Freddie Stowers
Freddie was born on the 12th of January, 1896 in Sandy Springs, South Carolina, and before being drafted into the US Army, he was working as a farmhand and was married to Pearl, with whom he had one daughter named Minnie Lee. In 1917, he was assigned to a division that would arrive in France as part of the American Expeditionary Force to reinforce the 157th French Army’s “Red Hand Division”. It was his actions on a heavily defended hill in the Ardennes that would earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
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.
Not long after his actions, Freddie was recommended for the Medal of Honor but like so many others, instead received the Distinguished Service Cross. The official reason stated is that his recommendation was misplaced and it is important to note that around this time, the requirements for the Medal of Honor were becoming more strict. The view was that it was being awarded too frequently and the examples of the nineteen double recipients gave merit to this perception. Many decades later, Freddie was compared to Medal of Honor recipient Alvin York since they were both southern farmhands that were drafted into the Army, were poor, and could barely read. They both displayed inspirational actions on the Western Front but Alvin survived the War and Freddie did not. Freddie was also black, the grandson of a slave, and was serving in the segregated 371st Infantry Regiment, 93rd Infantry Division (Colored).
Fast forward seventy-two years to when Congress pressed the Department of the Army to review minority Distinguished Service Cross recipients and Freddie’s story was then investigated. The Army Decorations Board went on to approve the upgrade to the Medal of Honor and on the 24th of April, 1991, President Bush presented Freddie’s Medal of Honor to his two surviving sisters, Georgina and Mary, in a ceremony at the White House. This made Freddie the first and only black Medal of Honor recipient for World War 1 at the time and he was later joined by Henry Johnson in 2015. This review led to a similar one for World War 2 recommendations, which resulted in more upgrades, and found a definite bias on the part of the Decorations Board.
Freddie Stowers was 22 years old when he died and his name is now honored on an elementary school in Fort Benning and on the Single Soldier Billeting Complex in Fort Jackson. He is buried in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial in France: Plot F, Row 36, Grave 40.
