The Civil Radical Battles of the Black American Soldier

Participation in the Civil War earned Black Americans a permanent spot in the Armed forces. Because of their efforts, Black men and women have been able to serve their country, leaving behind a long legacy to be proud of. Because of the recognition of issues like rank and prejudice during that time, such problems were able to be fixed later. A view of Black Americans not just as former slaves, or even just people, but as warriors with honor and bravery was born out of this era of war and has continued over the years into the present day.

THE HARLEM HELLFIGHTERS - 1918

The Harlem Hellfighters, a completely African-American infantry unit who spent more time-fighting in World War I than any other American unit.” – (via) historydaily.org

Nine men from the 369th Infantry, Harlem Hellfighters, posing for an iconic photo on their return home from World War One.
Public Domain
“The photo at the top of the page was taken on February 12, 1919, as soldiers from the 369th Infantry Regiment were waiting to disembark in New York on their way home from the Great War in Europe. This photo is one of several iconic photos of the 369th Infantry. Few of them, however, were accompanied by captions giving the soldiers’ names or anything about them. The 369th Infantry, whose members called themselves Harlem’s Rattlers, was the most famous all-Black regiment to fight during World War I. By the end of the war, France awarded the regiment the Croix de Guerre. One hundred seventy-one of the regiment’s men received individual Croix de Guerre medals for their valor. Several soldiers were also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. In 2015, Henry Johnson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the war.”

 

“The 369th Infantry Regiment, originally known as the 15th New York, was founded in 1913 in the New York Army National Guard. In line with the military’s racial segregation policies, the unit was all-Black. Once the United States entered World War I, the 15th New York was called into federal service and redesignated the 369th Infantry Regiment. The 369th Infantry was assigned to the 93rd Division, which was one of two divisions comprising African Americans. General John J. Pershing, American Expeditionary Force commander, avoided placing the 369th Infantry or other Black units on the front lines, reflecting the military leadership’s view that African Americans could not be effective combat soldiers. They were deployed in logistics and support roles.

In March 1918, General Pershing assigned the 369th Infantry to the beleaguered French, who needed combat troops and were accustomed to deploying their Black colonial troops. While the Americans warned the French not to treat the 369th Infantry and other African Americans the same as white troops, the French ignored this advice and welcomed the 369th Infantry into their fighting force. After training the men with French weapons, the French sent the 369th Infantry to the Argonne Forest in the Champagne region.

The transfer to the front lines in the Argonne Forest was the beginning of 191 days straight in the frontline trenches during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The Germans fighting against them called the 369th Infantrymen Hollenkampfer, German for hellfighter. This is how they received the nickname Harlem Hellfighters. They called themselves Harlem’s Rattlers, after the snake on the Revolutionary War-era Gadsden flag.”

 

The 369th Infantry Regiment (also known as the Harlem Hellfighters), returning to New York City after World Science History Images/Alamy Stock Photo
The 369th Infantry Regiment (also known as the Harlem Hellfighters), returning to New York City after World Science History. –  Images/Alamy Stock Photo

 

 History of the Harlem Hellfighters and Tuskegee Airmen


Group Watching Parade Of Black Infantry
Source: Getty
Group watching the parade of the 369th Colored Infantry — also known as the Harlem Hell Fighters — in New York City in 1919.

African Americans in World War II

During WWII, more than 2.5 million African-American men registered for the draft, and African-American women volunteered in large numbers.

By 1945, however, troop losses virtually forced the military to begin placing more African American troops into positions as infantrymen, pilots, tankers, medics, and officers in increasing numbers. In all positions and ranks, they served with as much honor, distinction, and courage as any American soldier did.

Throughout World War II, African Americans pursued a Double Victory: one over the Axis abroad and another over discrimination at home. Major cultural, social, and economic shifts amid a global conflict played out in the lives of these Americans.

“During World War 2 the US military deployed 100,000 Black GIs to the UK. The British welcomed the Black soldiers with open arms. Most have never seen a Black man. The US military and White soldiers, not so much. The US Army tried to implement segregation. The UK rejected the policy of racial segregation as “un-British.”

Black World War II vet fought for freedom and against racism

 

In this January 1, 1945 photo, Lena Horne visits with the Tuskegee Airmen.

 

First African American Troop, the United States Has Ever Sent to England

The English populace resisted with their signs, much to the chagrin of the US Military: “US military authorities demanded that the town’s pubs impose a color bar, the landlords responded with signs that read: “Black Troops Only.” 

Soldiers Waiting for Train, Pennsylvania Station, New York City, New York, USA, Marjorie Collins for Office of War Information, August 1942. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

“It must have been a shock for a Black GI coming over from the US. The UK allowed them to do many things they couldn’t in the US. They could travel anywhere they wanted, including where a white person traveled. Blacks could use any service a White person could. There were no segregated lunch counters. The Black GI could use the same bathroom. They could go to the same movies, and dance and date the White English girls. Most of England has never seen a Black man. Many English welcomed Black GIs into their homes and favorite pubs.”

At first sight, these troops are just enjoying the show. But look again and see that rigid separation by race – the segregation that characterized the US Army in WW2 and caused a whole world of hurt when it arrived in Britain. Racial tension in the US Army provoked a strong sympathy amongst ordinary Brits for the African American soldiers who came to fight for freedom in Europe they were denied themselves back home. This cast an oppressive shadow over Anglo-American relations. It all combusted spectacularly in a dramatic ‘Wild West’ gunfight in Cornwall in 1943. The sensational court martial that followed was front-page news in Britain and America, prompting official attempts at a cover-up. Surely it is time for this lost and now-found story to be told. These Black lives mattered too.
This fantastic shot was captured by the celebrated photographer George Ellis and is courtesy of Kresen Kernow Archives and Cornish Studies Service

Black troops were welcome in Britain, but Jim Crow wasn’t: the race riot of one night in June 1943.

 

Black American GIs stationed in Britain during the war, these in Bristol, were given a warm welcome by their hosts but treated harshly by their White US Army comrades. brizzlebornandbred, CC BY-NC-SA

“In 1943 Black American soldiers faced off with White American Military police during World War II on British soil. Yes, you read correctly Black American soldiers had to fight their White American soldiers, while in England, where they were fighting for the world. Why? Because the English town of Bamber Bridge in Lancashire was not segregated they treated the Black soldiers like all other races,  Blacks were free to eat, and drink anywhere, but back in America segregation of Blacks and Whites still existed. So essentially the American army went to someone else’s country and demanded they adopt America’s racist practices.
The folks in Lancashire were like hell no we like the Black soldiers in fact during that time the American-created Jitterbug dance was popular and the British women were eager to learn it from the Black soldiers. The fondness for the Black American soldiers was also supported by those famous essays written by George Orwell who stated that the Black American soldiers had the best manners of all the American troops.
So when the American Military police found out that their Black American soldiers were drinking at the same pubs as White people they went in to arrest them.
The people in the town got mad about the treatment of the Black soldiers and decided to then turn their pubs into “BLACKS ONLY DRINKING PUBS” the very opposite of what was taking place in America with their WHITES ONLY businesses.”

Black American GIs stationed in Britain during the war, these in Bristol, were given a warm welcome by their hosts but treated harshly by their white US Army comrades. brizzlebornandbred, CC BY-NC-SA

This angered the American military so the inner war began. When word spread back at camp that Black soldiers had been shot, scores of men formed a crowd, some carrying rifles, and by midnight more American military police arrived with a machine gun-equipped vehicle, so the Black soldiers had no choice but to get rifles from British stores while others barricaded themselves back on base, so now it was American white soldiers versus American Black soldiers. Several soldiers died including 17 Black American soldiers.
Back in America, the battle was hushed up because they didn’t want the country to find out that they were fighting their soldiers which would anger the Black population and weaken the morale in the country.
In the end, It became an interesting historical example of how prejudice is a learned behavior.
In his essays, George Orwell alluded to the oft-quoted assertion that American GIs were “oversexed, overpaid, and over here”. But he qualified this with the observation that: “the consensus is that the only American soldiers with decent manners are Negroes.”

Were Blacks segregated in ww2?

Yes, Black Americans were segregated in the military during World War II, though they played a crucial role in the war effort. Segregation was enforced in training, unit assignments, and even social activities. While all-Black units were formed, integration of units did not occur until after the war. 

Here’s a more detailed look:
  • Segregation in the Military:

    Black Americans were segregated in the military during WWII, despite their contributions. They were often assigned to all-Black units, and integration of units was not a widespread practice until after the war. 

  • Separate Training and Facilities:

    Segregation extended to training and facilities, with Black soldiers receiving separate instruction and having limited access to white facilities. 

  • All-Black Units:

    Many Black soldiers served in all-Black units, including the Tuskegee Airmen and other notable groups. 

  • Limited Advancement:

    Black officers were often limited to commanding all-Black units and faced restrictions on promotion. 

  • Double V Campaign:

    The “Double V“ campaign was a powerful movement that sought victory against fascism abroad and against racism at home. 

  • Continued Segregation:

    Segregation persisted in the military even after the war, with the process of desegregation taking time. 

What did Blacks do in World War II?

They worked behind the fighting lines driving supply trucks, maintaining war vehicles, and in other support roles. However, by the end of the war, African-American soldiers began to be used in fighting roles. They served as fighter pilots, tank operators, ground troops, and officers. 

22-year-old Lieutenant Bertram Wilson, United States Army Air Force, just before his deployment in the Spring of 1944, was assigned to the 301st Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group (“The Red Tails”), 15th Air Force, Ramitelli, Italy. Winner of the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross, among other citations. His career would last 25 years, flying combat in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He would retire as a Lt. Colonel and, as he once told us, having flown everything from a Stearman trainer to a supersonic F-4 Phantom. He passed away, aged 80, in 2002 and lies in Honored Peace in the hallowed grounds of Arlington Cemetery in Washington, DC

LTC Bertram Wadsworth Wilson
September 20, 1921 – July 9, 2002
Class: 44-E-SE
Graduation date: 5/23/1944
Rank at time of graduation: 2nd Lt.
Service # 0830798
From: Brooklyn, NY 

 

“We were very much aware of the fact that in the States you couldn’t go into a bar and have a drink. … You couldn’t go into the officers’ club. … Yet you still had your wings and your bars like anybody else,” Wilson said in August 2000. “We were very much aware of that, but what was the alternative? Your country is still your country. It’s the only country you have. It’s still not the best. It could be better, and maybe one day it will be better.”

A member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, Wilson shot down 4 German planes. He also served in the Air Force during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. He retired from the military as a Lt. Col. He participated in the Tuskegee reunions and granted many interviews on his experiences. He drowned in his swimming pool just 5 days after the death of his commanding officer Benjamin O. Davis Jr.

Lt. Bertram Wilson in his fighter

For his World War II service, Wilson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters and the Bronze Star. He was awarded more medals as a combat pilot in Vietnam.”

 

African Americans Fought for Freedom at Home and Abroad during World War II

In the face of racism and segregation, Black men and women served in every branch of the armed services during World War II. 

 

“The Golden Thirteen were the thirteen African American enlisted men who became the first African American commissioned and warrant officers in the United States Navy.
Throughout the history of the United States until the end of World War I, the Navy had enlisted African Americans for general service, but they were barred from joining from 1919 to 1932. From 1893 onwards, African Americans could only join the Navy’s Messman’s and Steward’s branches, which not only segregated African Americans from the rest of the Navy community but also precluded them from becoming commissioned officers.
In June 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the executive order (8802) that prohibited racial discrimination by any government agency. Responding to pressure from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Adlai Stevenson, in January 1944, the Navy began an accelerated 2-month officer training course for 16 African-American enlisted men at Camp Robert Smalls, Recruit Training Center Great Lakes (now known as Great Lakes Naval Training Station), in Illinois. The class average at graduation was 3.89.
Although all sixteen members of the class passed the course, only twelve were commissioned in March 1944: John Walter Reagan (b.1920-d.1994), Jesse Walter Arbor (b.1914-d.2000), Samuel David Jones, Darion Damon Ivy all (b.1914 – d. 2014), Graham Edward Martin (b.1917- d.?), Phillip George Barnes, Reginald Goodwin, James Edward Hair (b.1915-d.1992), Samuel Edward Barnes, George Clinton Cooper, William Sylvester White, and Dennis Denmark Nelson were commissioned as Ensigns; Charles Byrd Lear (b.1920-d.2006) was appointed as a Warrant Officer.
Because Navy policy prevented them from being assigned to combatant ships, early Black officers wound up being detailed to run labor gangs ashore.
President Harry S. Truman officially desegregated the U.S. military in 1948. At the time of the Golden Thirteen’s commissioning, approximately 100,000 African-American men were serving in the United States Navy’s enlisted ranks.
Darion Damon Ivy lll, the last living member of the group died on April 7, 2015.
In 1987, the U.S. Navy reunited the seven living members to dedicate a building in their honor at Great Lakes Naval Recruit Training Command, Illinois. Today, Building 1405 at RTC Great Lakes, where recruits first arrive for basic training, is named “The Golden Thirteen” in honor of them. In 2006, ground was broken on a World War II memorial in North Chicago, Illinois to honor Dorie Miller and the Golden Thirteen.“

African Americans in WW2 – World War II for Kids – Ducksters

https://www.ducksters.com 

US 761st Tank Battalion ” The Black Panthers “
======================================
Formation
========
The 761st Tank Battalion was formed in the spring of 1942 and was the first African-American tank battalion to see combat in the Second World War. Commanding this battalion was a white Lt. Colonel, Paul L. Bates. As the unit fell under the scrutiny of other white officers who were critical of blacks as soldiers and especially as tankers, Bates pushed the 761st in its quest for excellence.
The 761st was referred to as the ” bastard ” battalion which meant the battalion, like many other white units, was broken up piecemeal and assigned to infantry divisions for support roles.
Assignment
==========
In 1944, the 761st was assigned to General George S. Patton’s Third Army in France.
Before WWII, assumptions about the inferiority of Black soldiers as combat troops dominated military thinking and supported a policy of segregating Blacks into support and service units to provide cooks, stevedores, truck drivers, orderlies, and other non-combat personnel. Only five Black commissioned officers served in the army in 1940, three of whom were chaplains.
“In a future war,” said Colonel Perry L. Miles, “the main use of the Negro should be in labor organizations.”
Even then-Colonel George S. Patton Jr. had little confidence in Black soldiers. In a letter to his wife, he wrote, “A colored soldier cannot think fast enough to fight in armor.”
Ruben Rivers and the Negroes of the 761st Tank Battalion, the first to go to war in armor, were to change those assumptions as they engaged the enemy for 183 straight days in six European nations. No other unit fought for so long and so hard without respite.
In October 1944, General George Patton, who had initially disparaged Black soldiers, sent a message to the War Department requesting more tankers, the best available. The only tank unit left was Negro—the 761st. The Black Panthers.

761st Tank Battalion During WWII
Deployment
US tank battalion structure, November 1944.
General Ben Lear, commander of the U.S. Second Army, rated the unit “superior” after a special review and deemed the unit “combat ready.” After the two-year training session in Texas, the 761st Tank Battalion received the order on 9 June 1944 for overseas movement three days after the D-Day landings in Normandy. The battalion aboard the British troop carrier Esperance Bay from New York arrived in Britain on 8 September 1944 and was initially assigned to the Ninth Army. After a brief deployment to England, the 761st landed in France via Omaha Beach on 10 October 1944. The unit arrived (with six white officers, thirty black officers, and 676 black enlisted men[18]) and was assigned to General George Patton’s US Third Army at his request, attached to the 26th Infantry Division.
The unit saw action in Northern France from October 1944, it fought in the Battle of the Bulge, later proceeding to the Rhineland, and spent the final months of the war on German soil.

Early August 1944. Men from the 374th Engineer General Service Regiment showing some of the ‘explosive material’ recovered on site. The Regiment, consisting of “colored” personnel, was actively involved in the preparation of the grounds and site of the 5th General Hospital. The unit was activated on 2 August 1943 at Ft. Hood, Texas, arrived in England on 28 January 1944, and landed in France on 11 July 1944.

“Who the **** asked for color?” Patton shot back in typical salty style. “I asked for tankers.”
The 761st linked up with Patton’s Third Army near Nancy, France, on October 28. The front lines lay only a few miles ahead. Suddenly, a bunch of quarter-ton Jeeps loaded with MPs and .50-caliber machine guns rolled in and took up strategic defensive positions. As the tankers stood at attention, a single Jeep and an armored scout car dashed to the head of the formation and stopped next to Colonel Paul Bates. (Bates was white; white officers commanded black troops during WWII). Everyone knew from the two ivory-handled pistols holstered at the man’s belt that this was the legendary General Patton. The three stars on his helmet and collar reflected the sunlight as he vaulted to the hood of the armored car.
Contrary to the movie Patton, it was to the black tankers of the 761st that Patton delivered his famous speech.
“Men, you are the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the American army,” he began. “I have nothing but the best in my army. I don’t care what color you are, so long as you go up there and kill the Kraut sonsofbitches. Everyone has their eyes on you and is expecting great things from you. Most of all, your race is looking forward to your success. Don’t let them down, and, G—damn you, don’t let me down. They say it is patriotic to die for your country. Well, let’s see how many patriots we can make out of those German sons of bitches.”
Patton was a man to be taken seriously.
“There is one thing you men will be able to say when you go home,” he concluded. ‘You may all thank God that thirty years from now when you are sitting with your grandson on your knee he asks, ‘Grandfather, what did you do in World War II? you won’t have to say, ‘I shoveled shit in Mississippi.’”
Omaha Beach, Blooded in Combat
============================
The 761st consisted of 760 Black men and white officers primarily operating the M-4 Sherman battle tank. Soon after the 761st Tank Battalion landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy they became the first black armored soldiers to see battle. The motto of the 761st, who were also called the Black Panthers, was “Come Out Fighting!” Before the end of the war, they more than lived up to this motto.
At Guebling, France, on 19 November 1944, the 761st was directed to hold the line until reinforcements arrived. Ruben Rivers, now a staff sergeant and a TC (tank commander), had already won a Silver Star for bravery and was suffering from an infected wound. He refused nonetheless to be evacuated, although he could hardly walk.
Daylight slowly arrived, cold and frosty with thin crusts of sleet over snow. Out of the fog rumbled Jagdtigers, the heaviest of Hitler’s armor, monsters armed with fearsome 128mm SPA guns and MG-34 machine guns. The Tigers belched flame that seemed to scorch light out of the morning. German antitank positions concealed on the far side of a slope beyond hedgerows lit up the gray sky. Barrages of explosions stomped all over and around the intersection. Two Black Panther tanks were knocked out immediately, killing Bob Hammond and Roderick Ewing.
“Pull back, pull back, Panthers!” came an order from the company commander.
“I see them. We’ll fight them!” Rivers responded.
His tank darted from cover, side by side with the Sherman commanded by Sergeant Walter James. Outnumbered and outgunned, the two iron steeds charged, diverting the German onslaught long enough for Americans caught in the open to withdraw and regroup.
Rivers and James smashed through the hedgerows and up the slope toward the enemy, all guns blazing, like jousters on steel mounts. For a few minutes, the American Shermans held their own. They seemed to exist in a charmed atmosphere as they tore furiously through fiery blasts of light and smoke and as brilliant tracers of green bounced off their thick hides.
Then a high-explosive shell caught Rivers’s tank and cracked it like an eggshell. A second shell finished the job, striking the turret and almost ripping Rivers’ body into two parts. Rivers’ tank continued to smoke out there on the field of battle for the rest of the day as American forces rallied, repelled the attack, and secured Guebling.
The Black Panther from Oklahoma who would not quit was dead.
During the 183 days Patton’s Panthers, the 761st Tank Battalion, were in continuous combat, they participated in four major Allied campaigns, including the Battle of The Bulge. They inflicted more than 130,000 casualties upon the enemy. Eight Black enlisted men received battlefield commissions, while 391 received decorations for heroism: 7 Silver Stars for Valor (three posthumously); 56 Bronze Stars for Valor; and 246 Purple Hearts. Three officers and 31 enlisted men were killed in action, and 22 officers and 180 enlisted men were wounded.
In 1997, 53 years after sacrificing his life on the battlefield, Sergeant Ruben Rivers was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. In 1998, the 761st Tank Battalion (deactivated) received a Presidential Unit Citation, the highest award that a unit can receive.
On June 9, 2009, a stretch of Highway 9 running through Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, where Ruben Rivers grew up, was named in his honor
Success on the Battlefield
=====================
During combat operations in World War II, front-line troops rarely spent more than a few weeks on the front lines; the Black Panthers had been in combat for over 183 days straight. Before the war was over, the 761st would participate in four major allied campaigns throughout a half dozen countries including France, Germany, and Austria, and inflict over 130,000 casualties. The 761st was also highly decorated; earning throughout their six months of combat operations seven Silver Stars for Valor (three posthumously), 246 Purple Hearts, and one Congressional Medal of Honor (posthumously). Eight enlisted men received battlefield commissions.
Jackie Robinson
==============
Among the men serving in the 761st was baseball legend Jackie Robinson. Lt. Colonel Bates was so impressed with Robinson and his influence over the men that he appointed Robinson as the official moral officer of the 761st. Robinson would never see combat overseas, however. He was court-martialed in August 1944 after refusing to go to the back of a bus driven by a civilian on the Fort Hood military base in Texas. Robinson was acquitted of all charges, discharged, and three years later began playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Sources
=======
The Battle of Bamber Bridge, 1943. 
Racist US military police attacked black US troops on British soil.
US military authorities demanded the town’s pubs impose a color bar, and the local landlords responded with signs that read “Black Troops Only” which pissed them off.
In 1943 Black American soldiers faced off with White American Military police during World War 2 on British soil. Black American soldiers had to fight their white American soldiers, while in England, where they were fighting the world war.
Why? Because the town, Bamber Bridge in Lancashire wasn’t segregated they treated the Black soldiers like all other races, BUT back in America segregation still existed so essentially the American army went to someone else’s country & demanded they adopt their racist practices
So when the American Military police found out that their Black soldiers were drinking at the same pubs as white people, they went in to arrest them. The people in the town got mad about that treatment and decided to turn their pubs into “BLACKS ONLY DRINKING PUBS”
This pissed off the American military so guns went blazing and when word spread back at camp that Black soldiers had been shot, scores of men formed a crowd, some carrying rifles, and by midnight more American military police arrived with a machine gun-equipped vehicle.
The black soldiers also had no choice but to get rifles from British stores while others barricaded themselves back on base, so now it was American white soldiers versus American Black soldiers
This led to the death of 1 soldier, injury of 7, and 32 convictions.
Back in America, the battle was hushed up because they didn’t want the country to find out that they were fighting their soldiers which would anger the Black population and weaken the morale in the country.


Nazis Captured in the Forest
Source: Getty
An African-American soldier of the 12th Armored Division stands guard over a group of Nazi prisoners captured in the surrounding German forest. April 1945. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

In April 1943, the Tuskegee-trained 99th Pursuit Squadron became the first African-American flying squadron to see combat. 

 

Tuskegee Airmen in front of their P-40.

Black Kudos

Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen?

The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of pilots who overcame racism and prejudice, becoming decorated war heroes of WWII. 

President Obama and 1st Lady Obama with The Tuskegee Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African-American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). The name also applies to the navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks, and other support personnel. The Tuskegee airmen received praise for their excellent combat record earned while protecting American bombers from enemy fighters. The group was awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations.

All Black military pilots who trained in the United States trained at Griel Field, Kennedy Field, Moton Field, Shorter Field, and the Tuskegee Army Air Fields. They were educated at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), located near Tuskegee, Alabama. Of the 922 pilots, five were Haitians from the Haitian Air Force and one pilot was from Trinidad. It also included a Hispanic or Latino airman born in the Dominican Republic.

The 99th Pursuit Squadron (later the 99th Fighter Squadron) was the first Black flying squadron, and the first to deploy overseas (to North Africa in April 1943, and later to Sicily and other parts of Italy). The 332nd Fighter Group, which originally included the 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons, was the first Black flying group. It was deployed to Italy in early 1944. Although the 477th Bombardment Group trained with North American B-25 Mitchell bombers, they never served in combat. In June 1944, the 332nd Fighter Group began flying heavy bomber escort missions and, in July 1944, with the addition of the 99th Fighter Squadron, it had four fighter squadrons.

The 99th Fighter Squadron was initially equipped with Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter-bomber aircraft. The 332nd Fighter Group and its 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons were equipped for initial combat missions with Bell P-39 Airacobras (March 1944), later with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts (June–July 1944) and finally with the aircraft with which they became most commonly associated, the North American P-51 Mustang (July 1944). When the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group painted the tails of their P-47s red, the nickname “Red Tails” was coined. The red markings that distinguished the Tuskegee Airmen included red bands on the noses of P-51s as well as a red empennage; the P-51B, C and D Mustangs flew with similar color schemes, with red propeller spinners, yellow wing bands, and all-red tail surfaces.

 

American infantrymen of the U.S. Army’s 92nd Infantry Division (“Buffalo Soldiers Division”) are photographed at rest in Italy. Province of La Spezia, Liguria. April 1945.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces. During World War II, Black Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to the Jim Crow laws, and the American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government. The Tuskegee Airmen were subjected to discrimination, both within and outside of the army.

 

“Keep us flying. Buy War Bonds.” Color poster of a Tuskegee Airman (probably Lt. Robert W. Diez) by an unidentified artist. 1943.    – US WWII bond poster showing a portrait of African African-American pilot, a member of Tuskeegee airmen in flight uniform. 1943 U.S. Treasury Poster (Photo by David Pollack/Corbis via Getty Images) 

“The last known surviving soldier of his World War II company of black troops who were given the task of burying American and allied — and even German — soldiers spoke on Eyewitness News This Morning about his experience.

Jeff Wiggins now lives in New Fairfield, Ct. Wiggins was only 18 when he was uprooted from Alabama where he grew up (not far from Tuskegee) to serve as a soldier in World War II. He arrived in 1944 in the small Netherlands Village of Margraten (population: a mere 1,300 residents), along with his company of 280 African American soldiers.”

Jeff Wiggins, the last known survivor of the grave digger unit

“Their mission: bury the thousands of bodies of soldiers killed throughout Europe. During World War II, Wiggins says, there was still quite a bit of racism even though Black soldiers were willing to risk their lives for their country. Black and white soldiers did not serve in the same units. Black soldiers were given the bad details and jobs such as digging graves. White soldiers were sent to the battlefield to fight, while Black soldiers buried almost exclusively Whites.

Wiggins says he doesn’t remember much about digging the graves – likely because of post-traumatic stress. It was the most horrific of jobs — soldiers were forced to dig three 6 x 6 x 3 graves every day for often mutilated and dismembered comrades. And it was often in the worst of conditions. Wiggins told Eyewitness News this Morning, it was so awful — he only began talking about what he saw to his wife of 42 years, just two years ago. Now he’s speaking with Eyewitness News about his experience.”

“I was a zombie,” Wiggins said on Eyewitness News This Morning. Wiggins says he blacked out most of the event – but does remember one particularly difficult assignment: he was asked to bury a soldier whose last name was also Wiggins. “It was like I was dreaming- but it wasn’t a good dream,” Wiggins said. “I was worried I was digging the grave for myself and not this other soldier — and hoping it wasn’t that kind of dream.”

When Wiggins and the other members of his company left the Netherlands, they buried more than 28,000 American, allied, and German servicemen, creating the largest cemetery of World War II. Now, the story of Wiggins and his unit is being told in a new documentary called “The Fields of Margraten: Bitter Harvest.” It is the closing film of the Danbury stop of The Connecticut Film Festival and is being screened on Sunday, April 10th at 6:00 p.m. at the Palace Theatre on Main Street in Danbury.

 

February 16, 1944: The Golden Thirteen began training.
This group was the 1st African-American Naval officer-training group in America.
In January of that year, the Naval officer corps was all white. Though there were some 100,000 African-American enlisted men in the Navy, none were officers. In response to growing pressure from Civil Rights organizations, the leaders of the Navy reluctantly tackled commissioning a few as officers.
TRAINING:
16 Black enlisted men were summoned to Camp Robert Smalls, Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois. All the men demonstrated excellent leadership abilities as enlisted men.
The pace was demanding and forced the 16 men to band together so that all could succeed.
To ensure their failure the normal training period of 16 weeks was reduced to 8 weeks for the Black cadets. When they realized that someone in the Navy wanted them to wash out, the cadets covered up the windows of their barracks and studied all night.
When they were tested, the entire group passed with high marks. Disbelief in the chain of command that an all-Black cadet class could achieve higher scores than an all-white one meant that the Black sailors had to suffer the indignity of retaking their tests.
All 16 passed; the class average at graduation was 3.89.
Although all 16 members of the class passed the course, only 12 were commissioned in March 1944: John Walter Reagan (1920-1994), Jesse Walter Arbor (1914-2000), Dalton Louis Baugh, Sr., Frank Ellis Sublett, Graham Edward Martin (born 1917), Phillip George Barnes, Reginald E. Goodwin, James Edward Hair (1915-1992), Samuel Edward Barnes, George Clinton Cooper, William S. White, and Dennis Denmark Nelson were commissioned as Ensigns; and Charles Byrd Lear (1920-2006) was appointed as a Warrant Officer.
They became known as the Golden Thirteen.
LEGACY:
In 1987, the U.S. Navy reunited 7 living members to dedicate a building in their honor at Great Lakes Naval Recruit Training Command, Illinois. Today, Building 1405 at RTC Great Lakes, where recruits first arrive for basic training, is named “The Golden Thirteen” in honor of them.
In 2006, ground was broken on a World War II memorial in North Chicago, Illinois to honor the Golden Thirteen and Dorie Miller.

 

Job Maseko, a volunteer in the Native Military Corps, 2nd South African Division, was taken prisoner when Tobruk fell on the morning of 21 June 1942. Forced to work on the docks unloading provisions for the Axis forces as they pushed ahead towards the Nile Delta, Maseko sunk an enemy steamer on 21 July 1942 harbor using a makeshift bomb. With the help of fellow prisoners, Maseko placed a small condensed milk tin filled with gunpowder in the vessel’s hold between drums of fuel, lit the attached fuse, and closed the hatch.
Later awarded the Military Medal, the accompanying citation read: “In carrying out this deliberately planned action, Job Maseko displayed ingenuity, determination and complete disregard of personal safety from punishment by the enemy or from the ensuing explosion which set the vessel alight.” Neville Lewis, South Africa’s first official war artist, later claimed that Maseko was recommended to receive the Victoria Cross but instead received the Military Medal since he was “only an African”.

Returning home, the relatively unknown native hero died in 1952 after being struck by a train. Maseko is remembered today by a primary school and main road in the township of KwaThema, as well as the South African navy strike craft, that bears his name.
Source: SA Museum of military history.

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iforcolor

ARCHIVIST, EDUCATOR, HISTORIAN, and ARTiST
Dale Ricardo Shields is a 2017 winner of The Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award®, 2017 and 2015 Tony® award nominee for the Excellence in Theatre Education Award, the 2017 AUDELCO/"VIV" Special Achievement Award, 2020, 2021, and 2022 ENCORE AWARD / The Actors Fund and winner of the 2022.

Recently, he won the 2022 Legend Award from his alma mater Ohio University.

He is the 2021 winner of the Paul Robeson Award, presented (jointly) by the Actors Equity Association and the Actors Equity Foundation.

Research Accomplishments:
His extensive professional credits as a Director, Stage manager, and Actor (Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and Regional) As an actor he has appeared on Saturday Night Live, Another World, Guiding Light, The Cosby Show, and the ITV television series "Special Needs" and commercials and film.

Professor Shields is a member of the Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the American Guild of Musical Artists performance unions and an associate member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

He began his artistic academic career in New York City at Playwrights Horizon, The South Bronx Action Theatre, and Mind Builders, and then was invited to join the teaching staff at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre (New York Shakespeare Festival). He represented the United States for Theatre Young Audiences at the ASSITEJ Theatre Festival in London, England.

He has been a Professor and Visiting Artist at Ohio University, The College of Wooster, Denison University, Macalester College, Randolph- Macon College, Susquehanna University, and SUNY Potsdam.

He holds B.F.A and M.F.A, Degrees from Ohio University.

Website(s)

Iforcolor.org [Research]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Ricardo_Shields [Career]