Daniel Mack was a

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

from the 365th

Infantry Regiment Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

an all-Black unit that fought with honours in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was lynched but survived during the Red Summer a period of racial violence in America.

365th Infantry Regiment

The 92nd Division was first constituted on paper 24 October 1917 in the National Army, over six months after the

U.S. entry into World War I The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The division was commanded throughout most of its existence by

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Charles C. Ballou and was composed of the 183rd Infantry Brigade with the 365th and

366th Infantry Regiment The 366th Infantry Regiment was an all African American ( segregated) unit of the United States Army that served in both World War I and World War II. In the latter war, the unit was exceptional for having all black officers as well as troops. ...

s, and the 184th Infantry Brigade with the 367th and 368th Infantry Regiments, together with supporting artillery, engineer, medical and signal units attached. The division was organized on 27 October 1917 at

Camp Funston, Kansas Camp Funston is a U.S. Army training camp located on Fort Riley, southwest of Manhattan, Kansas. The camp was named for Brigadier General Frederick Funston (1865–1917). It is one of sixteen such camps established at the outbreak of World ...

, the men first being trained at the regimental level. For this division, 104 black captains, 397 first lieutenants, and 125 second lieutenants were trained at a "negro officers' camp" in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. A special "negro zone" was to be built at the east end of Camp Funston, with "separate amusement places and exchanges. "A.D. Jellison, a banker of

Junction City, Kansas Junction City is a city in and the county seat of Geary County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,932. Fort Riley, a major U.S. Army post, is nearby. History Junction City is so named from its ...

, gave a plot of land for a "community house," to be erected by the black men from the seven states which sent African-American trainees.

Lynching

Daniel Mack returned from the First World War and was hesitant to tolerate the Jim Crow south. During an April 5, 1919, market day in Sylvester, Georgia, Mack was walking through a busy street and brushed against a white man. The white man was offended that Mack didn't show the proper amount of respect and the two got in a scuffle. Police came on the scene and promptly arrested Mack for assault. During the trial, he was sentenced to 30 days in prison. A few days into his sentence, on April 14, a white mob broke into the prison, took him out into the wilderness and lynched Mack. He played dead and he was left for dead. No arrests were ever made.

Bibliography

Notes References * * * * * * * * United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army soldiers African Americans in World War I Recipients of the Médaille militaire (France) African-American United States Army personnel Prisoners and detainees of Georgia (U.S. state) Lynching survivors Lynching victims in the United States Date of birth missing Date of death missing {{US-army-World-War-I-bio-stub