Seventeen black soldiers who the Army recently determined were wrongfully executed for their involvement in the 1917 Houston riots received new headstones at a ceremony Thursday.
The Army vacated the court-martial convictions of 110 black soldiers (including 19 who were sentenced to death) on charges related to the 1917 Rebellion, to mark them receiving honorable discharges from the Army in November. His military service record was retroactively changed. Officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DOD) promised to “right the wrongs of the past,” a VA official said at a news conference. formula Thursday at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, Texas.
“Equal justice belongs to every soldier, today and every day,” said Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher. Said According to Military Times, the ceremony was attended by civil rights activists and descendants of soldiers. “This day reflects, in part, the progress we have made as a nation since these people were first buried here more than a century ago.” (Related: Army begins demolition of Confederate monument at Arlington Cemetery despite opposition)
In 1937, the Army exhumed the bodies of 17 of the executed soldiers from mass graves, identified the bodies, and transported them to Fort Sam Houston, Military Times reported. Until today, only the name and year of death were engraved on the gravestone.
The new marker lists their name, state, rank, unit and date of death. according to Go to VA press release.
It is our job at the Department of Veterans Affairs to remember and honor our veterans as a lasting tribute to their service and sacrifice.
We are proud to not only fulfill that duty, but to redress the racial injustice that has tarnished the memory and legacy of these 17 Black soldiers. https://t.co/CVVQ8wubfP https://t.co/auNFsYVm3U
— Secretary Dennis McDonough (@SecVetAffairs) February 22, 2024
Historians say racial bias intervened in the judicial process for black soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment (later known as the Buffalo Soldiers) after the famous march on Wall Street that left 19 people dead. convinced me.journal report.
“After a thorough investigation, the committee found that these soldiers were treated unfairly because of their race and did not receive a fair trial,” Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said in a November press release. stated in the release.
“This is not political,” John Haymond, one of the historians who helped abolish the court-martial, previously told DCNF in an interview. Haymond said he was able to prove that “the Army violated its own legal process.”
The Army Records Corrections Board reviewed the conviction and recommended that it be vacated, according to the Army.
Haymond said police and army records from the time demonstrate that commanders believed most soldiers were following legal orders from senior enlisted personnel after they fled the camp. Ta. Most turned back once it became clear that their formations were not protecting them from the angry mob.
The Army reversed the burden of guilt on the soldiers by forcing the defendants to prove they had never left the camp, Haymond explained.
Between November 1, 1917, and March 26, 1918, the Army held three separate courts-martial, and 110 soldiers were found guilty of participating in the riot, TSHS writes. . The court sentenced 19 of the soldiers to death by hanging and 63 to life imprisonment.
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