanitary science of the army as well as for the physical stamina of a race, when less than 200 died out of a total of 4,000 wounded and gassed. The bulk of the battle casualties were in the 93rd Division.

The figures as given do not seem very large, yet it is a fact that the battle casualties of the American Negro forces engaged in the late war were not very far short of the entire battle casualties of the Spanish-American war. In that conflict the United States lost less than 1,000 men in battle.

While battle havoc and ravages from disease were terrible enough, and brought sadness to many firesides, and while thousands of survivors are doomed to go through life maimed, suffering or weakened, there is a brighter side to the picture. Evidences are plentiful that "housekeeping in khaki" was not unsuccessful.

According to a statement issued by the War Department early in 1919, the entire overseas army was coming back 18,000 tons heavier and huskier than when it went abroad. Many of the returning soldiers found that they literally burst through the clothing which they had left at home. Compared with the records taken at time of enlistment or induction into the draft forces, it is shown that the average increase in weight was twelve pounds to a man.

Improvement of course was due to the healthful physical development aided by the seemingly ceaseless flow of wholesome food directed into the training camps and to France. Secretary Baker was very proud of the result and stated that the late war had been the healthiest in history. The test he applied was in the number of deaths from disease. The best previous record, 25 per 1,000 per year was attained by the Germans in the Franco-Prussian war. Our record in the late war was only eight per 1,000 per year. The Medical Corps did heroic service in keeping germs away, but cooks, clothing designers and other agencies contributed largely in the making of bodies too healthy to permit germ lodgments.

The hell of war brought countless soldiers to the realization that no matter how much they believed they had loved their mothers, they had never fully appreciated how much she meant to them.

"I know, mother," cried one youth broken on the field, whose mother
found him in a hospital, "that I began to see over there how
thoughtless, indeed, almost brutal, I had always been. Somehow, in
spite of my loving you, I just couldn't talk to you. Why, when I
think how I used to close up like a clam every time you asked me
anything about myself----" He broke off and with fervent humility
kissed the hand in his own. "Please forget it all, mother," he
whispered. "It's never going to be that way again. I found out over
there--I knew what it was not to have anyone to tell things to--and
now, why you've got to listen to me all the rest of your life,
mother."

Angelo Patri, the new York schoolmaster who has been so successful in instilling ideals into the child mind has addressed himself to the children of today, they who will be the parents of tomorrow. His words are:

"Man has labored through the ages that you might be born free. Man
has fought that you might live in peace. He has studied that you
might have learning. He has left you the heritage of the ages that
you might carry on.

"Ahead are the children of the next generation. It's on, on, you
must be going. You, too, are torch-bearers of liberty. You, too,
must take your place in the search for freedom, the quest for the
Holy Grail. 'Twas for this you, the children of America were born,
were educated. Fulfill your destiny."

Morale and propaganda received more attention in the late war than they ever did in any previous conflict. Before the end of the struggle the subject of morale was taken up and set apart as one of the highly specialized branches of the service. The specialists were designated as morale officers. They had many problems to meet and much smoothing over to do. In the army, an Americanism very soon attached to them and they became known as "fixers."

With respect to the Negro, the section of the War Department presided over by Emmett J. Scott was organized and conducted largely for purposes of morale and propaganda. Much of the work was connected with good American propaganda to counteract dangerous German propaganda.

It is now a known fact that the foe tried to lure the Negro from his allegiance by lies and false promises even after he had gone into the trenches. This has been attested to publicly by Dr. Robert R. Moton, the head of Tuskegee Institute, who went abroad at the invitation of President Wilson and Secretary Baker to ascertain the spirit of the Negro soldiers there.

Dr. Moton was told of the German propaganda and the brazen attempts made on members of the 92nd Division near Metz. He gave the following as a sample:

"To the colored soldiers of the United States Army.

"Hello, boys, what are you doing over there? Fighting the Germans?
Why? Have they ever done you any harm?

"Do you enjoy the same rights as the white people do in America,
the land of freedom and democracy, or are you not rather treated
over there as second class citizens? And how about the law? Are
lynchings and the most horrible crimes connected therewith a
lawful proceeding in a democratic country?

"Now, all this is entirely different in Germany, where they do like
colored people; where they treat them as gentlemen and not as
second class citizens. They enjoy exactly the same privileges as
white men, and quite a number of colored people have fine positions
in business in Berlin and other German cities.

"Why then fight the Germans? Only for the benefit of the Wall
street robbers and to protect the millions they have loaned the
English, French and Italians?

"You have never seen Germany, so you are fools if you allow
yourselves to hate us. Come over and see for yourselves. To carry a
gun in this service is not an honor but a shame. Throw it away and
come over to the German lines. You will find friends who will help
you along."

Negro officers of the division told Dr. Moton this propaganda had no effect. He said the Negroes, especially those from the South, were anxious to return home, most of them imbued with the ambition to become useful, law-abiding citizens. Some, however, were apprehensive that they might not be received in a spirit of co-operation and racial good will. This anxiety arose mainly from accounts of increased lynchings and persistent rumors that the Ku Klux Clan was being revived in order, so the rumor ran, "to keep the Negro soldier in his place."

After voicing his disbelief in these rumors, Dr. Moton said:

"The result of this working together in these war activities
brought the whites and Negroes into a more helpful relationship. It
is the earnest desire of all Negroes that these helpful cooperating
relationships shall continue."

In conversation with a morale officer the writer was told that the principal problem with the Negroes, especially after the selective draft, was in classifying them fairly and properly. Some were in every way healthy but unfit for soldiers. Others were of splendid intelligence and manifestly it was unjust to condemn them to the ranks when so many had excellent qualities for non-commissioned and commissioned grades. The Service of Supply solved the problem so far as the ignorant were concerned; all could serve in that branch.

The officer stated that the trouble with the War Department and with too many other people, is the tendency to treat Negroes as a homogeneous whole, which cannot be done. Some are densely ignorant and some are highly intelligent and well educated. In this officer's opinion, there is as much difference between different types of Negroes as there is between the educated white people and the uneducated mountaineers and poor whites of the South; or between the best whites of this and other countries and the totally ignorant peasants from the most oppressed nations of Europe.

In the early stages of the war, there was a great scarcity of non-commissioned officers--sergeants and corporals, those generals in embryo, upon whom so much depends in waging successful war. It was a great mistake in the opinion of this informant, and he stated that the view was shared by many other officers, to take men from white units to act as non-commissioned officers in Negro regiments, when there were available so many intelligent, capable Negroes serving in the ranks, who understood their people and would have delighted in filling the non-commissioned grades. He also thought the same criticism applied to selections for commissioned grades.

It is agreeable to note that such views rapidly gained ground. The excellent service of the old 8th Illinois demonstrated that colored officers are capable and trustworthy. An action and expression that will go far in furthering the view is that of Colonel William Hayward of the old 15th New York, who resigned command of the regiment which he organized and led to victory, soon after his return from the war. Like the great magnanimous, fair-minded man which he is and which helped to make him such a successful officer, he said that he could not remain at the head of the organization when there were so many capable Negroes who could and were entitled to fill its personnel of officers from colonel down. Colonel Hayward has been laboring to have the organization made a permanent one composed entirely of men of the Negro race. A portion of his expression on the subject follows:

"I earnestly hope that the state and city will not allow this
splendid organization to pass entirely out of existence, but will
rebuild around the nucleus of these men and their flags from which
hang the Croix de Guerre, a 15th New York to which their children
and grandchildren will belong; an organization with a home of its
own in a big, modern armory. This should be a social center for the
colored citizens of New York, and the regiment should be an
inspiration to them. It should be officered throughout by colored
men, though I and every other white officer who fought with the old
15th will be glad and proud to act in an honorary or advisory
capacity. Let the old 15th 'carry on' as our British comrades
phrase it."

It is to be hoped that we never have another war. Nevertheless these Negro military organizations should be kept up for their effect upon the spirit of the race. If they are ever needed again, let us hope that by that time, the confidence of the military authorities in Negro ability, will have so gained that they will coincide with Colonel Hayward's view regarding Negro officers for Negro units.