Hung Before Dawn: A Journey of Justice and Restoration. With Bryant Pearson and Pastor Kyev Tatum

 

Hung Before Dawn: A Journey of Justice and Restoration. With Bryant Pearson and Pastor Kyev Tatum

Restoring Honor. Remembering Heritage. Rekindling Hope.

In 2017, Bryant Pearson and Pastor Kyev Tatum embarked on a solemn mission—a sacred journey to lift the veil of silence from one of the most painful chapters in American military history. Their destination: the legacy of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment—Black Soldiers whose lives were cut short by injustice during the 1917 Houston Riots, also known as the Camp Logan Mutiny.

These were men who stood in uniform but were never truly seen as equals. Amid brutal racism and constant provocation by the all-white Houston Police Department, tensions exploded into violence. The aftermath led to the largest mass court-martial in U.S. military history—110 Black Soldiers tried, 91 imprisoned, and 19 condemned to die.

Pearson and Tatum retraced their steps across Fort Sam Houston—through Gift Chapel, the weathered barracks, the site of the gallows, and the original burial grounds at Salado Creek—before arriving at the Soldiers’ final resting place at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. What they discovered was an unsettling injustice that had persisted for over a century: plain, stripped-down headstones devoid of the honor due to any man who served this nation in uniform. No rank. No unit. No recognition.

Pastor Tatum refused to let that stand. He immediately drafted a heartfelt appeal to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, calling for the full restoration of dignity—new headstones, proper honors, and the posthumous clearing of their names.

Then, history shifted.

On February 22, 2024, justice spoke.

In a powerful and emotional ceremony at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration, led by Retired Lt. Col. Tanya Bradsher, unveiled seventeen new headstones—now complete with names, ranks, service branches, and the solemn dignity long denied.

“These stones are more than markers,” Bradsher declared. “They are a symbol of the dignity, honor, and respect these Soldiers should have always received.”

A year earlier, in 2023, the U.S. Army had reopened the case. The conclusion: the trials were racially biased, legally unsound, and fundamentally unjust. Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth took decisive action—all convictions vacated, all Soldiers granted honorable discharges.

Of the 19 who were executed, 17 now lie in honored graves at Fort Sam Houston. The other two—Cpl. Larnon Brown and Pvt. Joseph Smith—were laid to rest by their families. But all of them, along with the 91 others imprisoned, were victims of an era that judged the color of their skin over the content of their character and service.

Retired Maj. Gen. Matt Quinn, now leading the VA’s national cemeteries, said it best:

“Today, we right the wrongs of the past and honor the service of these Soldiers who served our country with honor. This is a proud day for this Soldier, a veteran who would be proud to serve with them.”

This moment was more than a ceremony. It was a reckoning. A rewriting of the narrative. A holy redemption for men who were hung before dawn, but are now remembered in the light of justice.

Their names are no longer buried in shame. Their service is no longer silenced.

Their stories will never again be forgotten.

To God be the glory.