Hometown: Sandy Springs, SC
Branch: U.S. Army 
Unit: Company C, 1st Battalion, 371st Infantry Regiment, 93rd Infantry Division
Date of Sacrifice: September 28, 1918 - KIA in Ardeuil-et-Montfauxelles, Departement des Ardennes, Champagne-Ardenne, France
Age: 22
Conflict: World War I, 1914-1918

Born on January 12, 1896, Freddie Stowers was a farmhand living with his wife Pearl and daughter Minnie Lee in Sandy Springs, South Carolina, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in October 1917. He was part of the first generation of young Americans required to enter military service. On May 18, 1917. President Woodrow Wilson signed the Selective Service Act into law.

Stowers was assigned to the segregated, all-black Company C, 1st Battalion, 371st Infantry Regiment, 93rd Infantry Division, and sent to Camp Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina for training.

During World War I (1914-1918), the U.S. military practiced strict racial segregation. Stowers’ division was one of the first in which black Americans were sent into combat and not limited to menial tasks in the war effort. The nickname “Buffalo Soldiers” was used to describe segregated all-black regiments dating back to 1866.

American General John J. Pershing assigned the 371st Regiment to aid the exhausted French Army. Given blue French helmets and trained on French weapons, Stowers’ 371st was attached to the 157th French Army, known as the “Red Hand Division,” and sent to fight in the Meuse-Argonne offensive—an operation that would help bring an end to the “war to end all wars.”

Promoted to Corporal and given charge of a squad, Freddie Stowers’ company was ordered to attack the German defenses and take Hill 188 in the Ardennes region of France. His heroic actions would earn him America’s highest military award—the Congressional Medal of Honor. Stowers’ bravery is described in his Medal of Honor citation:

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.

Soon after Cpl. Stowers’ death at age 22, his commanding officer recommended him for the Medal of Honor. But the paperwork was misplaced, and it would be seven decades before the application was rediscovered. In 1988, the U.S. Army launched an investigation to determine why no black Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor during World War I.

Cpl. Stowers’ paperwork was uncovered, and his two surviving sisters—Georgina Palmer and Mary Bowens—attended a ceremony at the White House on April 24, 1991, to receive his Medal of Honor from President George H. W. Bush.

At the ceremony, President Bush commented, “Today, as we pay tribute to this great Soldier, our thoughts continue to be with the men and women of all our wars who valiantly carried the banner of freedom into battle. They, too, know America would not be the land of the free, if it were not also the home of the brave.”

Cpl. Freddie Stowers was laid to rest along with 133 of his comrades at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial (Plot F, Row 36, Grave 40) in France—the nation he helped to free.

Sources
National Parks Service: Freddie Stowers
Congressional Medal of Honor Society: Freddie Stowers
The United States World War One Centennial Commission: Corporal Freddie Stowers awarded Medal of Honor for service and sacrifice in WWI
National Veterans Memorial and Museum: World War I Medal of Honor Recipient: Corporal Freddie Stowers
U.S. Army: Medal of Honor recognition long overdue
Veterans of Foreign Wars: VFW Recognizes Cpl. Freddie Stowers
Burial Site: Find a Grave