I want to talk a bit about perceptions. Perceptions are reality to most people. I’m told that sometimes perceptions are more important than the truth. How we perceive things may give those things their existence. “Science is nothing but perception.” Plato. “There is no truth. There is only perception.” Gustave Flaubert. “Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.” Epictetus.
I know in the military we used to say that perception is reality. In most cases the perception of wrongdoing is as bad as the wrongdoing itself. Sometimes statistics can show you that what you know to be the truth, but the perceptions may be otherwise. What comes to mind is how we would prepare statistics on courts-martial. There were those who would argue that black soldiers were subject to court-martial more than other soldiers. There was a perception that this was the case and so there was a question of whether it was the truth. Our statistics always showed that there was a certain percentage of black soldiers who were subject to court-martial and that this percentage was about the same as the percentage of crimes reported to have been committed by black soldiers. In other words, of the crimes reported to the military police, the percentage committed by black soldiers was equal to the percentage that were court-martialed.
So one could stand up and say that the truth is that black soldiers were not prosecuted any more than white soldiers. But to many the perception was otherwise. And, as we know, perception sometimes guides people more than the truth. The result, the reality of the situation was different for those who perceived that certain soldiers were treated differently and statistical facts would not alter that perception.
And this brings me to the other matter concerning the perception of the truth. When I was growing up there was a place called the Camp Logan Pharmacy over on Washington Avenue near Shepard Drive, very near to Memorial Park. It was a small pharmacy, there were pharmacies all around. For instance, Powers Pharmacy, Norhill Pharmacy, I don’t remember all of the names, but there were not any “chain” pharmacies that I remember. Camp Logan Pharmacy was not near our house, and the only reason I ever went there was because I played baseball in the pony league over at Memorial Park. There was a tradition that whenever you would win a game, the coach would take us to the Dairy Queen or the Someburger, or someplace where we would get a coke or an ice cream cone. Now the teams I played on were never that good and it was always a treat to be able to go and get an ice cream. In the pony league, Mr. Carby was our coach and he would take us over to the Camp Logan pharmacy to get and ice cream treat after any of our big wins.
I never paid attention to the name, it was just another pharmacy. It wasn’t until I left Houston, after graduating from law school, and went on active duty in the U.S. Army, in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, that I even came to know anything about Camp Logan. I learned that Camp Logan was a military camp in the early twentieth century, and Camp Logan’s “fame” to the extent you could call it fame, maybe notoriety is a better description, revolved around the Camp Logan riots in 1917, during World War I. These riots involved soldiers from the 24th infantry division. Black soldiers.
I don’t know what the cause of riots was, or for what reason there was any disturbance. From what I understand, a couple of soldiers were ejected from a local establishment and word came back to camp that the police had killed them. Newspaper accounts said the soldiers rioted and killed several white men, including several police officers. If you look at the roster of Houston police officers killed in the line of duty, you will find that five were killed on ???, 1917. Who knows now what really happened. However, the soldiers involved were court-martialed.
The soldiers were ultimately taken to Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio where they put subject to court-martial. The trial resulted in the largest murder trial in the history of the United States. Sixty three soldiers were put on trial as a result of the Camp Logan riots. They were convicted, 13 were sentenced to death, 41 were sentenced to life imprisonment, and others received lesser punishments. The death sentences were carried out the morning after the verdicts were rendered; the thirteen soldiers were hanged.
This event went down in the history of military justice as a true black mark, because none of these convictions were reviewed by anyone before the sentences were executed. The commander ordered the executions to be carried out immediately. The day after the convictions were announced, the condemned soldiers were hanged. There was great consternation when word reached Washington D.C. of the executions of these black soldiers. As a result, even to this day, a soldier cannot be executed without complete review of the trial and approval of the execution by Presidential confirmation.
So these Camp Logan trials are historic. I have picture of the trial that I got from my book on the history of the JAG Corps which I obtained when I entered the Corps in 1976. I have included it below. You can see in the picture a large group of black soldiers sitting to the left. These are apparently all of the accused soldiers. And if you read the writing on the picture, it describes and names some of the participants. The thing that struck me most was that there is one defense counsel, a Major Grier, who apparently represented sixty three defendants in the largest murder trial ever held in this country. Now, some people might say this was a fair trial and everything was done properly. Some people might say that the perception, by just looking at the photograph and hearing some of the details, would lead one to conclude that this was no fair trial whatsoever. What is truth and what is perception. My gut feeling tells me that my perception, that this was not a fair trial, is closer to the truth than the verdict in this case.
There is another thing that has bothered me through the years about the Camp Logan riots. I grew up in Houston, very near Memorial Park, over in Norhill, next to the Heights. I played baseball in Memorial Park, I played golf at the Memorial park golf course for years. Memorial Park was always a place that I knew as a big city park, a lovely place. And, having lived in Houston for the first twenty six years of my life, never once, never once, did I ever hear anyone mention anything about these riots. I never heard anything about the trials of these black soldiers from Camp Logan, and their summary executions. My parents never mentioned it. I’m not sure they knew about it. My dad was about six years old when this occurred, living in Bryan, Texas. My mother was just about one or two years old, living in Chappell Hill when this occurred.
I never read anything about this incident. I never read about it in any history book, either Texas History or U.S. History. I never had a teacher, in all my years of schooling in Houston, who ever mentioned these events. All the times I had been to Memorial Park to play baseball, play golf, or to do anything there, I never saw any indication, any marker or monument, or anything, that even recognized that Camp Logan existed. I never connected the Camp Logan Pharmacy with any military installation that once was there. I would be willing to bet that there is not one in a thousand Houstonians who have ever heard of Camp Logan and what occurred there in 1917. As I said, this has always bothered me. Not a trace. Why was this so? Was it because this incident involved African American soldiers? After all, weren’t these invisible men? Is it because no one was proud of this incident? Maybe it was considered a federal issue and not something particular to Texas. After all, these were U.S. soldiers and the U.S. government was responsible for the trials. Who knows?
But you now, it goes back to my musing about perceptions. What are our perceptions? Someone once said, or at least there is an adage, that says, “Don’t bother me with the facts; I’ve already made up my mind.” I believe this adage holds more weight than one would believe. There are perceptions throughout our culture, throughout our world, and as I grow older I realize that most people, including myself, base their own actions and beliefs upon their perception of what the truth is and not necessarily what really is the truth. So Camp Logan is an example, and I know I could come up many more.
The fact that the history books in Texas never mention the Camp Logan riots and trials doesn’t surprise me. However, I believe that incidents like this occurred throughout our country for many years; maybe we have to keep our eyes open and learn from the past. The lessons we learn help us to face the future. I think our military justice system is much better than it was prior to the 1950’s. There have been many safeguards put in place. If you take a look at that picture of the courtroom, sixty three defendants represented by one attorney, I think your perceptions will guide you as to what really happened there. So if you ever go by Memorial park in the area of Shepard and Washington you will be in close proximity to Camp Logan and in close proximity to area where things were not so clear back in 1917.
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