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BITS OF INTERESTTHE Y. M. C. A. AND CO. GBy 1st Sgt. James Jones, go. -o,” 37Zna mi.,Red Hand Div.What did the Y. M. C. A. do for the soldiers? Everybody asked this question when we came home, and many times'! have been held up 011 the street and questions by those interested in the doings of the Y. M. C.A. I have never been able to answer the question in full as I wanted to, but, after thinking it over I find it unjust to keep our dear ones who have b^en fooled so much by the war gTafter® from knowing the truth of 'what* the Y. M. C. A. did for the soldiers.First of all, I want to make myself clear to the local officials of the Y. M. C. A. of our race and hope that they will not feel in any way disheartened in their effort to build up the Y. M. C. A. in Dayton, as there is nothing in the world better for the uplift of our young men.You remember when Co. “C left Dayton for .Camp Sheridan, Ala. they were treated like dogs and prisoners of war instead of soldiers of America. We were very unwelcome in that part of the country by the low degraded crackers of the South. Every time a man went Into the city of Montgomery he would be molested by some hagv who had no more respect for a soldier of America and especially of our race than lie had for a murderer, or some other criminal. Thea • fwult m that. sonxe means.M. keeP‘a our boys In epmp and away from ye, w;hich WW* ^lnyays th# case the Hth»OhU, had to be proved. U was so^e Aob to satisfy gfanost seven tyundrelt;t men, and ,to Attract their attention to the camp, i There were .if any things in Mont-fOMft to draw them tfcer*. such as movjr' picture ^houses, many -lunyfrda. ice cream .parlors, and lots of nice young girls, who were continually giving parties for the boys in the city, so you see it was quite a Job to break them off. Who was the man to accomplish this feat? He was none other than Mr. C. D. Higgins, the well-known Y. M. C. A. Secretary of Dayton, Ohio, who wus assigned to the 9th Ohio Bn. at Camp Sheridan, Ala. He came to the rescue of the boys and after seeing the situation began to get busy.He put up a large canvas tent and secured all kinds of indoor games, such as checkers, dominoes, boxing glovfs* wnd books of all kinds. Mado Arrangements for the transportationof the daily newspapers fiom ourhome town to Camp Sheridan, securedall the prominent speakers of theSouth to speak to the boys on *ev-oiui occasions, nnn many other thingsthat could be mentioned.This proved a great success in breaking off the boys from running to town so much, until one night some cracker forgot we were from the North and that we were going to France with the thought of not many of us coming back, took upon himself to say “Lynch a couple ofthem d n soldiers, whichwas overheard by some of the Dayton boys, as well as those from other pities, and they were not long getting busy and sending a couple volleys of American 45’s down through the main street of Montgomery, and after seeing this our brigade commander, who is one of Cleveland's sub-politicians, by the name of Zimmerman, who had the colored soldiers assembled and threatened to have any soldier sent to prison who left camp ami went into the city. He also added that the colored soldiers were no good, that we had flat heads and flat feet, and was a disgrace to the uriny. That was some encouragment for a body of men to get from their leader. But what were we to do?Again Mr. Higgins came to the aid of our battalion by pleading and begging the boys not to do anything that would mar their record, and send them to prison. He realized our feel ing and had a great deal of sympathy for ua. while in turn we appreciated his teachings and decided to hold up our plans of revenge on Mr.. Zimmerman, so Mr. Zimmerman can say he owes a great deal to our honorable secretary, Mr. C. D. Higgins, as it was him who suved Zimmerman from being missed by the 9th Ohio Bn.Our stay in Montgomery was short, and we moved to Camp Stuart, Va.. where Mr. Higgins took care of his boys in great style, by securing all sorts of amusements for them, as he had done in Montgomery, Ala. liis work for the boys never seemed tir ing to him. He always bore a smile for everyone, and on our departure for services over-seas, he wished us all the best of luck; in turn the boys of the 392nd Inf. took off their hats to the most populur man in theii midst, ond can well say that he is the only Y. M. C. A. secretary who proved to perform the duties assigned to him by the war department. Co. “G always has a good word for Mr. Higgins.But now we are going to learn something of the Y. M. C. A. on the other side of the water. My firstpportunity to find out the crooked work of the “Y was in a little village of France called Le Isletls,^ron t*inrgonne Forest. I was ent to a French school by order of he commanding officer of the regiment. After being there a few days learned of u Y. M. C. A. being near I paid a visit, with the intention of securing some paper and writing n letter to my loved ones at home. But to my surprise when I asked the “Y man for the stationery he held out his hand, after giving me two small sheets of paper and an envelope and saye: “5 cents please. 1 asked him. “Why the charges? Don't the 'Y' furnish the soldiers with material to write with when they so desire?“Yes, he said, “but we have to charge 3 cents for paper and 2 cents for ink: it costs money for the Y* as well as anything else.1 was anxious to write, so 1 paid the cost and went on. The regiment arrived in that vicinity a few weeks later, and after learning they had been paid off lately, he found out what they liked best in the way oi canned goods and candies and cakes ufter a consultation with the white officers of the regiment. A big line of sardines, salmon, peaches, pears Hershey's- chocolate, cigarettes and cigars were layed in store by the syn* licate. A notice was sent to the -ompany commands, saying, “The Y M. C. A. has opened u canteen wit I a furt line of articles for the benefit of the regiment. All officers and men are requested to go to the canteen for their articles wanted.By order ofGLENDIE B. YOUNG,Col. Commanding.Camel cigarettes, which sold foi 10c at that time cost the boyB 60c at the “Y. Hershey chocolate, the regular 10c cake, cost us $1.50. Canned peaches, pint $2.75, and many othei things that would fill a whole shed of the Forum. You can get an idei what we hud to pay in order to gal something beside horse meat, rouk .-hops, and goat soap, which wus ou; laily menu in France.This was only one thing agains the “Y, Next came their represcntu lives to the trendies to urge the boy to Bend their money home to tliei .elutivcs, which If dono was a goolt; idea, for no one of us knew when w would be killed or hurt and to sen. our money home was a safe bet, bu how were wo going to do it by th Y. M. C. A., when we had learne their deeds at the canteen. Ilowevei they succeeded in securing mono from several men who going out o
Newspaper Details
The Dayton Forum
Dayton, Ohio, US
Fri, Aug 01, 1919
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Gina S.
USA 17 Jan 2025
Other Publications Near Dayton, Ohio
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