Although he was on duty in the rear, Lieutenant Sessions joined his battalion and was directed by his battalion commander to locate openings through the enemy’s wire and attack positions.  He hastened to the front and cut a large opening through the wire in the face of terrific machine gun fire.  Just as his task was completed, he was so severely wounded that he had to be carried from the field.  His gallant act cleared the way for the rush that captured enemy positions.

In August, 1918, back in the Champagne, a German raiding party captured a lieutenant and four privates belonging to the 369th Infantry, and was carrying them off when a lone Negro, Sergeant William Butler, a former elevator operator, made his presence known from a shell hole.  He communicated with the lieutenant without the knowledge of the Germans and motioned to him to flee.  The Lieutenant signalled to the four privates to make a run from the Germans.  As they started Butler yelled, “Look out, you Bush Germans!  Here we come,” and he let go with his pistol.  He killed one Boche officer and four privates, and his own men made good their escape.  Later the German officer who had been in charge of this raiding party was captured and his written report was obtained.  In it he said that he had been obliged to let his prisoners go because he was attacked by an “overwhelming number of “blutlustige schwartzemaenner.”  The overwhelming number consisted of Elevator Operator Bill Butler alone.

September 30th the 3rd Battalion, of the 370th Infantry, composed of down-state Illinois boys from Springfield, Peoria, Danville and Metropolis, achieved a notable victory at Ferme de la Riviere.  This battalion, under the brilliant leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Otis B. Duncan, made an advance of one kilometer against enemy machine gun nests and succeeded in silencing them, thereby allowing the line to advance.  This battalion of the Illinois down-state boys succeeded in doing what, after three similar attempts by their French comrades in arms, had proven futile.  During this engagement many were killed and wounded and many officers and men were cited and given decorations.

Company C, of the 370th, under the command of Captain James H. Smith, a Chicago letter-carrier, signally distinguished itself by storming and taking the town of Baume and capturing three pieces of field artillery.  For this the whole company was cited and the captain was decorated with the Croix de Guerre and Palm.

Lieutenant Colonel Duncan, who has been attached to the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Illinois for over twenty years, is one of the greatest heroes the Negroes of America have produced.  He returned as the ranking colored officer in the American Expeditionary Forces.  Instead of being merely an assistant Colonel, he was actively in command of one of the hardest fighting battalions in the regiment.  He has been pronounced a man of native ability, an able tactician and of natural military genius.