The Civil Radical Battles of the Black American Soldier

Portraits of Valor: Some of the Last Living Black WWII Veterans

Photographer chronicles surviving members of the 6888th, Montford Point Marines

By

Michael A. McCoy, – AARP

Seventy-five years since the historic Executive Order 9981 desegregated the U.S. military, photographer Michael A. McCoy captured portraits of some of the few surviving Black veterans of World War II who served the country in the face of racial injustice and discrimination. ​ ​

Two groups were the focus of McCoy’s portraits: the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion and the Montford Point Marines.​ ​The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, a unit within the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), had 855 women in its ranks, primarily of African American descent. The unit was tasked with clearing a backlog of 17 million pieces of mail destined for troops in Europe, providing a boost in morale for the soldiers who eagerly awaited letters from their loved ones. ​ ​The Montford Point Marines, active from 1942 to 1949, were the first African American men admitted to the Marine Corps. Their training took place at Montford Point in Jacksonville, North Carolina, under less favorable conditions than their white counterparts faced. By the war’s conclusion, approximately 13,000 Montford Point Marines were deployed to locations including Saipan, Guam, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. ​

​Read on to learn more about these unsung heroes.​

Members of the Buffalo Soldiers welcome Romay Davis during a ceremony to honor her service in the 6888th.
MICHAEL A. MCCOY

Romay Davis, 104, is the most senior living member of the 6888th.
MICHAEL A. MCCOY
Now 104, Romay Davis made history with her service in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, affectionately known as the Six Triple Eight. The women’s living quarters, mess halls, recreational facilities, and water fountains in basic military training were segregated. ​

Anna Mae Robertson, 99, was a member of the Six Triple Eight.
MICHAEL A. MCCOY
Pfc. Anna Mae Robertson, 99, is the most junior of the living members of the Six Triple Eight. During the battalion’s deployment, the women sorted through 7,500 undelivered letters addressed to “Robert Smith” alone, requiring them to look for clues within the mail’s contents to determine the intended recipient.

Fannie Griffin McClendon, 103, a veteran of the 6888th, became an Army major.
MICHAEL A. MCCOY
Maj. Fannie Griffin McClendon, 103, is the only surviving officer among the 855 members of the Central Postal Directory Battalion. ​
Members of the 6888th worked in eight-hour shifts around the clock, seven days a week. Their motto wasn’t ambiguous: “No mail, low morale.” ​​

Henry Wilcox, 95, poses outside his home in Philadelphia.
MICHAEL A. MCCOY
Marine Sgt. Henry Wilcox, 95, is one of approximately 20,000 African American men who received training at Camp Montford Point. Their dedication and contributions during World War II were recognized in 2011 when they received the Congressional Gold Medal for their role in the Allied victory. ​

Ivor Griffin, 96, stands by the Montford Point Marines memorial.
MICHAEL A. MCCOY
Sgt. Ivor Griffin, 96, was one of the first Black recruits to join the U.S. Marine Corps. He returned to the Montford Point Marines memorial over 70 years after training at the same location.

 

George McIvory, 97, returned to the former Montford Point Marines Training Camp.
MICHAEL A. MCCOY
After hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor, George McIvory, now 97, wanted to help his country fight back. He enlisted on reaching age 18 in 1944 and rose to the rank of corporal.

 

 

Carroll William Braxton, 99, was one of the early recruits at Montford Point.
MICHAEL A. MCCOY
Retired Master Sgt. Carroll William Braxton, 99, was an early Black recruit in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the Montford Point Marines. Approximately 2,000 Montford Marines served in the assault on Okinawa. ​​

Eugene Bishop marked his 100th birthday in 2022 with a portrait at his home in Temple Hills, Maryland.
MICHAEL A. MCCOY
Born in 1922, Eugene Bishop enlisted in the U.S. Army on Aug. 2, 1942, a few weeks before the Montford Point Marines began their training. Although he wasn’t a Montford Marine, his service is a reminder that over 1 million African Americans contributed to the war effort across the military branches and theaters during the war.​​

Arthur Gregg poses with a photo of himself during his time in the service.
MICHAEL A. MCCOY
Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg, a trailblazing figure in the U.S. Army, achieved a historic milestone on July 1, 1977, by becoming the first African American to attain his rank. He previously made history as the first African American to reach the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps in October 1972. Gregg was honored when the Fort Lee Army base was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams, honoring Gregg and Lt. Gen. Charity Adams (of the 6888th) for their service.

Michael A. McCoy is a Washington, 
D.C.-based portrait photographer and 
Pulitzer Prize-nominated photojournalist 
who has captured some of the most pivotal moments in recent history.

 

PINTEREST Scrap Book

Army Sgt. William H. Carney. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army.

“Sergeant William Harvey Carney is recognized as the first African-American MOH recipient to receive the award. Carney’s father, William, escaped from slavery in Norfolk, Virginia, by using the underground railroad and raised William Jr. in New Bedford, Massachusetts. In 1863, at 23 years old, Carney and 45 other volunteers joined a Union Massachusetts militia called the Morgan Guards, which later became Company C of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. Except for officers and senior noncommissioned officers, the unit was an all-black corps.

During the nighttime Battle of Fort Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina, as the 54th Massachusetts assaulted the fort guarding the entrance of the Charleston, their troop’s flag bearer was hit by musket fire, and a barrage of cannon shrapnel and dropped the flag. The flag’s colors shall never touch the ground, so Carney dropped his rifle, charged at a full-out sprint, grasped the flag, and continued onward despite being surrounded. He then hurled himself against a low protective wall of the fort. He later wrote, “The bullet I now carry in my body came whizzing like a mosquito, and I was shot. Not being prostrated by the shot, I continued my course, yet had not gone far before I was struck by a second shot.”

A soldier from the 100th New York joined him, and they retreated to their lines. Carney sustained two bullet holes and two grazes in the arm and on the head. “Boys, the old flag never touched the ground,” he said before collapsing and receiving medical attention.”

Sources

Painter, Nell Irvin. “Creating Black Americans.” New York: Oxford University, 2007.

https://www.army.mil/blackamericans/

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/iconic369thphoto.htm?fbclid=IwAR1TyQGLH9_64LTzvwvGuWx88ID09CngQqF9X6BQ1xRVUxt3zeLUSMLHN0g#:~:text=The%20369th%20Infantry%2C%20whose%20members,Guerre%20medals%20for%20their%20valor

https://www.jbsa.mil/News/News/Article/1433501/these-intrepid-african-american-soldiers-broke-barriers-paved-the-way/

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/black-seminole-indian-scouts.htm?utm_source=article&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=experience_more&utm_content=small

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/busobaseball.htm?utm_source=article&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=experience_more&utm_content=small

https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/chyoretirement.htm?utm_source=article&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=experience_more&utm_content=large

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/United_States_Colored_Troops

McPherson, James M. “Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era.” New York: Ballantine Books, Oxford University, 1988.

www.aaregistry.org

www.americancivilwar.com

www.civilwar.orghttp://afchief.hubpages.com/hub/Black_Civil_War_Soldiers_in_the_History_of_the_Civil_War

www.civilwarhome.com

https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/apr/5#:~:text=Twenty%2Dthree%20Black%20cadets%20attended,and%20expected%20to%20be%20ostracized.”

www.history.net

http://www.onthisdeity.com/16th-october-1859-%E2%80%93-john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry/

http://ethiopianism411.blogspot.com/2011/01/lord-dunmores-ethiopian-regiment-early.html

https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/wwi/war

http://www.militaryheritage.com/american_sword2.htm

http://hdthoreauquotes.com/thoreaus-the-last-days-of-john-brown/

http://www.dailypress.com/features/history/civilwar/dp-pictures-union-on-the-peninsula-20110520-026,0,4175428.photo

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/african-americans-fought-freedom-home-and-abroad-during-world-war-ii

http://www.thestate.com/2014/02/16/3271993/black-history-the-story-of-a-buffalo.html

https://wwii.lib.ku.edu/background

https://www.history.com/news/black-rosie-the-riveters-wwii-homefront-great-migration

https://theconversation.com/black-troops-were-welcome-in-britain-but-jim-crow-wasnt-the-race-riot-of-one-night-in-june-1943-98120?fbclid=IwAR0Xg24sdAbxvMBdJxlBKFzWlbcDpCB7dt13jvtz6ShktbFt4DkHoslLFiI

https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-military-discrimination

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_African_Americans_in_the_Vietnam_War

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/1429624/african-american-troops-fought-to-fight-in-world-war-i/

https://www.aarp.org/home-family/voices/veterans/info-2023/celebrate-black-wwii-heroes.html

 

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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]