Sidelights on Negro SoldiersWilliams, Charles H. (Charles Halston)
History
Sidelights on Negro Soldiers
Williams, Charles H. (Charles Halston)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Participation, African American
Sometimes the Negro secretary served not only the men in one camp
but in several, even covering an area containing as many as 50,000
soldiers. Such a worker was J. E. Saddler, who was engaged in the
Chaumont region. The labor battalions which he served worked on the
roads, at bakeries, rail heads and ammunition dumps, often working
both day and night, one man doing two men’s work. At first Mr. Saddler
went on foot, walking 30 kilometers a day, carrying all the supplies
he could, and distributing them to groups of men doing road work.
Then he secured a motorcycle, and when that was completely used up
he obtained a Ford, with the aid of which he could reach more men.
Sometimes he organized schools, offering prizes to induce the men to
learn to write. Occasionally he conducted spelling bees, taking the
words from the _Stars and Stripes_. He was not a preacher, but
some Sundays he held as many as seven services. Dr. Murrell served in
the Verdun region where thousands of men were engaged in salvaging and
in burying the American dead. He, like Mr. Saddler, traveled about in
a truck with supplies. At Romagne, the site of the Argonne cemetery,
he and his staff did excellent work. Two huts were constructed from
sheet iron taken from German dug-outs. At night these were so crowded
that one could hardly move about in them. The men wrote letters,
played games, or gathered around the piano; they also had daily shows,
athletic contests, and the canteen was excellent. All such service was
of great value in building up the morale of the men and in relieving
them from the depressing effects of the grewsome work they were called
on to perform. At Liffol-le-Grand, M. R. Atwell had a hut which was
attractively whitewashed and painted inside. Pictures of Negro officers
and nurses were on the walls, and generally the work ranked with the
most efficient in France.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account