[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 11 (Thursday, January 22, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E101-E103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




WORLD WAR I HISTORY LESSONS FOR TODAY'S RETURNING IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN 
                      SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES-

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CORRINE BROWN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 22, 2015

  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I, with my colleagues Sanford 
Bishop and Charles Rangel, rise to submit a report, written by Ron 
Armstead, of the 26th Annual Veterans Braintrust at the 44th Annual 
Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference.
  2014 is the beginning of the worldwide celebration of the centennial 
of World War I, known as the ``war to end all wars.'' Although, the 
U.S. didn't join the war until 1917, we would like to point out one 
American Eugene Jacques Bullard, born in Columbus, GA, who enlisted on 
October 19, 1914 to fight for France. He later, became the first 
African American, combat aviator in history with the motto: ``All Blood 
Runs Red'' Also note, 33 years after his death, and 77 years after 
being denied entry into the U.S. Army Air Corps--Bullard was 
posthumously commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.
  Nearly 5 million Americans served during the war, and 116,516 
Americans died in defense of democracy overseas. World War I also 
marked the first time in the nation's history that American soldiers 
went abroad to defend foreign soil against aggression. During the war 
to end all wars, the U.S. enlisted 367,710 African American men as 
soldiers--most from the south--into the Armed Forces. About 200,000 
were sent to France and about 50,000 of those saw combat. The vast 
majority served in the Service of Supply (SOS) units in Europe with the 
American Expeditionary Force (AEF) on the Western Front, while also 
encountering French civilians and colonial African troops alike.
  U.S. World War I veterans have moved from memory to history. We are 
reminded that the last American soldier to die in World War I was 
Private Wayne Miner of Kansas City, and he was but one of the many 
African Americans, who participated in Black Regiments during the war. 
This included the celebrated 369th, formerly New York 15th National 
Guard ``Harlem Hellfighters,'' made up of volunteers, who served more 
days under continuous fire (181 days) than any other regiment in the 
AEF during the entire war, and the first American unit to reach the 
Rhine River, while suffering 40% killed and wounded--with 171 African 
Americans from the 369th alone being awarded the Croix de Guerre, or 
French Legion of

[[Page E102]]

Merit for heroism in battle, as well as the entire unit.
  Regarding the Black American in the World War for Democracy, are the 
historic words of Emmett Scott, Special Assistant to the Secretary of 
War Newton D. Baker. ``The Negro, in the Great War for Freedom and 
Democracy, had proved to be a notable and inspiring figure. The record 
and achievements of this racial group as brave soldiers and loyal 
citizens, furnish one of the brightest chapters in American history.'' 
American Negroes in the World War, 1919.
  This stands in sharp contrast to what Maj. Gen. Robert L. Bullard, 
Commander of the American 2nd Army during World War I, and an Alabama 
racist who wrote in 1923 ``Poor Negroes! They are hopelessly inferior . 
. .'' ``If you need combat soldiers, and especially if you need them in 
a hurry, don't put your time upon Negroes.''
  Thus, the framework for the 26th Annual Veterans Braintrust Forum was 
African Americans, history, advocacy and legacy. The invocation and 
benediction was presented by Rev. Dr. Grainer Browning, Jr., setting 
the tone and sending a message of hope and faith for the discussions to 
come. Harlem's own Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), senior Member of the 
House Ways and Means Committee led the remarks by describing veterans 
as a special fraternity of men and women. While also recognizing WWI 
icon Capt. Hamilton Fish, and historic places such as Hellfighter 
Square and the Harlem Armory, home of the 369th Veterans Association 
and Museum. As he said, ``when the flag goes up, we fight.'' But, for 
many economically it is their only choice, or chance. He also cautioned 
that there is a lack of confidence in our government (or trust 
deficit), despite the arguable threat to national security. And amid 
White House pronouncements there will be no American boots on the 
ground, versus the fact that between 1600 to 2000 troops are already on 
the ground. Equally important, he said, the challenge sent to Congress 
is whether ``we are at war'' and determining ``what is the actual 
threat to America.'' Additionally, shouldn't we set aside enough money 
for those returning from harm's way, and shouldn't everybody be ``on 
call,'' including those children of those most politically and 
economically powerful.
  Rep. Bishop, in joining with his colleagues Brown, Rangel and Eddie 
Bernice Johnson in thanking Ron Armstead for his continued support, 
said to the veterans in the audience--``we owe you an immeasurable 
debt, for without your sacrifices, our freedom and liberties would not 
be as secure.'' Further, ``this year marks the 100th anniversary of 
WWI, and we must remember the many sacrifices made during WWI and 
African Americans that served during this dark period.''
  On May 18, 1917, the Selective Service Act was passed by Congress 
requiring all male citizens between the ages of 21 and 31 to register 
for the draft. However, even before the act was passed, African 
American males from all over the country eagerly joined the war effort. 
They viewed the conflict as an opportunity to prove their loyalty, 
patriotism and worthiness for equal treatment in the United States. 
This is still true today, WWI veterans and the veterans of today give 
selflessly of themselves for the love of their country, yet some still 
have to fight to receive the recognition for their actions and earned 
benefits.
  ``It is said `those who forget the lessons of the past are bound to 
repeat them.' War has always been full of unplanned consequences for 
our service members; we must be vigilant in responding to the needs of 
our veterans, and our obligations in sharing the same passion for 
defending our nation. We must learn from the past, work on progress for 
the future, and continue to work on areas that need improvement. I hope 
that when you leave today's discussion, the information you have heard 
will build a lasting bond, and help us work together, improving service 
members and their families quality of life, as well as expanding the 
opportunities to our service member's still on active duty, and to our 
veterans.''
  Finally, Bishop emphasized this point as we focus on WWI and the 
impact it had on those African Americans returning from war, ``A people 
without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like 
a tree without roots.''
  Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson expressed her disappointment at seeing the 
President's issuing of 24 medals of honor, that did not include a 
certain individual who truly deserves to be honored--specifically, 
Petty Officer Doris `Dorie' Miller. Petty Officer Miller was awarded 
the Navy Cross by President Roosevelt before his death in 1943, 
although he was never awarded the Medal of Honor, the Navy has 
concluded that the Navy Cross appropriately recognizes his actions, 
however, she and many others have always believed this to be distinctly 
untrue.
  Rep. Corrine Brown, who has served on the House Committee on Veterans 
Affairs for over twenty-two years, announced that she was seeking the 
Ranking Member position for the House Veterans Affairs Committee in the 
114th Congress. She noticed that when the Democrats were in charge, 
they passed the largest veterans health care budget in the history of 
this country; passed the largest increase of the GI Bill since World 
War II; and tried to insure veterans against a Republican government 
shutdown by providing advanced appropriations for health care programs. 
``These advanced appropriations provide veterans with much needed 
security in the future.''
  Brown looks forward to bringing veterans issues back to the forefront 
of policy in the House of Representatives along with working together 
with those veterans and veterans advocates represented here today to 
present a strong voice for our deserving veterans. She finished by 
quoting President George Washington, who said, ``The willingness with 
which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how 
justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the 
veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their 
country.''
  The keynote speaker was the Deputy Secretary of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs Sloan Gibson. Deputy Secretary Gibson was confirmed as 
Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs on February 11, 2014--and on May 
30, 2014, was appointed Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
  The Deputy Secretary stated, one hundred years ago the first shots 
were fired that would lead our nation into World War I. The first step 
in fulfilling President Lincoln's charge to care for those ``who shall 
have borne the battle . . .'' And on April 6, 1917, the nation called, 
and Henry Johnson, Needham Roberts and thousands of others answered the 
call. Their unit was the 369th Infantry Regiment, known as the ``Harlem 
Hellfighters,'' who served with the French 16th Division in the Argonne 
Forest on the Western Front. Pvt. Johnson suffered 21 combat injuries, 
and Pvt. Roberts a grenade wound in hand-to-hand combat. For their 
valor they were the first Americans to earn the Croix de Guerre, 
France's highest military honor. Yet, few details are recorded about 
Needham Roberts, who died in an asylum in 1949. But, much more is known 
about Sgt. Henry Johnson's transition from military service, discharge 
records fail to account for his severe wounds--no Purple Heart, no 
Pension. Debilitating injuries cost him his job, his family, and he 
died destitute in 1939, only 32 years old. The VA was not there for 
him.
  Even 75 years later we find that still shocks the conscience, 
prompting the question the Veterans Braintrust asks: a century after 
sending our national treasure ``Over There,'' are we doing any better 
supporting their transitions over here?
  First, in any effort we have to make sure every veteran, regardless 
of social and economic circumstances, has the opportunity for a happy 
and fulfilling life. Second, to really do better, the VA has to look at 
everything we do through the eyes of those we serve--our veterans. And 
that is where Secretary Bob McDonald is leading us--to a veteran-
centric organization that measures performance by veterans' outcomes 
and impacts, as opposed to inputs, activity, outputs, or good 
intentions. The metrics that matter are Veteran outcomes and impacts. 
We won't attempt to recite all the examples, or accomplishments he 
cited, of the VA doing better such as Veterans Treatment Courts, Vet 
Centers. . . .
  But here are a number of unfortunate facts: homelessness for veterans 
of color is disproportionately high. While 20% of veterans are 
minorities nearly half of homeless veterans in temporary shelters are 
minorities. Another fact is, a disproportionate number of criminal 
justice involved veterans are minorities. These and similar health 
disparities led to establishing VA's Office of Health Equity (OHE) in 
2012 under the leadership of Dr. Uhenna Uchendu. With OHE's singular 
mission being to help ensure all veterans receive effective and 
equitable health care--regardless of race, gender, age, geography, and 
culture or sexual orientation. In closing, Gibson said, ``So are we 
doing better in supporting warfighters' transitions? The short answer 
is, yes, we're doing better. But we still have lots to do. All of us, 
together.
  The other very special guest speaker was Three Star Gen. Ronald 
Bailey, USMC, originally from St. Augustine, Florida. In his remarks, 
he spoke about the 100th Anniversary of World War I being a rare 
opportunity to reflect on where we have come from, share stories such 
as Leo C. Chase, the first soldier to die from St. Augustine as a 
consequence of Vietnam fighting in the battle of the Ia Drang Valley 
(which story is vividly told in the 1992 book, ``We Were Soldiers Once 
and Young: Ia Drang--The Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam''). We 
were also able to extrapolate important lessons, and offer long overdue 
recognition as part of the healing process. Lastly, he called the Hon. 
Corrine Brown, the 'Lion of the Marine Corps,' for her unwavering 
efforts in honoring the Montford Point Marines with the Congressional 
Gold Medal.

[[Page E103]]

                               Panelists

  Mike Betz spoke highly about the recent report, which was part of the 
Million Records Project, an initiative of Student Veterans of America 
(SVA), which measured for the first-time ever veterans' performance in 
higher education; D. Wayne Robinson, a retired Command Sergeant Major 
spoke about Student Veterans of America (SVA) Chapters across the 
country, student veterans return on investment (ROI) to America and his 
way of giving back as President/CEO; Col. David Sutherland spoke about 
the importance of connecting with families and community. He also 
briefly told the story of Staff Sgt. Donnie Dixon, a career soldier who 
was killed on his second tour of duty in Baloor, Iraq, and the Easter 
Seals Center that is named after him to address the urgent needs of 
military service members, veterans and their families, or the 
homecoming; Sgt. DeMarqus Townsend spoke about his personal struggles 
with coming home from combat and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
  Prof. Pellom McDaniels, author of the forthcoming ``Memoir of Royal 
Christian, a Black World War I Soldier'' (2015), spoke passionately 
about the importance of WWI, for African Americans social, political 
and economic advancement; Prof Adriane Lentz-Smith, author of ``Freedom 
Struggles: African Americans and World War I'' (2009), spoke of African 
American soldiers returning home to join activist working to gain full 
citizenship rights as recompense for military service; Prof. Joel 
Beeson spoke about the striking and uncanny parallels between our 
present moment in history and the time before, during and after WWI. 
Journalist Yvonne Latty, spoke about the pride that emerged from 
writing ``We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans, From 
World War II to the War in Iraq'' (2004), and later her ambivalence 
resulting from writing ``In Conflict: Iraq War Veterans Speak Out on 
Duty, Loss, and the Fight to Stay Alive'' (2006), and last, but not 
least Dr. Linda Lagemann spoke out about the flood of mind-altering 
psychiatric drugs being administered by military physicians for service 
personnel, and veterans.

  Afterward during the comments period Tara Johnson, the granddaughter 
of Sgt. Henry Johnson, WWI Hero, daughter of famed Tuskegee Airman 
Herman Johnson of WWII, and mother of Sgt. DeMarqus Townsend, USMC, a 
Iraq combat veteran spoke with heartfelt emotion that her grandfather 
died alone and destitute never receiving help for his mental and 
health-related issues from WWI. Saying, while government has made great 
strides in the care of returning troops, much more work is still 
needed, particularly at the family, friends and community level--
because we can't afford to throw them (returnees) away.
  In recognition of the continuing importance of jobs for returning 
Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers and their families, the Veterans 
Braintrust and Disney once again teamed up for a special breakout 
session highlighting Disney's Veterans Institute's unique ``10 STEPS'' 
for creating a Veterans Hiring Program; in addition to discussing 
strategies, tactics and interviewing techniques for bringing on-board 
veterans.
  Now, despite the fact that there are no longer any U.S. veterans left 
from World War I, there were a number of World War I descendants and 
relatives, institutions, organizations, historic places and groups. To 
name a few, such as the Kenneth Hawkins American Legion Post #61 of 
Atlantic City, New Jersey that contributed to linking the past with the 
present. At the family level, there were descendants Rev. Dr. Grainger 
Brown, Jr., the Grandson of Cpl. Clifton Merimon, 372nd, who earned the 
Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), Croix de Guerre and Medaille 
Miltiare; Tara Johnson, Granddaughter and Sgt. DeMarqus Townsend, USMC, 
disabled Iraq soldier and Great-Grandson of Sgt. Henry Johnson of the 
369th; Charles Hamilton Houston, Jr., aging son of Lt. Charles Hamilton 
Houston, Sr., WWI Officer, Harvard Law School Graduate Class of 1923, 
and Civil Rights Hero; Roger Morris, Grandson of Lt. James Morris, Sr., 
a native of Georgia and Graduate of the U.S. Army's first Class of 
Black Officers in 1917, Jerry Bowman, Grandson of Ira Bowman, who 
served with the 369th, and Clarence `Tiger' Davis, who's Aunt, Louvenia 
Bradley-Harper, traveled to Paris in 1918 to retrieve her son Melvin 
Harper's body. She came home without his remains, saying, ``that he was 
in a much better place.'' He is buried in Manheim, Germany.
  Equally important, all this served as the broader context for our 
pre-centennial WWI Forum discussion, which was instructive and 
insightful. First, many parallels were drawn between WWI and Iraq and 
Afghanistan returnees, particularly injuries (e.g. PTSD, TBI, suicides 
and domestic violence), and war's impact on families, both military and 
civilians.
  Second, in answering a couple of historical and philosophical 
questions such as did WWI end all wars and Save the World for 
Democracy, and (2) do we learn from history, or repeat it--given that 
the WWI Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, or Middle East boundaries 
continue to fuel conflict, and geo-political fighting in the region 
today (along sectarian, tribal and ethnic lines on the ground)--we 
would answer a resounding `no!' Which leads many of us to believe, or 
say, ``the more things change, the more they stay the same.''
  Third, a long overdue bill (S. 2793) to authorize the award of the 
Medal of Honor to Sgt. Henry Johnson was introduced and passed the 
Senate on September 18, 2014, with a related bill (HR5459) being 
referred to the House Armed Service Committee. However, the process is 
Congress must pass a separate authorization due to the time period for 
awarding has passed. But, once the legislation is passed it goes to the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff for verification, and afterward to the 
President's desk for signing.
  Fourth, Dr. Adriane Lentz-Smith says, ``there's actually a deeper and 
longer story, or view of the origins of the Civil Rights Movement, than 
that of the 50's Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954 & 60's 
successful passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.'' New scholarship 
lends a sense of a longer and harder civil rights struggle, one that 
dates back to the World War One era (U.S. Supreme Court's Plessy v. 
Ferguson decision of 1896) and the aftermath of the Civil War. Leading 
Dr. Pellom McDaniel's to call for, or recommend the creation of a 
Consortium for the Study of African Americans in World War One with the 
support of the Veterans Braintrust of the Congressional Black Caucus to 
leverage and/or attract filmmakers, scholars, supporters, etc.
  Finally, the 26th annual gala reception and awards ceremony hosted by 
Hon. Corrine Brown was held in the Veterans' Committee Hearing Room of 
the Cannon House Office Building. This year's awards were presented by 
Ron Armstead before a full house to Linwood Alford, Gregory Cooke, Sgt. 
Patricia Harris, Col. Conway Jones, USAF, Ret., Will `It Takes a 
Village' Smith, Robert `Bobby' White, Ellis Ray Williams, Come Home 
Baltimore, Eastern Seals Dixon Military and Veterans Community Service 
Center, Fulton County Veterans Court and Mentorship Program, Open Door 
Resource Center, Inc., Stone of Hope Program, Student Veterans of 
America, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Inc., Westside All Wars 
Memorial Building, the ``Parting Way'' Museum of African American and 
Cape Verdean American Ethnohistory, Inc., the film `Choc'Late Soldiers 
from the USA,' and World War I soldiers Ira Bowman, Lt. Charles 
Hamilton Houston, Sr., and Sgt. Henry Johnson posthumously. The Rep. 
Brown closed the awards segment with a rousing rendition of `God Bless 
America.'
  Special thanks goes to our historians, families, friends, supporters 
and staff--Profs. Adrian Lentz-Smith, Joel Beeson, Pellom McDaniels, 
Journalist Yvonne Latty and Dr. Linda Lagemann; Rev. Dr. Grainger 
Browning, Jr., Tara Johnson, Sgt. DeMarqus Townsend, USMC, Jerry 
Bowman, Robert Morris and Clarence `Tiger' Davis; Dr. Frank Smith, Jr., 
Prof. Maria Hoehn and Dr. Krewasky Salter; Ralph Cooper, Morocco 
Coleman, Carmen Wilson II, Robert Blackwell, Elaine Sacks, Mildred Kidd 
Smith, Tom Harris, Dr. Dorothy Simpson-Taylor, Howard Jefferson, and 
Dr. Davine Reed; Dr. Richard Lipsky, Education Corporation of America, 
Smithsonian Channel, National Archives and Records Administration; 
Austin Brock, Col. Kevin Preston, USA, Ret., and the Walt Disney 
Veterans Initiative; and Sydney Renwick, Lee Footer, Stephanie Anim-
Yankah, Jonathan Halpern, Vernita Stevens, Hannah Kim, Reba Raffaelli, 
Ronnie Simmons and Shantrel Brown.

                          ____________________