The FReeper Foxhole Remembers "Harlem's HellFighters" 369th Infantry - Feb. 27th, 2003

http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~libsite/wwi-www/Scott/SCh14.htm ^ | Emmet J. Scott

[Samwise]

Yes, those letters are remarkable. It is truly difficult to fully appreciate all of the sacrifices that brave men have made for us. What a wonderful legacy they have left us. The only way we can truly say thank you is to preserve that legacy.

[Jen]

Hi Spookie. Did you skin your knee when you fell into the Foxhole? I may be able to find a bandaid if you need one.

My mom is doing OK. My dad died a month ago today so that was on her mind all day, but she held up well. We gathered some clothes and stuff to donate to the courthouse rummage sale to benefit cancer research. And we went out for breakfast, and did some shopping. I'm tired, but OK. Need to soak for awhile in the hot tub tonight to relax sore muscles.

My mom did something that I think is terrific - she started an 'Accomplishment List' of things she has learned to do that my dad always took care of. Like crank the leaf blower, and light the gas logs in the fireplace, and how to remove the gas cap on a diesel truck and where to take it for an oil change.

How are YOU? Hope you are feeling better tonight.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Good evening, everyone!

Paris, 1917 Army 1st Lt. James Reese Europe was a World War I hero and famous ragtime composer, arranger, performer and bandmaster of the 369th Infantry Regiment "Harlem Hellfighters" band.

Excerpt:

Interest Grows in Music Pioneer James Europe, WWI Hero
By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service

The name "Lt. James Reese Europe" etched into a graying, weathered tombstone doesn't mean anything to most visitors to Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery. It's just an obscure name among thousands on grave markers throughout the huge military burial ground. Of Europe, the late ragtime and jazz composer and performer pianist Eubie Blake once said, "People don't realize yet today what we lost when we lost Jim Europe. He was the savior of Negro musicians … in a class with Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King Jr."

The French government called him a battlefield hero. Before the war, however, he was a household name in New York's music world and on the dance scene nationwide. According to books about ragtime and early jazz, James Reese Europe was the most respected black bandleader of the "teens" when the United States entered World War I. Both his battlefield heroism and his music fell into obscurity after his untimely and tragic death at 39 on May 9, 1919.

The son of a former slave father and a "free" mother, Europe was born in Mobile, Ala., on Feb. 22, 1881. Europe's compositions and arrangements of familiar tunes were played with a jazz twist long before the "Jazz Age." His style was between the syncopated beat of ragtime and the syncopated improvisation of jazz. He became popular in France using that same style as leader of the 369th Infantry Regiment band during World War I. He enlisted as a private in the 15th Infantry, a black New York National Guard outfit, on Sept. 18, 1916. Europe accomplished something only a few African Americans did in those days: He attended officers training and was commissioned a lieutenant.

The 15th Infantry was later redesignated the 369th Infantry, which the French nicknamed "The Harlem Hellfighters" after the black soldiers showed their mettle in combat. Europe's regimental commander, Col. William Hayward, asked the new lieutenant to organize "the best damn brass band in the United States Army." With the promise of extra money to attract first-class musicians, Europe recruited musicians from Harlem and reportedly put together one of the finest military bands that ever existed. He even recruited woodwind players from Puerto Rico because there weren't enough in Harlem. Europe also recruited singers, comedians, dancers and others who could entertain troops. He recruited the best drum major he could find -- Harlem dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.

When the 369th and its band arrived in France, they were assigned to the 16th "Le Gallais" Division of the Fourth French Army because white U.S. Army units refused to fight alongside them. Trained to command a machine gun company, Europe learned to fire French machine guns and became the first American officer and first African American to lead troops in battle during the war.

The Harlem Hellfighters would serve 191 days in combat, longer than any other U.S. unit, and reputedly never relinquished an inch of ground. The men earned 170 French Croix de Guerres for bravery. One of their commanding officers, Col. Benjamin O. Davis Sr., would become the Army's first black general in 1940.

Europe was gassed while leading a daring nighttime raid against the Germans. While recuperating in a French hospital, he penned the song "One Patrol in No Man's Land." Europe and his musicians were ordered to the rear in August 1918 to entertain thousands of soldiers in camps and hospitals. They also performed for high-ranking military and civilian officials and for French citizens in cities across France. After Germany surrendered, the Hellfighters Band became popular performing throughout Europe. When the regiment returned home in the spring of 1919, it paraded up New York's 5th Avenue to Harlem led by the band playing its raggedy tunes to the delight of more than a million spectators. Back in America, Europe found himself even more popular than before he went to war. He recorded "One Patrol in No Man's Land"; it became a nationwide hit.

Europe ironically survived being shot at and gassed in the trenches of France only to die on May 9, 1919, at the hands of one of his own men. A deranged drummer named Herbert Wright cut Europe's jugular vein with a penknife while the bandleader was preparing for a show at Mechanics Hall in Boston. Wright had been angry because he thought Europe favored his twin brother over him.

"One Patrol in No Man's Land"

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the bio on James Reese Europe and the sample of his music. See I told you I leave stuff for you to post.

[The Real Deal]

A small number of the Fifteenth's men were sent with each French company, with instructions to observe all regulations and familiarize themselves with the tactics of the French.

I don't know what the French could have tought these brave men. They never did learn to retreat, and that's all the French know how to do. LOL

[SAMWolf]

Evening real deal.

French and British tactics at that time were to get up from behind cover, run into the barbed wire and get mowed down by German machine guns in the thousands. Not good tactics.

[Victoria Delsoul]

See I told you I leave stuff for you to post.

LOL, I just have to find it, and it ain't easy.

[GailA]

Today's graphic, better late than not at all..fits the cold snowy days we've been having.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Evening RD. Good to see you.

[Jen]

(The difference in color of the envelopes is due to PhotoShop editing I did to make the writing more legible.)

[SAMWolf]

[Jen]

[SAMWolf]

Good Evening Gaila, it's been a tough day to try and post.

[Jen]

Phil's uncle Herb Schabacker, circa 1917 or early 1918

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Jen.

[Jen]

Herb at Fort Benjamin Harrison, IN, probably summer of 1917

[Jen]

Herb and family members "at home" either winter of 1917-18 or in 1919 - after the war

[SAMWolf]

It always amazes me how young we were when we went to war.

[Jen]

What a cute graphic. I was late to the Foxhole too because I spent yesterday and today with my mom in AL and didn't get back till this evening.

[Jen]

Phil - Thank you so much for sharing your uncle's letters and pictures for today's thread. They are wonderful.

Sam - Thank you too for all your hard work each day for the Foxhole.