Corporal Freddie Stowers was born in Sandy Springs, South Carolina, USA. Before the outbreak of the Great War, he worked as a farm hand. He married Pearl and they had a daughter called Minnie Lee.
Stowers was drafted into the Army in 1917, and assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion of the 371st Infantry Regiment, originally part of the 93d Infantry Division, a segregated unit.
Despite General Pershing’s express desire that American troops would fight as an independent force, not to be subsumed into French or British units for example, this zeal did not carry forward when it came to African American soldiers.
Initially, African American troops were officially barred from serving as front line infantry troops alongside their white comrades. Instead, they were put into the Service of Supply, labour units. This was critical work and no war can be fought without it, but these men wanted to do more. It was a very deliberate act of segregation. Facing mounting criticism from civil rights movements back home, two all black divisions were created, the 92nd and the 93rd. The 93rd served as part of the French 4th Army, wearing French uniforms and taking orders from French officers.
Early on the morning of 28th September 1918, Stowers' company was ordered to assault Côte 188, a heavily defended hill in the Ardennes region of the Western Front.
German resistance was initially strong with rapid rifle fire, machine gun nests littering the hillside and artillery raining down. American troops slowly made their way forward, until the Germans signalled that they would surrender. This proved to be a false flag, and the machine guns opened up once again on unsuspecting American troops. This took a terrible toll on Freddie’s unit, his Lieutenant and most senior NCO going down.
Freddie immediately took command of the situation and rallied his men. He began crawling toward a German machine gun nest and shouted for his men to follow. The platoon successfully reached the first German trench line and neutralised the machine guns by enfilade fire. Stowers then reorganised his force and led a charge against the second German line of trenches. During this second assault, Stowers was struck by fire from an enemy machine gun, but kept going until he was struck for a second time. He collapsed from loss of blood, but ordered his men not to be discouraged but to keep going. Inspired by Stowers' courage, the men forged ahead and successfully drove the Germans from the hill. Stowers however, was to die from those wounds. Freddie died wearing a French uniform.
He is buried at the stunning Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery.
Shortly after his death, Stowers was recommended for the Medal of Honor; however, this recommendation was never processed. Three other black soldiers were recommended for Medals of Honor, but were instead awarded the next highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross. In Stowers' case, the official position is that his recommendation was "misplaced," which is plausible given that the other three MOH recommendations for black soldiers were at least processed, even if the decision to award the DSC remains controversial and possibly racism-related.
In 1990, at the instigation of Congress, the Department of the Army conducted a review and the Stowers recommendation was uncovered. Subsequently, a team was dispatched to France to investigate the circumstances of Stowers' death. Based on information collected by this team, the Army Decorations Board approved the award of the Medal of Honor. On 24th April 1991, 73 years after his death, Stowers' surviving sisters, Georgina and Mary, received the medal from President George H. W. Bush at the White House.
His citation read:
Cpl. Freddie Stowers distinguished himself by exceptional heroism on 28 September 1918 while serving as a squad leader in Company C, 371st Infantry Regiment, 93d Infantry Division. His company was the lead company during the attack on Hill 188, Champagne Marne Sector, France, during World War I. A few minutes after the attack began, the enemy ceased firing and began climbing up onto the parapets of the trenches, holding up their arms as if wishing to surrender. The enemy's actions caused the American forces to cease fire and to come out into the open. As the company started forward and when within about 100 meters of the trench line, the enemy jumped back into their trenches and greeted Cpl. Stowers' company with interlocking bands of machine-gun fire and mortar fire causing well over fifty percent casualties. Faced with incredible enemy resistance, Cpl. Stowers took charge, setting such a courageous example of personal bravery and leadership that he inspired his men to follow him in the attack. With extraordinary heroism and complete disregard of personal danger under devastating fire, he crawled forward, leading his squad toward an enemy machine-gun nest which was causing heavy casualties to his company. After fierce fighting, the machine-gun position was destroyed and the enemy soldiers were killed. Displaying great courage and intrepidity Cpl. Stowers continued to press the attack against a determined enemy. While crawling forward and urging his men to continue the attack on a second trench line, he was gravely wounded by machine-gun fire. Although Cpl. Stowers was mortally wounded, he pressed forward, urging on the members of his squad, until he died. Inspired by the heroism and display of bravery of Cpl. Stowers, his company continued the attack against incredible odds, contributing to the capture of Hill 188 and causing heavy enemy casualties. Cpl. Stowers' conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism, and supreme devotion to his men were well above and beyond the call of duty, follow the finest traditions of military service, and reflect the utmost credit on him and the United States Army.
I have read this citation to guests on tour while standing at his grave - it is always a struggle to get through in one go without a little lip wobble.
In this post, we give thanks to a man whos quick thinking and leadership undoubtedly saved many of his men.
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