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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY  3.10.11
 

Clay Pushes for Posthumous Promotion to Honor

U.S. Army Hero, Colonel Charles Young
Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Right Historical Injustice in Honor of Trailblazing African American Officer

-WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D) Missouri joined the National Veterans Coalition and a number of congressional colleagues to introduce legislation to correct a historical injustice which prevented Colonel Charles Young from becoming the first African American combat officer to reach the rank of Brigadier General in the U.S. Army.
 

Flanked by civil rights leaders and veterans advocates, Mr. Clay announced his cosponsorship of legislation that would authorize the U.S. Department of the Interior to conduct a study to determine if the Ohio homestead of the late Colonel Charles Young should become a National Park Service site.  Colonel Young, a decorated combat hero of both the Spanish American War and hostilities against Mexican raider Pancho Villa, was denied a World War I command in France that would have elevated him to the rank of brigadier general.
In his comments, Congressman Clay said:

“Colonel Young was only the third black officer to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy. He distinguished himself during the Spanish-American War, and later in Mexico, where he helped pursue Pancho Villa under the direction of General Pershing.
 

At the outbreak of World War I, Colonel Young was the highest ranking African American officer in the U.S. Army.  He requested a battlefield assignment in France. But sadly, the Army, the Secretary of War and President Woodrow Wilson blocked Colonel Young’s deployment to Europe and his promotion to the rank of brigadier general.
 

His life and his brave service is much more than just a great chapter in African American history.
It is an example of everything that a great soldier and a good citizen are supposed to be. It is time for Colonel Young to take his rightful, and long-overdue place among the heroes of the U.S. Army.”

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