[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5308 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5308

 To provide for the posthumous promotion of Charles Young to the grade 
            of brigadier general in the United States Army.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 13, 2010

Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Meeks of 
 New York, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Ms. Richardson, 
Mrs. Christensen, Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Ms. 
Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Towns, and Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the posthumous promotion of Charles Young to the grade 
            of brigadier general in the United States Army.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that---
            (1) Charles Young graduated from the United States Military 
        Academy at West Point in 1889 and received a commission as a 
        second lieutenant, becoming the third African-American cadet to 
        do so;
            (2) in recognition of his actions in leading a squadron of 
        the 10th Cavalry during Pershing's expedition into Mexico, 
        Charles Young was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1917, the 
        first African-American to reach this rank;
            (3) at the beginning of the First World War, Charles Young 
        was the highest ranking African-American serving in the United 
        States Army;
            (4) shortly after the United States entrance into the First 
        World War, Charles Young was medically furloughed as unfit for 
        duty and forced to retire under protest at the rank of colonel;
            (5) after riding 500 miles on horseback to demonstrate his 
        fitness in June 1918, Charles Young was reinstated and assigned 
        as military attache to Liberia;
            (6) among his billets, Charles Young served as Acting 
        Superintendent of Sequoia National Park in California and as 
        commander of Fort Huachuca, Arizona; and
            (7) despite his outstanding service record and dedication 
        to his country, Charles Young was denied the opportunity to 
        receive a promotion through combat command during the First 
        World War solely because of his race.

SEC. 2. POSTHUMOUS PROMOTION OF CHARLES YOUNG.

    The President may issue a posthumous commission of brigadier 
general to Colonel Charles Young, United States Army.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF BENEFITS.

    No person is entitled to any bonus, gratuity, pay, or allowance 
because of the provisions of section 2.
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