European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday november 13, 1991 the stars and stripes c Page 7vets Honor neglected Black Wei hero Lack of medal decried As groups unveil memorial Albany . Up a Black worlds War i Soldier who single hand edly turned Back a German raid but died a pauper without decoration from the . Government was honoured by his countrymen monday. Veterans groups hoping to Correct what has been called a glaring racial injustice unveiled a Monument on veterans Day to sgt. Henry Johnson a 73 years after the end of the War in which he fought so valiantly. Johnson was the first american Soldier to be awarded the French governments highest Honor for his heroism but he never received so much As a purple heart from the . Government. The wounded Soldier returned from the War unable to work and died a penniless alcoholic. He is believed to be buried in a paupers graveyard in Albany. T mondays veterans Day Parade was marched in his Honor and the main Street of his hometowns largely Black Arbor Hill neighbourhood was renamed Henry Johnson Boulevard. Aging members of Johnson a unit Many of whom served in world War ii braved a cold rain As a Monument to Johnson was unveiled in the City Swash in ton Park. Johnson served in the All Black 369th inf regt sometimes known As the a Harlem hell fighters a which was attached to the French army. He was on duty at a Forward observation Post on May 14,1918, in northeastern France when he saw 28 German soldiers readying a raid on a prisoner of War Camp where their countrymen were being held. The sergeant stopped the raid using his Rifle and knife killed at least four germans and saved a wounded comrades life. He was shot twice and his leg was shattered. The French government awarded Johnson the Croix de Guerre its highest Honor. News of his heroics prompted some in Albany to Call him a ooh you Black president Theodore Roosevelt in his Book rank and file True stories of the great War called Johnson one of the nine greatest heroes of the War. The other eight All of them White received the medal of Honor. Legislation in Congress to award Johnson the . Military a highest Honor for bravery in combat has never made it out of committee. Rep. Michael r. Mcnulty d-., said the reason Johnson and other Black War heroes were never awarded the nations highest Honor was a pure and simple the racism of the Mcnulty said president Bush has ignored urgings by Mcnulty and other members of Congress to award the medal of Honor to Johnson because rules require a candidates record be reviewed within a certain amount of time and Johnson a service was a too far to Call Bush a refusal to award Johnson the medal a slight to Black americans is a the understatement of the Century a Mcnulty said. Only one Black Soldier has Ever received the medal of Honor. In april Congress awarded the medal to Freddie Stowers a hero in world War 11. A too Long the recognition of this great Man has either been ignored or forgotten a said James Dandles president of the Albany 369th veterans association. A history books have told about him military records have told about him his fellow citizens and comrades in arms have told about him. We simply cannot have another generation of the people in this City live and die without the knowledge of what we think about sgt. Henry Johnson a Dandles of Pilgrim Era indians seek help Indian official Earl Mills or. Stands in front of a housing project in Mashpee executed for role in Huntsville Texas a a former construction worker convicted in the 1976 slaying of a probation officer was executed by lethal injection Early tuesday. . Green 54, sentenced to die for the shooting death of John Denson during a robbery at Denson a Home received a lethal injection at 12 10 . And was pronounced dead at 12 17 . Greens last words were a clock and Load. Lets do it before the drugs began taking effect Green exchanged greetings with a sister and brother and two friends who were witnesses. The . Supreme court rejected a last Day Appeal by Green after Federal appeals courts and state courts rejected greens requests for a stay. The monday afternoon vote was 7-2, with justices Harry Blackmon and John Paul Stevens dissenting. Attorneys for Green contended his trial jury Wasny table to consider All the evidence in the Case and was not allowed to consider the fact he was not the trigger Man in the killing of Denson. They also argued his Legal help at trial was ineffective. The trigger Man Joseph Starvaggi was executed sept. 10, 1987. A third Man involved in the Case Glen Earl Martin received a life prison term and remains behind bars. Green was the fifth Texas inmate put to death this year and the 42nd since the state resumed carrying out capital punishment Mashpee mass. A the descendants of american indians who greeted the pilgrims nearly four centuries ago Are struggling to survive As a people appealing to the government for Job training medical assistance and other Aid. A people come to see where the pilgrims were and they figure the indians All died of smallpox or something a said Earl Mills sr., 63, chief of the Mashpee Wam Panags. A a we re the ones who showed the pilgrims How to survive. Maybe we have Quot he said. A a that a what my Mother always the Cape cod Woods where the Wam Panags last built their huts Are disappearing to development in this resort town. Mashpee Lake sacred to the indians is now a Public swimming area. A a we re talking about survival a said Earl Mills jr., 35, the chairman of the tribal Council. A a Etc trying to survive As a a we were doing Fine a he said. A we did t need government intervention. Now we be lost just about All of our Homeland and most of our Hunting ranges Are gone due to the development of houses and the descendants of Squanto who taught the pilgrims to grow Maize have1976 slaying in 1982, the highest total in the nation. A we All Are born we All live a while and we All die a Green who refused to speak with reporters in recent weeks said in an earlier interview. A i never thought i was going to live forever. I have no apologies no mercy to ask. A a in la never Tell someone in a sorry for something i did no to commit a a he said. Testimony showed the three men broke into the Denson Home near Magnolia about 50 Miles Northwest of Houston to steal a $6,000 gun collection. Denson a part time probation officer and Montgomery county sheriffs Reserve Deputy answered a Knock on his the door and was shot. His wife and then 12-year-old daughter listened while hiding under a Blanket. Taken a first step toward Federal assistance by petitioning the Bureau of Indian affairs for formal recognition As a tribe a prerequisite to getting health care social services and Grants. A a it a been 400 years and we have to ask the government to Tell us we re a tribe a Earl Mills said. Historians believe chief Massasoit helped the pilgrims in Hopes they would furnish him with Toots and Protection from the enemy Narragansett a. The wampanoag were Given what is now Mashpee in a 1685 treaty that was routinely violated by White settlers until in 1870, the legislature carved up what was left and sold it for $2.70 an acre. The wampanoag remained a majority among Mashpee a year round residents until the 1970s. But Mashpee became new England a fastest growing town in the 1980s, and its population swelled from 867 in 1960 to 8,000 today. Of those 385 Are american indians according to the . Census. More than a Quarter of them live on incomes below the poverty level. A they try to treat us like we re something prehistoric a said John Peters head of the one Man Massachusetts Indian affairs commission and supreme Medicine Man of the Mashpee wampanoag. A Well we re still big Mac sets tone for math classes Tulsa okla. A factoring and French Fries. Multiples and milkshakes. A High school algebra teacher is easing the Strain on students by offering lessons in a More comfortable setting a the Burger joint. Tonya Slagle who teaches algebra at Nathan Hale High school gives a fast tutoring session Over fast food to about 30 students on wednesday and thursday nights at a Mcdonald a restaurant. Slagle said the sessions started casually last year at breakfast and then developed into a regular event
