Before he was hanged for his alleged role in the Camp Logan Mutiny, Army Pfc. Thomas Hawkins wrote a letter to his mother and father. It was both poignant and simple. "When this letter reaches you, I will be beyond the veil of sorrow. I will be in heaven with the angels…I am not guilty of the crime that I am accused of but Mother it is God's will that I go now." The crime Hawkins had been accused of playing a part in was the murder of 16 whites during a riot in segregated Houston, Texas in 1917. At least four black soldiers were also killed.

In Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad, Matthew Delmont draws attention to the hostile and racist atmospheres that black American soldiers were historically subject to on segregated military bases long before WWII , with one example being Camp Logan in Houston. Hawkins was a member of the Third Battalion 24th Infantry, an all-black regiment. The United States Department of War...