Hf NSF EL
ST to lose life in U.S.
ST Flying cer to Join Famous erpillar
b Dh
ders of Alcan Ahway
rom Pearl Harbor
OUR FIRST HERO
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet, pins Cc Navy Cross on Doris Miller, Steward’s Mate 1/c, USN, at a ceremony on bo a U. S. Navy warship in Pearl Harbor, T. H., May 27, 1942. Miller has si
+ mrre .* 4 ee Ae ee” TS eae ek ee
WASHINGTON D. €C.—SALUTES!
Sgt. James E. Saunders
Cpl. Louis Mi @pl.-E.-Leslie Hamm pl. Louis Minor
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY ie
Publishers : me Entire ‘Contents Eee a Ge ag 5 | Copyrighted 1944 EP FEES GC ONC ~ ‘The genus Publishing Co. Re ak ue | 934 Eleventh Street, N. W. De Ost bee | Washington, D D.C. ae ei
; ; ' i ¢ oem ae 1a ‘ ‘ weak, Z Me ral 4 4 te rg , : v y ’ i Age ‘ ~s as ay
The Negro
em
World War II
Volume One
FOREWORD
The History of the Negro in World War II begins with his emancipation from slavery in 1865. It isn’t the purpose ~ of this series to recount the part undertaken by Negroes in
aiding this country to achieve world leadership. We make™ a the statement that Negroes, by the manner in which they ae Js
quited themselves to date in this war, World War II, have been able to accomplish more only as a result of their exper-
iences in other generations. With or without tools of war, ae
Negroes have always fought bravely, and died gloriously for _ their country. ye ;
It has been in World War II that Negroes have reached i
the position where they could demand, by virtue of their — knowledge, higher positions of trust, more active participa-
tion in the administration and prosecution of war, on tye: fighting line and the home front. Be
The events recorded in the pages of this brief history, -
and the sources from which this material originated, are be-
lieved to be authentic.
The publishers extend appreciation to the War Depart-
i
- +41 er anizations for their unsiinted cooperation. ~
The Publishers \
OMce of War Information, the Nese.
J Yann ark hay CULE VSO VY edb VV 2 RUN yO Rd ae 4h Sh
INDEX
cea {vies Page PMO OIOTY OF UVeEltS ie ka as 1 Pie States Army 12 Pieineit to the: Nation. 60 1a Mistincuished Soldiers:.. 2... ie 29 Pee oot Pursiiy OGUadron..- soi ok. 42 Women’s PAV eA OLD cutee pe hE Sais 46 Pe ee LAteS) INAV re a 62
Pee ETOCS ee ar ee 65 United States. Marine LOUD sa sas ee 69 Peete: COMMISSION fm be eo 70 Peeve Huon Nev UIZac ee on ek | 70 Bei eryiCG. yi, ae oe a 70 rane Home. Hrontin ee Na file
_ The President’s Committee on Fair Em-
ProyvincwTehVactices. Pie amon es Ts Beta HOTS ee Ci es 278 RC ree 78 Der EE OO ice ee ee a a eh 719 DROVE sa ie oe ee a 80 Ree IS ORCAS. 2 oi Le OUI Ye 87 Puerrmnecs CON poy. visa eee 95
ECONOMIC EQUALITY demands
°° Kova Pay
FOR Hiova W ork”
>
The crusade for more JOB OPPORTUNITIES A wider use of the MERIT SYTEM as the yardstick
for measuring qualifications — for jobs in FEDERAL — STATE and MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS
are principles — vigorously upheld by |
a
THE SENTRY © GOVERNMENT WORKERS’ NEWSPAPER. 1934 1th Street, N.W. Washington 1, D.C.
World: ‘War A
December a (1941 to Fobra. 1944,
’ CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS : _ (Note: This is the fifth year of World War w)
. OD ) Jecember, 1941
Pe 1—While American and Japanese representa aed were
Me -__ trying to find a solution to their problems, Japan desay . _ clared war on the United States and Great Britian. — , Before the declaration reached Washington, between 1 as 150 and 300 Japanese carrier-based planes attacked | "American installations at Pearl Harbor in the Phillip- : pines and other possessions in the Pacilfic. .
The attack occured in the morning (7:55 Honolulu Time) (1:25 P.M., E.S.T.) and during the heat of the battle which followed, Doris (Dorie) Miller, messman, former football player of Monree High School, Waco,
Ke ‘Texas, expesode himself to enemy fire by dragging his. ee _ wounded commanding officer to safety, then manned a machine gun. For this heroic action Miller became ; the first Negro in this war to win the’ Navy Cross. (Awarded by Admiral C. W. Nimitz aboard a warship — at Pearl Harbor, T. H. May 27, 1942). The award, how- ever, came only after four months.of clamor in the
Rpeick ‘Negro Press for some recognition. @ a Congress passed a joint resolution declaring war on y Japan.
ne Great Britian declared war against Japan. Japan ate tacked British Malaya, Wake Island, occupied Shang- hai, Thailand, Guam, and shelliled Midway Island, and Luzon in the Phillippines. ‘ resident Roosevelt in a world wide broadcast said: “We are going to win the war and we are going to win the peace that follows.” : es was pee by the enemy. sgt ay ‘landings:
~
January, 1942 ’ 2 an 5—Rationing of tires begins. ge 26—U.S. troops arrive in North Ireland. Battle of Macassar Strait. 28—Germans recapture Benghazi in North Africa.
February, 1942
2-_Rationing of automobiles begins.
15—Singapore falls to Japanese. ,
22-_General MrArthur establishes headquarters in ae tralia. |
°3--Enemy submarines shelled coast of California, near Golata; no casualities.
27—Battle of Java Sea. | “
March, 1942
3—Japanese on West Coast interned. 13—Rationing of typewriters.
16—United States forces arrive in Australia.. 17—-Third Draft begins.
April, 1942 1—Heavy fighting continues in Bataan. 9—-Bataan falls—death march begins. 10—India fails to get freedom—Cripps mission meets dis- — cord. 18—American flyers under Major Doolittle bomb Tokio.
25—-American troops arrive in New Caledonia. 28—Rationing of Sugar begins. May, 1942 ° 6—Corregidor, on Manilla Bay, surrenders. 7—Japanese troops crossed’ into India.
U. S. government asks Martinique for a guarantee tn | that the island would not be made available to the ~
Axis.
Nazi submarines sink ships off Florids and the mouth: s My
of the Mississippi. _ y
Mohandas K. Ghandi, in a despatch from Bombay, | said that Great Britian and the United State had no
moral basis for waging war, and that to gain it, they — a should put their own house in order in Asia and Africa, eee
and to cease racial discrimination.
U. S. troops arrive in North Ireland! tanks included.
British troops evacuated from Burma.
Spring drive starts in North Africa. Mexico declares war against Germany and Japan. Cologne bombed by 1,300 planes.
2 eae
3 land geerois piey, rh oie ; ats bomb Rumania’ 8 au field.
i swears in frst WAC eet ae, i f ne Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune inspects Negro WAC's at Fort Des Moines, Towa.
, 1942, her? 1942
et oe oe (infantry) activated at Fort ‘McClellan, 3 i.
: B colored: aplaiers’ Julius Fk, ehatléston, S. C., _ Harvey Crandle, Grnaville, N. C., James Scott, Mont- oi pe Ala., awarded Soldielrs’ Medal for heroism Gis n saving liot’s life in New Guinea. |
noe Negro OPUS arrive in Egyptain threatre of
i Q Tne Arica Pe a Wir —Algiers capitulatesto Gen. Dwight D ‘Eis ye be German: army occupies: entire French re r rope. ties
aa Roosevelt signs bill drafting oul Hap aaee 2roups,. | ‘
_—The “Legion of Merit” a new decoration | by Secretary of War Stimson. oF |
A —Alcan highway completed.
- Negro troops in North. ae ae Ee 9—Mohandas Ghandi arrested © Cee
f -11—American troops force landing on Solomon 13—Hampton Institute gets Negro ine ae ; : vanced ane rat as Yeas 0 on eg ee
_ December, 1942 AOU a Ae ee -—Battle rages in Tunisia : ae Ge) aaa _—Allied ships and planes use Dakar. ise
—Sicly bombed. See gee —One year in World War I cost U. s, 58, 307 €
- Including 8,191 dead, 6,335 wounded, s
—Allies smash foe at Gona, in New Britain Island Ls
~ . 15 French warships seized at Touloner 5s
_ —Cruiser San Francisco decorated for Solomons
first ship to win decoration in war. ~~
eh planes batter ae Turin, Roneu.
torial Africa, doaed Vichy nee a eral De Gaulle. Fort Lamy described as th lied Aerial Turntable” of Africa. eile a —Army-Navy announce use of. Colleges ‘for | coe V- 12 program ab in nee
- merchant. ship; has mixed crew.
January, 1943
2—Negro troops with Ano eee ; Italy receive Ae PEA from_ Gene Hisenhower. | ;
BLU acme announces Buna victory.
Guadalcanal. j “|
- 9—Rioting outbreak at Vallejo, Calif, said : ee caused by "z0ot- suiters’. Ws f
¢
Feescs es Pizertol fe Oe Ww. Carver, noted scientist, ‘Tuskegee Insti-_ re
ans Ind War resigns. Reasons: ‘Wh eitlatine policy of ‘Army oe _ Air Force” and “continued discrimination.” he - 80—Cadets: Clarence M. Davenport and Robert Tresville ae
Fh ta _ graduated from West Point, the latter into the Army geAir: Force. . eh -Roosevelt and Churchill with their staffs, map grand és 1948 strategy at Care Blanca, North Africa.
; “ 6—President Roosevelt reviews famous A1st (Singine) eee Engineers in Liberia and gets hearty welcome from _ President Barelay who receives invitation to visit United Kevenee 4 perates. Ny ee ore gen infantry drive Goauans from Faid Pas (Tun es Die, Este, on -- ~Hisenhower made supreme Allied eoniandaie Africa. (oe oe - —President orders 48 hour week in all war industries. | | ae it. Col. H. D. Queen named commander of 366th Infan- ____try at Camp Devens. The 366th hasalarge complement =—_— of men from Washington, D. C. te a (—Truman K. Gibson, Jr., named to succeed Judge Wm. Phat Ely Hastie, as civilian aide to the Secretary of War. |
- War Department announced that there were 9,569 ve a pam ee working in its civilian branches. | ?
aKa
ae =
a Be oilght o on OnE poll tax Boon in Congress. us g colored seamen aboard U.S. S. Boise win glory in battle he anal.
hapla 2: Ge soldiers in Row hwest Pacific.’ ates court-martial. eae
convicted for re in anne riots at Phoenix, ee nard Roy Harmon, Texas seaman, awarded | Navy ee oe Beroism in South Pacific. i Patan
ay Pg gto s A eee aa Bu Sve fhe! Sar wal i oe itt eget, poke Nae : ete Leh Mitey ¥ \ i _* fC a “ie * ie: Te 7 iiss es nt RE Ma Reilan feAs eB a’ WAS ON aI USAR Mss yeaah
a7:
be ae bart
aes
in aa ae d san
—Fraternal Council of Negro chiens in America opens —_
office in Washington, D. C., in order to assist in getting
helpful legislation affecting all Negroes. The Council ©
represents 11 denominations with a moe eae a
over 6,000,000. oe
Southern Negro leaders hold reer racial unity conference at Atlanta, Gd..
—Tuskegee fliers transferred to Selfridge Field, Ill.
—FHFirst Negro soldiers arrive at Camp Tyson to start training at Barrage Balloon Training Center.
—Second Lieutenant Velma P. Owens becomes first Ne- ero woman ever commissioned at Fort Benning, Ga. She is a Dietician.
. May, 1943
—fLieut. Wilmeth Sidat-Singh, attached to 332nd Fighter group at Selfridge Field, in a routine flight pioneer to his death in Lake Huron.
—Inquiry by the House into the shooting of Pvt. Williaig McRae by his commanding officer, Col. William T. Col- man at Selfridge Field begun. The unwarranted affair after mass pressure by civic groups, resulted in his reduction in rank to Captain and final dismissal.
Editors of Negro newspapers cover maneuvers of fam- ous all-Negro 93rd Division in Louisiana, as guest of War Department.
—Imported Bahaman workers riot.
First ship, The Marine Eagle, built by all-Negro. labor .
at Sun Ship Yards in: Chester, Pa,
—Destroyes escort vessel named in honor of mess s attend- ant Leonard Harmon.
—President Barclay of Liberia arrives here, wade
Congress, is feted by notables in Washington, New | bad
York; et al. —Anti-poll tax bill passed House 365-110.
—Captain Adrian Richardson, ‘Negro, named captain of Liberty Ship SS. Frederick Poles
June, 1943 —President Roosevelt issues new edict for FEPC. itxeee
tive Order 9346 which add strength to old orded 8802. — Msgr. Francis J. Haas selected as Chairman o Com-
mittee. —Judge Hastie awarded Spingarn Medal.
“White Primary” case reaches U. S. RUD ae Court —
for fourth time. —NAACP holds Emergency Conteris at Donnie Mich.
National Labor Relations Board ruled that. pay. Sora ee o%
ule based on race are illegal. 6
A SR “ Pere ee Reg See +) ih eit ; oy ; CMe BOBS AN ae ene NS tre ‘ Cy roars a3 aia ae } ae is ent i co es " : Be ME . a “ Se ee cP Ay i: er 2 rst D Wy a oy * RS e, we | mae 18 9th ighter Sdbedean: in aN test. igainat Rapin
ee bet _ flyers. First blood drawn by Lieutenant Charles Wee
pa e, Pre 4%
Poy
_-—s«'the ‘first time in the history of the United States that = et tay Negro pilots have ever been in combat. Secretary v Cre mete... WAL praises unit. a Pca i —Riots break out in Mississippi and Georgia. Camp Bee ¢
art a hot bed. | . : 26—Rioting occurs in Dertoit. 26 anid dead and 650 i ie) oe. injured. Martial: law established, _ — Riots in Beaumont, Texas. - —Churchmen confer with President. Fokecnie on ques- tions vital to Negro. , “July, 1943 |
» +. Lieut: Charles B.. Hall, Brazil, Ind. becomes first Negro to actually shoot down an enemy plane. The action occured
3, cee _ Dryden who damaged two German planes. This is :
over Sicily and his German opponent fle wa hese woe
- ba Wult 190.
_~ —Liberty Ship named for John Marrck. ae of ey North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co. i.
_ —-Investigation begins into causes of Detroit riot.
i —6 soldiers injured in fight between Negroes and white — M.P.’s War Dept. investigates.
_— —Congress votes to end National Youth Administration. = Bishop John A. Gregg arrives in New Guinea as special ant emissary to war fronts from Fraternal © Council of Ss Negro Churches. . | | & “August, 1943, | ha —Harlem vandals run amuck—on Black eS iday: ‘—Liberty ship named in honor of Robert’ L. Vann, late publisher of Pittsburgh Courier.
-
a oe ; —Michigan’ S governor blames rioting in Detroit on N egro iii Press.
(Basie, Parachute Company, owned by Negroes and -, + doing war work awarded 1943 Spaulding award, by Vetta the National Negro Business League.
qs ie. Sone the South Pacific Negroes, serving in Infantry, Coast Slat Sey Artillery and Engineers. Port Battalion troops in India.
bie geet, Distinguished Service Cross awarded posthumously, to ahs fe ' Pvt. George Watsen, for meritorious behavior in South ts Pacific and received by his Stee ecey in cata ham, Ala.
Beis eh Adar Joe Louis starts tour of Army camps. SSeS “Wendell Wilkie, defeated Republican “presidential see a a a: delivers nation-wide radio address on “Bill i of ee for Negroes.
aa? <t Wee a f , : j
¥
-
Ahh
, September, 1943 i | ——EHeut: Col. Benjamin (3: Danie Je. com)
Pursuit Squadron, returns to United States
succeeded hy Capt. George S. Roberts. G
—War Department confirms deathof Lieut. | mA Mitchell and Charles S. Chisholm, both of. Was
D. GC. and both pilots in the famous ore
action in North Africa.
Sane in deinen, D. MC.
—200 Negro soldiers and Roland oe famous gave a 2-day concert with the London Sympho chestra; first of its kind ever given in the Bee pire. :
-—-832nd_ Fighter Group—first | All Nera v. Ss.
stratimg):.°. ready for action.
—War evaruicnt announces Negro cadets will how to handle B-26 airplanes and training of aoa and pone
October, j 943
332nd ee cee at Selfridge Field,
—Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson announces i oa in training plans for Negro pilots because of a
changes chntermoiated foi bombdad am ad nav ors except acceleration of program. eae —President Roosevelt in a letter to the National League’s 33rd Annual Conference calls on the to practice what. it preaches about the princi democracy.
—Lieut. Clarence C. Jameson, Cleveland Ohio | of 99th, ee in gra ee
BER. 0) | a —Liberty ship S.S. Federer Hod ois sunk by b _ Captain Adrian Righerdsan and crew See pets
UO saiopisidiie eee in ‘South ‘Deval Med . -——Malcolm Ross appointed new chairman of FEBC y i _ —John K. Caldwell, Kentucky, appointed by Pre man Roosevelt as minister to Ethiopia, approved’ ah _—Liberty Ship Paul Lawrence Dunbar i rs eT —Ethiopia refuses to recognize Italy. rt ee te Chicago s eae’ lines hire Bog N egro s
\ Sikes eae re he ew ee ee MU ee ee lke. Stet Re caes Poni PN Str ra) ga ee PES eRe Gap te ie seo pee Lea ace! & heh hay Boh eigen aaa PS qght
eee crcber, 1943 = =FEPC holds hearings on charges of bias against West Coast Shipyards. —First Negro WAC band makes debut at Des Moines, | Iowa. ane Dr. W. H. Jernagin, Director, Washington Bureau, Fraternal Council of Negro Churches of America, forced from train in Virginia for refusing to enter Jim Crow car. —Christopher Columbus Sheppard, cook, first class, Nor- folk, Ba., and Ernest Gardner, steward’s mate 2-C, revealed as heroes on U.S.A. Borie in battle with Nazi submarines. '—Ethiopia forms strong alliance with Soviet Russia. es finds railroads guilty of discrimination. ‘s, Jr., 21, first Negro to gain rank of Cor- Bbyal at West Point. —582, 681 Negroes in Army as of August 1, 1943.
Be ecinin Baptist. Church, Rev. A. Clayton Powell, Pr., pastor, celebrates 138 years of service. | —President Roosevelt insists that. anti - discrimination clause be inserted in all: U.S. contracts. This to refute Comptroller General, Lindsay Warren, who had said that Executive Orders were ‘directives.’ “—Blatta Ephrem Teweldi Medhem, Ethiopian minister to U. S. arrives to take up his duties in Washington. December, 1943 —Doris (Dorie) Miller reported missing in action. —64 Negro soldiers sentenced from one to five years at hard labor for ‘unauthorized expedition.’ —Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin hold conference at Teheran; Discuss war and peace plans. —Railroads defy FEPC—indicate non-compliance with order to resist discrimination. . —Navy promises upgrading to Negroes. —S.5. James Weldon Johnson, another Liberty Ship in er of famous Negroes, launched at Wilmington, ; Ca Bites —Hdgar T. Rouzeau, Pittsburgh Courier Correspondent ; returns from Africa. —Negro Marines see combat in South Beice eeaaniing \ to Fletcher Martin, NPA Pool Correspondent. —Troopship sung in Pacific—reported by Vincent Tubbs —War correspondent for Afro-American Newspapers. —Private W. Robert Ming, Jr., only private ever to argue a case before Supreme Court, represented Joseph E.. ba Snowden v. Governor of Ulinois, ine State treasurer Soe) and the Secretary of ae
mes, 9
“January, 1944 es nae ee oe Liberia declares war on ‘Gonna pee 11 Permanent FEPC urged by 45. organizations. , 555th Paratroop unit activated at Fort Be: ning, ¢ Set. Joe Louis and his party, end tour of boxing « _ bitions on January 20, (1944. The tour started Au TSO. POASS Ohne s ee —99th Squadron since April 2, isdsenge a ae missions of 1,156 sorties; lost 4 pilots, two by e action. 15 of original 28 pilots back in U.S. A. ae 99th Squadron downs 12 Nazi planes in 2 days ( ; uary 27 and 28, HOAs) in the iy of. Nettuno,
February, 1944 olan —Mitchell Billage, Fedéral Public Hour Ing ; Project opened at Tuskegee Army Air Field. T
Jage is named in honor of Lieut. Paul Graham Mitchell of the 99th who was killed in action Sept. 11, 194305
—By February 8, 1944, the 99th Pursuit Squadvons a eee 16 ee in less than two weeks. Be
five een during this period. —
—First Negro Navigation Cadets receive ‘aiein Feb. 26, 1944 at Honod Army Air Field, Texas.
_ jump on Feb. 5, 1944, at Fort Benning, Ga> Alt oe —Harry S. MrAlpin, Washington, DeCe _ becomes the rst: 4)
al Negro Publishers Association and the: Atlanta _ World. He attended his first press cone wit president Feb. 8, 1944. - ‘ ae
_ 23—Navy announces commissioning of Negreee: as” oy in U. S. Naval Reserve. The number of officer. celve commissions will be approximately 22, - qualified enlisted men to serve as line offic _ the rank of oe Ten eae ees. aaa
Dae Dental Corps, Medical Cons Civil Corps, and Supply Corps. ° a tae
23—Navy Department announces he manning ¢
submarine vessels by SS a see
een
WHAT. AM. I FIGHTING E OR :
Cathie: ‘aiticle was aeadeey: one ee he! foun Gout manu- scripts submitted by men in our armed forces to, the Ser.
x = vie Men's. Christian League on the subject, What | am. Batten: Fighting | For, and. is reprinted herewith. because of. its a na é Pierce use in Army cane pares) ee zh. be
; What am I fighting for? Ask me why I was born; the : a same answer fits both questions. I’m fighting to live.
oo | That document, which is almost religious in its simplici- | _ ty, almost like a song in the beauty of its words, the Ameri- can Declaration of: SHO ates states my case accurately.
Bigt rt was ‘porn with certain rights which are Godgiven and inalienable. Today,.there are several men at large who would refuse me the free exercise of those rights. L am fighting _ those men. It’s either them or me, and there are only two possible ways for this fight to end for me, sudden death or ip complete victory. And since there are millions more like
ea. certain and utter defeat.
oe ay am fighting because I don’t like to Baie. everything
Soe kn told, even if it is true. I want to be able to find out for
~ -, myself: T demand my Godgiven right to make a dammed fool
— of myself, to get my fingers burned and to learn, maybe, not to o the same thing the next time.
Iam fighting because I like to believe that no man on - God’ 8 green earth is any better than I am, physically, mental- ly, biologically or morally. I’m probable wrong a million > times, but I.don’t want anybody to’ put: me or my kids in a - narrow ae oot saying, eee where we colar ee be-
_ long.” | ;
i eral mM fighting because I like to feel that I am the govern- ~ ment, just as much as a ward +heeler or a President. I like pee Bats feel that my politicians:can be ‘“‘seen.’”’ I want to be in 3 the game. I want to think that I: can use my vote as a bludgeon or a baton, as my wisdom or my whimsy suits me ~ and I want to know that in the final analysis my vote does count as a candid expression of my own opinion. I.want to so be able to scorn the errors of big men. I want to-argue at a ‘the polls and howl like a stuck pig when I pay high taxes. in od a sere pete] don’t like order for its own sake. I want to enjoy the Se colding or patient forbearance of my wife when I scatter ’ pipes or books or tools about the house. I feel that a ain Deen of organized disorder 1s. an index to a man’ Ss
af ;
us wee; skill. And I want to be able 1 :
But I do like a ae phate ae : dam ae Bere }
nee to go to any church I like; to. join a ‘Tabor 1 | a own Sees ae use the aa old vote. a too. Nes
cause ne are eras who have nee | to say sa
because they are white-blooded Aryans. a
| I am fighting for the right to read my own’ new and listen to my radio, secure in the knowledge that mo: S it is truth, some of it hokum and a little of it the kind of ok vious lying oe makes me mad enough to think selene
ee bulldoze a nation into a fanatical belief | ina nig scheme of world rule by them or world ruin for all. m
| For I believe as my father and his father. pelibees. tha a nation’s destiny is the result of the en, and ‘tre ! enjoyed by its Pe! iM
Those men use people as fuel for their ‘engines of. g gression. I am against the waste of generations of men the barren fields of war. My country has always. kne that wars are wasteful. Those men.have fooled their ¢ i tries into believing that war is a good risk, ” oe 7 3 So Iam fighting that never again will the co O war ve worth, for even the shortest Hos the ay Col ques rs
The only kind of aggressiveness t ean . “él ' shown by a salesman or a football player, and I w able to tell the salesman I don’ t like his product. i
And finally I am fighting for the great privilege ar ty of ee the American ey a ae in a ime.
Bey Ta ae RM pe IRAN ag fa Bite) awe ik kinds ; ; aut , uh Ca Eig ian WO ca ; mn Pate As SEP OT SSE RMB SIMA a B ee ARM. Pa Bh a ; ithe ieee Sie Ta » 4 Me ¥ ? 7 x i ¥ th > J =a " AUN , 7 ‘ x x. 4 aw a; k 4 sh ihe”
Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis _ Hi eee ee at et At a oe Let | | Crispus Attucks High School a ee he oh ao "Indianapolis, Indiana ed le any
421 eaeey 1 944
Pecine: > now in an expression nee your ea that this a) cee has assumed its ree Bre in the defense of ae
eS, the che to realize how Maes Le been its threat - entire civilization.
ored men have gone out from our ports 2 man. an a | e of defense: and attack in distant places which were dly ee to us | when the ee struck at Pearl Harbor.
Pe tioced teidiees were serving overseas, en ore than one quarter of the total number of aor ume date, the War Department. Soule a ate mber of colored persons in the Army, in-
enlisted men, nurses, warrant officers, hos- ae EAE aides, and members of fe a
this colored aus BT, 323 ‘were nh 58, oa! in the Coast and Field Artillery, 92, P71 Engineers, and 9,750 were in the Cavalry. The 360,000 were in the Other arms and services—Army Forces, Chemical Warfare Service, Quartermaster Corp Armored Command, which is Tanks, Tank-Destroyer eS mand, and Medical Corps. ce > ae
‘There were 4,386 Colored Cominiceeed Officers. Of thee number, 395 were Medical Corps Officers, 67 were Dental Corps Officers, 158 were fale ing, and there | ee 202
nurses. in
we have created to meet the teh of the Nae aa Jap. And I hope that in this process I may- contribute your understanding of the many-sided army in Va many of our men and women are serving and fighting.
I have been a soldier all my life, and the army is life. I take pride in it and I like to see others filled with that same sense of pride. There has been plenty of reason — for normous pride in the exploits of our young men during — the past two years of battle. Colored soldiers were among the first to go out, both across the Pacific and across the : lantic. There is ‘not a major expeditionary force overse tone -which does not contain colored troops. A a
Let me tell you about some of them. Over in New G ea last Spring, Brigadier General Hanford C. Macnider raded the troops on the occasion of the first anniversar the landing of American soldiers on that embattled islanc A colored General Service Engineer Regiment which — ade seen service under fire had the distinction of leading the Noel rade, because it had been the first ee ee to arriv
the Spring: of, 1942. — |
. men ot the Unit, ‘General Macnider said, and. "iE ue low. soldiers, a year ago today when you steped as. the first American troop unit in New Guinea you w i Jhistory. You’ ve ed making: it. ever since.
convoy. in a HGaeee Sia ane ines of fe. ‘Infant r Oo the mountains, a hundred enemy actions, A Ad STD eae “You? ve. contributed. your share to ey ed taken at the Japs,’ General Macnider continue Ae _ built the causeways and the docks, even unloaded tt so we could eat eet fight. You’ ve built roads
Bei ees | a
Hi ' 7 ‘ rt : ) ees Ves th ag * vod ¥ on i i ye ihe rH ree ayy Ate ies pS a oe 2 by atx, , yee hie Cees i) SOE a3 ACAD oS k A c na a ‘via ca ‘ ran Ea sle x, 4 TDS, Sot sc - 1) * Afar, Paes y AP iegaese i Ma bs ni Fe EY x ‘ ‘ Bae Scare * 4 , 1 awd mae ] mi Sapny s Sr Nev is Bis > o rt d Me) en le \ i" ; 7 al ‘ 4 oye a ' a reat \ Pe ioe r a! , ' he ; : Ct, é my ‘ > i ‘ Sd ny. hy # oy ~ i Ps J v 5 P . "
“which bring. us iets nd ithe Hs when give us our eee oa
* and - ‘power. Some of you have been to war with the tanks. | i You know dll about bombs, from hanging them on planes to 2 poets them hung on you. ”» on
Ni
Ee ‘this man’s army. All of us over here are proud of. you. All
the: histories.”
And then General Macnider gave these men his. hivnest co praise. He said, ‘““You’re one of the workingest outfits in
American will be proud of you when your record gets. ae Nee
_ % ey ayes, all Americans are proud of an outfit yareh calls forth a ae such a commendation as that.
Aa Or let me tell you about the four colored collier ene
ig. _ trymen, these were—who were awarded the Legion of Mer- “8G it, our country’s newest decoration, for acts of heroism’ they er Re! - ‘performed in Guadalcanal last March 27. The citation tells the story, and I should like to read it to you: |
< “For exceptionally meritorious conduct in the noRhenL ance of outstanding services on March 27, 1948, at Guadal- Bae ‘canal, by leaving the comparative safety ‘afforded by a slit | ag trench and advancing some 250 yards over open terrain; ex-
He: posed to bombing from an enemy air raid, in order -to assist
= In evacuating casualties. This undertaking was accomplish-. ie ed although enemy action continued, causing impenetrable dust, and confusion prevailed. Exceptional collness and ef-.
a ficiency during exposure to danger were displayed while
_. evacuating the wounded.”
‘ae _ Let me highlight the picture just a little for you. Here a: are four enlisted men, one a Private First Class and. the oth- - ers Privates, lying in a slit trench where they had sought
shelter’ when the alarm was given. As the citation says, _ they were comparatively safe there. Except for a direct hit
~
ee to expose | themselves.
But there were other soldiers nearby who. were not so
- these ‘four lay sought some of their comrades. Then, disre- ‘garding the danger to themselves, the Private First Class
that some ‘of the wounded men they helped to evacuate owe
pee ne
matic ‘Weapons Battalion had the honor of being cited by the ommanding General of the Fifth Army in Italy, Lieutenant — mer pie Ww. Clark, for ee enc. of*
a _—when no one can protect himself—these men did not need |
on The bombs that missed the slit trench where |
~ and his three companions left their ‘shelter. I have no doubt >
a \ their lives to ee courage and unselfish action of these four :
“Not. anes aco, the 450th Anti-Aircraft Artillery uke
me gS Sng
tee to land on Tarotean so ae ik Had. American colored combat force ‘to land in Nort
The action which drew forth General Clark’s praise pened in the harbor of Naples, even before the Unit h gone ashore. The troops were still aboard their ships wi German bombers began a night attack on ie American erate massed in the bay. Pe
ment. Because of the position of the hostile | aircraft, his
main anti-aircraft defenses of the ship could not be mane : ered to produce effective fire. But the men of the 450th could. An enemy bomber was picked up by searchlight, and — the American crew began pumping shells at this ta Three hits were observed, and the third seemed to tear ff the right wing of oe Nazi plane. The bomber aren i - to the sea. 2
_ During this same action, on a nearby ship that was We on tying part of the men and eduipment of, this Dpitalion,) Mi Ba
which was lashed to the deck and opened fire at a secone bomber with a .50 calibre machine gun mounted on the cab The Nazi, struck by Clark’s shots and by other fire boing: up from the ship, crashed into the sea.
That is the type of quick thinking and ak auaee g which warms the hearts of Americans. The bravery and ac- curacy of fire demonstrated by those colored troops definite- ly weakened the enemy’s raid on important harbor ship: ng. %
Geheral Clark left no question of his own high opinic ets of these troops. In commending them he said, and I qu “I am proud of the outstanding performance of duty o soldiers in this baptism of fire. Their conduct was exce and reflects the training and discipline Oe their unit. Gi Fifth Army welcomes such soldiers.” |
But the 450th was just beginning its eccabiiea that ght in Naples harbor. Not long afterwards we heard rT about its men from a post somewhere in the front line it was the same gun section that had are ee for
bombers.
Another Detroit man, , Sergeant Hever. C. 4 section chief. One afternoon an excited Italian f running up to him, waving his arms wildly and po: r ‘culvert about 800 yards from the position | occupied at section’s gun. I don’t believe Sergeant Tyler had muc any idea what the Italian said, but it eas take ant realize NDR, he meant—trouble, 3 |
Ue int, TP! a AD
tae
we + ; ; % es Pliage t *
He peut up his Peau ordered three of his men to
z follow with their rifles, and led the group to the culvert. Be- _ fore long, they were back with four German prisoners, who
had surrendered without a struggle. But hidden in the cul- vert with them, these fellows had assembled a vast stock of | mines, grenades, carbines, and TNT. Later it was brought
out that they were sent on a mission of sabotaging army ma- terial. By quick and fearless action these four enlisted men» _ of the 450th had neatly upset their plans.
I am a little reluctant to speak of the 99th Fighting —
| Squadron—Not, I hasten to say, because I do not take great.
pride in its achievements, but because during its operations
from North African bases and later from bases established
in Sicily last summer, my son, Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin
O. Davis, Jr., had the honor of being its commanding officer. :
But in this case, I- feel that modesty should be overruled in favor of a word about the service of this Squadron, which first saw action during the early days of June in dive-bomb- ing attacks on the Italian Island of Pantelleria. This was after the capitulation of the Germans and Italians in North Adrie®, you remember, but previous to the landings on Sicily.
It was on June 18, that a flight of six planes from. the 99th first encountered enemy planes. Over Pantelleria they met a force of twelve German FW-190s protecting bombers bent on raiding Allied garrisons which, by that date, had tak- en over the island. Ten more German fighters hovered up- stairs, flying over. In this baptism of fire, the 99th gave a praise-worthy account of itself. The American colored pil- ots parried the Nazi thrust and caused the other planes to retreat with two of the Germans damaged. The 99th suf-
- fered no losses.
During a bomber escort mission to Sciacca, Italy, the
% squadron accounted for its first enemy plane. On that date,
the 99th was flying close escort for our bombers, absorbing
all of the attack of more than 20 ME-109s, MACCHI 202s
and FW-190s. The Americans lost two of their planes, but Captain Charles B. Hall of Barzil, Indiana, downed the first plane credited to a colored pilot. After the ships returned, General Eisenhower himself visited the airfield where the squadron was based and personally congratulated Captain Hall on his victory.
These few episodes, taken from the Army’s records, are in the pattern of service which colored troops are perform-
ing on every American battlefront. But the Army is not all
fighting. And before ever a man gets into combat there are many long—sometimes weary—months of training before he
~ pps” accomplished. that necessary transition from: ‘Civilian to $ soldier. | aA
17
his real dedication is a matter of the spirit
) Cn life. This is as true of ioe nS
by the army for the purpose of making him uncomfo table.
Ff he will fight on his feet, and his feet had better be vote
| pliance which ae as demands, but is the basis of )
es:
_ tates may: well have lost his life befor and the disciplined soldier. learns.
of Sattig on a “Uhiene the inne orm is his ou dence of the new life to w nich he has dedicated hims
ive many men ho pass through the: p . tive Service and are sent to their first camp, - army may seem for a time to offer a strange a
the colored man hoe more apprehensive ‘of store for him when he enters army oy te
when they are sifted through the letters which the: new ee may write. : : hee i The. most aorene slisiista of the soldi is. healthy body. It must be trained to such a fiber ness as few civilians ever acquire. A healthy bo soldier’s first shield and resource. Without it, he er surmount the hardships of enemy action in di rain. ‘The calisthenics, the drilling, the gradually stiffenin: marches and bivouacs under the open sky are not d on C
some day, on some far field, he may, pleee them, for : the. source of his strength to endue. ee
War is not a soft thing. Even in mee ot fare as. this, in the last analysis it is the soldier’s (
which wins the battle. He may ride to battle ina
There are many complaints in letters: back hoi ; ng the first weeks of training. Do not take them to Sel ously. These men are just beginning to find aching m iN hie they had never known existed before. They are beginni to know fatigue, but they have not yet mastered it. They learning instant obedience to orders, but they have 1 discovered that this, again, is not some _unreasonak
in battle. _ ae 1s teeied move oe Prendleay Phere a
Aucenon to argue a little, to consider ¥ when a commanding officer issues an.
pare ss and wise. eae
: ig: foe abies arcee months of training: , man acquires
°
pride in: himself, pride in his outfit, pride in the army, Dade in his. country which this army represents.
. Many men il return to civilian life far better aye to serve useful lives for what they have learned in the army. The army has need for many skills, and there are not enough who possess them to fill the need. So the army has institut- ed its many technical schools at which trades and skills are. taught which will be as useful in civilian life later on as they are now in combat.
Many men, too, are learning for the first time ilegues their army experience how to read and write and count — money and approach the ordinary experiences of life with
confidence. Illiterates who pass certain tests are inducted
-and then incorporated into special training units where these rudiments of education are taught. A large number of col-— ored men are now undergoing this type of training, many
from the agricultural regions of the South where they have
never before had opportunities for schooling. To these lives, _ the army will have added incomparably. Upon the basis of learning which they are acquiring, they may move forward to: knowledge which was beyond their reach before.
| Army experience is also cutting the rate of veneral ae: ease. Although initially the army would not accept a man with venereal disease, the regulation was changed sometime ago so, that men were ‘accepted first with uncomplicated cases of gonorrhea and more recently with uncomplicated cases of syphilis. Inductees infected with venereal disease are sent to hospitals at the Reception Centers where they undergo
_ treatment. From these centers they are assigned to various : units of the army in the same manner as other soldiers.
‘These facts should convince you that the army exper- ience, on the whole, is not a life to be looked upon with ap- prehension. It is hard, it is tough sometimes. It must be, to prepare us for these grim months we are facing. No weak- lings will come through them easily. But before he has fin- ished his army career, a man acquires a new respect for him- self. 6
‘Colored eatcters are honored members of the army.
Gime them—and all soldiers—against local «prejudice, army justice operates to protect their interests when they mey. have been led astray in civilian communities.
Tf do not know that it is generally known, but the com- “mlandine officer of a soldier arrested in a civilian communi- ty is directed to: ask the civilian authorities to surrender him 7a ae ‘trial. |
12
Not all such requests are honored, for a soldier, as well
as a civilian, is under civil jurisdiction when he leaves the
boundaries of his army post. But in those instances where hf
civilian authorities do not comply, the refusal is transmitted to the War Department. Additional requests are made. The result is often—though not always—the surrender of the soldier to the custody of his commanding officer, to face the unprejudiced justice of military law.
‘LT. -have. said that I; feel. shonored, (10. (ea) Tames I want to repeat it. To the relatives and friends, I should
like to offer my congratulations on the young men and women to whom you are dedicating this service flag. In such evidence of our single-minded devotion to one great cause
lies the strength of this Nation. \Victory will, be ours. We
cannot fail. You may read it in these stars.
kay
Bureau of Public Relaticns, U. S’ War Department COMMENDED FOR EFFICIENCY—Master Sergeant Alphonse Perry, 34 Culver Street, Yonkers, New York, motor sergeant for an Engineer aviation battalion that is constructing airdromes in England, i has been commended for the excellent manner in which he has handled — the repair section of the battalion. (Photo U. 8S. Army Signal Ven Ne
20
-" :
| loaded several trucks.
With The Fifth Army, Ita- ly—Veterans of two cam- paigns in the Mediterranean
theatre, three Negro soldiers who landed on the Fifth Ar-
my’s Anzio-Nettuno beach-
head early on the morning of
invasion day, are working to-
ward a record as champion
ammunition loaders. — By the time the first enemy
3 planes flew over the beach-
head, the men had already And since that time they have
withstood a score or more of
enemy bombings. <
“Some of the raids here are so quick. there’s no time to
take cover,” said Sergeant McKinley Horton, team lead-
er, of 1933 Columbia Avenue,
Philadelphia. Pa.
So
7
though they have
“We. just keep on working. And so far none of the bombs have hit any of the trucks we’ve load- ed with ammunition, al- hit the ee near ‘us’
Working with Sergéant ree are two other Phila- delphians, Private Herman - House, of 528 North 3ist Street, and Private John Tucker, of 1014 South 20th “Street. The soldiers have been overseas since April, 1943, and have been working re to 14 hours a day as an | eke
ficient team.
“Our present ~ ambition,” says Private House,
_ the fastest team on the beach
_ because then we know we are as cring more bombs to the
uh 51 pe + ; ‘ ! * 4 * alt
_ sey.
‘is to be
Koldiers. Work toe ‘Record. As rs) Ppombs Pound Sands At Anzio
is the
LEGION OF MERIT award recently presented to Staff Sergeant John M. Lewis, Jr., mem- ber of the 318th Antiaircraft Bar- rage Balloon Battalion at Camp Tyson, Tennessee, for his part: in bringing to justice a ring of mari-
huana peddlers. Staff Sergeant Lewis is from Camden, New Jer-
(Photo by U. S. Army Signal Corps. )
enemy. portunity and figures on what
we accomplish — would seem amazing." a
We clock ourselves whenever we have the op-
ae
Dare ‘His c Ar
Lieutenant Shelton Reed, Columbus, Georgia, assigned to the 92nd Signal Company, Fort Huachuca, has the dis- tinction of being the first Ne- gro graduate of the Signal Corps Officer Can di idate
Lieutenant Shelton Reed
Sener: a Fort ide aoth, New Jersey.
That, however, was hae the only ‘“‘first” destined to be achieved by Lieutenant Reed. Shortly. after graduation, he was assigned to the Tuskegee Army Air Field, Alabama, where he organized and com- manded the first Negro Air-
22>
“erat
Negro officer. tog
1942, where he
en rade ition, ie
the Office of th nal Officer, War Washington, De for duty there on
til he left on an signment. ae
Lieutenant Redd most of his Ace |
nites ee ts , Officer Cana 1 School. ,
oO ‘dive years as porter. | Ms
band Ape) six “anaes e@ munications chief for t years and personnel s ze. for ee year ay
Released by U. S. War Department Bureau of Public Relations CAMP DEVENS, MASSACHUSETTS—Lieutenant Colonel How- ard D. Queen, Washington, D. C., commanding the 366th Infantry,
looks over a bust of himself, sculptured by Staff Sergeant William E. Artis, Washington, North Carolina.
‘2nd LT, ETHEL C. JOHNSON ‘1st LP. SUSAN E. FREEMAN -.... Setauket, N. Y. sawn Stratford, Conm sewed 9
With The Fifth Army, It- aly—Perhaps the most “‘air travelled” ground soldier in
the Fifth Army is Technical ©
Sergeant William C. ‘Bill’ Cheney, of Williamsburg, Virginia, who currently is having his full share of ad- venture and excitement. One of the proudest mem- bers of the “Clark family” in Italy, the 49-year-old enlisted ‘‘aide’”’ works, he says proud- ly, “For the finest chief on earth”——Lieutenant General
Mark W. Clark, ese:
of the Fifth Army. .
And Sergeant Cheney’s job is an enviable one. He has toured thousands of miles with General Clark on land, in the'air and on the sea. He joined the General’s entour- age in 1941, and believes he has kept his promise to Mrs. Clark to take good care of the General.
Besides meeting high-rank- ing officers in the Fifth Ar- my, Sergeant Cheney is a fa- miliar figure to the principal Allied leaders in the. Euro- pean and North African the- aters. :
He has numerous “HYSt, * being the first Negro Ameri- can soldier to fiy to Algiers (he landed with the Fifth Army commander and his aides at the Algiers airport
amidst flak and heavy bomb-—
ing as German planés made
their first raid on North Af-
rica) and later, a passenger
on one of the ‘first ships to
plough its way Into: the Gulf i g of salerno. Eye
But the carenet ha fi . delible impression of landings at Salerno arl invasion _day_ | A
nessed” THe Batilé ‘fo lerno beachhead from the headquarters ship, nerve cé ter of the invasion feet. | 4 was shaken up by the e sion of exploding bo they raked the wate the ship. i, oe He saw sleek shige be ys last hurried — call 0
Sundae | is the aioe He saw Nazi dive be speed to ee attack |
sea, jee Black S apbon smoke steaming behind the And on the shore, he witne ed the erack and roll thunder of the invasion tle in all its fury. This AS
Sergeant Cheney’s gre best
adventure. os ES eat ae
Sergeant ‘Cheney oe along on’ most of
Clark’s longer trips, recalis there’s one _ missed. It was the
secret mission to Nor ca just before the at Oran. The Serges members that his «
a rapid exit from hotel one October (1942) but he figurec only a routine trip. — news of the secret oo broke, Sergeant Chen y a on His) rehiet s te
RAY Rn te Se
ats
to go along. _
A bit weary of the life in London, where he had been stationed for several months, Sergeant Cheney had visions of remaining a London sold- ier while all the travel and excitement fell to the Gener- al. But those visions lasted only a short time, for a few days later he was headed for Gibraltar in a Flying Fort- ress.
“As soon as the General |
heard that the first airfield was taken at Algiers,’ Ser- geant Cheney said, “We ran to our plane and were off in a cloud of dust. Then, after the Mediterranean flight, we had to fight our way into the Algiers field, Boy, that was a
tough air raid, but the Gener- al didn’t bat an eyelash!”
After serving for 14 months in North Africa and Italy, Sergeant Cheney has forgotten all about London and his hotel “soldiering.” Now he’s bivouacked in a tent along a lower ridge of the Appenines, from. which he sloshes through the deep mud to the General’s field quarters.
Although he has heen hon- ored with introductions to plenty of “gold braid’ since coming overseas, all of Ser- geant Cheney’s acquaintanc- es aren’t confined to general officers. He has 17 years’ ser- vice to his credit in the Army, most of which was spent in the cavalry. A woolly, un- tamed horse named ‘Tex” was his mount, and he has been tossed about bye Tex”?
mere. times than he has ex-
Rriahaicne, elie a bit nave be. ; cause he hadn’t been invited
SERGEANT HERBERT C. TYLER Sergeant Herbert C. Tyler, of 1081 Dubois Street, Detroit, Michi- gan, is section chief of a gun crew of a 40 mm. (Bofors) antiaircraft . artillery battalion in Italy which is -eredited with the shooting down of two German planes and the capture of four Nazi prisoners. His batta- lion, the 450th Antiaircraft Artil- lery (Automatic Weapons) Batta- lion, is the first Negro combat or- ganization to go into action on European soil. (Photo by U. S Army Signal Corps.) .
tended a hand to facee annie.
er general.
Before his days with “Pox”? Sergeant Cheney was a cook in a hotel at Daytona Beach, Florida. The mess sergeant’s course taken at Fort Slocum, New York, helped him then, as it does now when he some- times steps into the General’s kitchen to give a hand to the
eooks, Corporal Lloyd Gist,
2359 8th Avenue, New York City, New York, and Corpor- al Hershel G. Baker, 324. 3rd Street, Las Vegas, Nevada.
| “with Fifth ie i ay vege troops fighting forces are “winning their spurs” in t ) Italy. They were right up in front when Lieutenant ener- — al Mark Clark’s Fifth Army overran the toe of the Italian boot and fanned out in the direction ae Rome. — | i r had
thick of things in Africa.
Stories trickling back hom the front ued in anecdotes in connection with our soldiers. One Staff Sergeant Milton Winkley, of Dallas, Texas, hit in the arm by Berman shrapnel at Gafsa.in Tunisia When asked by Major General Omar N. Bradley wh e did not go to a hospital, his answer was: “It doesn’t i good sense to me to quit working just because of a hole in the arm when there is so much to be done.” W ley has been awarded the Purple Heart. | if ‘
nGomplan About Dull Routine
adelphia, Ponienipn ane Private Bivet Class Clavnee. Sia of 2 Flessler Place, Montclair, New Jersey, and Private Fi Class John Webb, of Oxford, North Carolina, stood o sleek deck of a troopship on their way to invade Italy. talked about their uneventful trip from the United Ss to North Africa last Novémber and then started comp. Ing about how uninteresting life had been for them si cE
en. Ps
“Wow!” said Corporal Baskerville. pointing toa g y:
which suddenly rose close to the side of a _ ship :
| front of them. Soon there was a deafening explosion TOP oy ' lowed shortly by the command “Abandon Ship!” oe ae
Baskerville and Swan did what they could; they ne the sailors lower one of the lifeboats. -Webb assisted 3 the rope ladder. Things went along smoothly, aati
7 It wasn’t long before they were picked up by an Bi 7 destroyer. Transfer to an American. minesweeper foll and soon they were aboard a British ieee finally x placed ashore. :
Private First Class Webb, he ieee tHe: hum the trio, believes he has something to boast to his wife . SAC last we got something to talk about,” he said. routine is broken. And I just know my wife, Mr; Webb, who is a member of the Women’s Army | orps Knox, Kentucky, won't have any cA Perens to
i 26
Phives Pile Up ar Years Service In War Department
Washington, D. C.—When William Phillips Bowe Gn :
chief messenger in the office of Under Secretary of War.
Robert P. Patterson, completed 44 years of service in the War Department on October 22, it was appropriat noted that two other federal employees were about to chalk up a com- bined total of 67 years on government jobs.
One of a large number of brothers and sisters, Robin- son came to Washington from his native Richmond in 1892. His career in the War Department began on October 22, 1899,
and very soon after he was assigned to the office of the As- k
sistant Secretary of War. He became Chief Messenger quickly and moved up when the office of Under Secretary of
nag War was created in 1941.
Recalls General Eisenhower
Robinson recalls General Eisenhower as a young major in the Under Secretary’s office. His eyes grow bright and he grins reflectively when he recalls “the Major.” “Always knew he was going ahead,” he says. “Well, he surely is going ahead in Italy these days, and he’s going te go farth- er.’ | Robinson has served under more than a dozen Assistant Secretaries of War: Robert S. Oliver, Henry Breckenridge, William M. Ingraham, Benedict Crowell, William R. Williams, Jonathan Wainwright, Dwight F. Davis, Hanford MacNid- er, Charles Burton Robbins, Patrick J. Hurley, Frederick H. Payne, Harry H. Woodring, Louis A. Johnson, and Robert P. Patterson, now Under Secretary of War. Three—Mr. _ Davis, Mr. Rurley and Mr. Woodrink — became Secretaries
of War.
Personalities whose -portraits occupied the place of honor in the halls of three temporary government buildings are Henry Coates, Jr., and Verner E. Bogan who have worked for the Quartermaster Corps for 37 and 30 years respectively.
: Assigned To Canal Zone
_ During his 37 years with the government, ore Coates, Jr., has served in many capacities, including an assignment to ‘the Canal Zone. Present working with the Fuels and Lubricants Division, he entered federal service in 1904 through a temporary appointment with the Library of Con- gress, later going to the Ordnance Bureau of the War De- partment. In 1908 he transferred to the Office of the Com- missary General when the two departments were consolidat- ed in 944. | Coates is a native of La Plata, Maryland, and has lived
in and around Washington all his life.
of:
Appointed to the War Department frank Civil Service register in 1913, Verner E. Bogan was assigned to the Mail
and Records Division of the Office of the Quartermaster Gen-
eral. He is a native of Kentucky, and came to Washington -in 1913 to accept a position in the War Department.
Relezsed by U. S. War Department. Bureau of Public Relations ARAWE, NEW BRITAIN.—A Negro antiaircraft unit goes tite ‘ action near Arawe, New Britain. While the other crew members calculate the range and aim the gun, Technician Fifth Grade Jeff — Stevenson, of Meridian, Mississippi, and Corporal John Meridian — slip a shell into the breach of the weapon. (Photo by U. S. Army Signal Corps.) cue Bea a A
«ae
Me _ NEGROES: HAVE. WON, MANY a a
_ HONORS | IN, “THIS” WAR | oy | ins the. current global war the Negro’ has definitely ¢ tablished himself in the hierarchy of distinguished loli ee Pvt George Watson, of Birmingham, Ala., received the Dis- i tinguished Service Cross for extraordinary ~heroisn in, the — , _ Southwest Pacific on March 8, 1943. i ae AOr exceptionally meritorious conduct in he. Cre ance of outstanding services ‘at Guadalcanal on March 27, 19438, four Negro youths received the Legion of Merit. They Ds mr were: Pfc. Ben W. Pettis, Senatobia,. Miss.; Pvt. Jesse Harris; _ ae ‘Tuskegee, Ala.; Pvt. Verna C. Neal, Ruleville, | Miss., Buh aa Pvt. ee Smith, Jr., Good Pine, La. ae ae ae
a
ey vate “Awarded: Silver Star
* . oo Charles M. Baynes, of Chicago, was surded the Pe
‘Silver. Star for heroic. conduct exhibited on June 26)" 194.
‘ re near an Algerian air base. Another Silver Star award went i to Pvt. Mack B.. Anderson, of Brenham, Ngee for bravery a
| in India in 1942. oe
z Many others have been honored: in this war, their awards
Bint ranging from the Distinguished Service Cross. to the Good
yey Conduct: Medal...
oe Between the years 1862 and 1926, soldiers s serving in SieNerc outfits were awarded 31 Congressional Medals of Honor and 57 Distinguished Service Crosses. Since.the War ‘Department. record of those honored makes no reference to
, ‘race, it is presumed that there are others. :
ho) . _ First authorized by act of Congress in 1862, the Medal of Honor, often referred to as the Congressional Medal of
ies Honor because it was “presented in the name of Congress,”
| is the highest decoration awarded by the United States Gov-
Oo eernment. 3°." A
er ata ene: Distinguished Serice Cross, the next highest hon- —
or, was instituted by executive order in January, 1918, and
has confirmed by Congress July 9, 1918.
a cok First instance in history of the award of the Medal of
_ Honor to a Negro was in 1863 when Sgt. William H. Carney, ©
. Company C, 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, received
the honor for conspicuous gallantry at for \Wagner, South CTOEND., on July 18 of that year. .
wi Heroic Soldier | i ae pre. citation alee in part, that ‘““when the sergeant was
oi i THe down, the soldier ‘grasped the flag, led the way to the | a od Be and planted the colors thereon. When the troops ne fell back he brought off the flag, under a fierce fire in which
rie 2 he- was twice severely wounded.” 4 aay And so down through the years the number of Negroes who: have won oye for valor has pe conte see
er ac ar eg NA + 29 : ! AV Page 25, é pa Baretta oho cai Maerua Pret . aon
P ay ‘ mi, * : Ad 1 4 Le ir + 1. See
w
Released by U. S. War Department, Bureau of Public Relations
BERLIN-BOUND “BLOCK BUSTERS”—In the midst of a driv- ing snow storm a crane crew of the Eighth Air Force “somewhere in England” headed by Sergeant Antonio Johnson, of San Antonio, Texas (left) maneuvers a 2,000-pound “block buster” into the last truck of a large convoy being loaded. Others pictured atxwork are Corporal Clarence Brixter, of Chicago, Illinois; Corporal Horace Hines, of Birmingham, Alabama; Private Rome McGee, of Collins, Georgia; Private Arthur Franklin, of Detroit, Michigan; Corporal Marvin Thomas, of St. Louis, Missouri, and Private Jesse. Eagle, of
New Rochelle, New York. (Photo by U, 8. Army Air Forces.)
30
D astdod The Soldier’ 3 ‘Medal en ne For heroic action which resulted in the saving of a burn-
ing P-38 Lightning fighter plane of the Fifteenth Army Air’ a it Force in the North African Theater, First: Sergeant Oliver nue
Keyes of Kurtwood, La., was awarded the Soldiers” ‘Medal.
The action took place August 29; 1943. ris ees General Order announcing ane award to First Ser
geant Keyes stated in part: tt
“On August 29, 1943, a P-38 caught fire while ropah'
-Janding: . Sa) ANG. blocked the entire runway. Observing
four other aircraft circling the field unable to land and learn- |
_ ing that they were low on gasoline, First Sergeant Keyes
immediately drove to the ene plane and attempted to ex-
- tinguish the flames.
“Although he was warned by the pilot to bee Ree.
as an explosion was imminent, this enlisted man continued
his efforts and managed to subdue the flames sufficiently so that he could attach a short tow chain. He then pulled
the still burning airplane off the runway with a half- truck
and helped to put out*the fire. aes “The quick. action and personal oat nc dis-
played by First Sergeant Keyes not only made possible the
# subsequent landing of four other planes, but also saved from
heroism uraction.
destruction an aircraft which had been given up as lost. By
his unfailing devotion to ‘duty and unusual initiative, he has reflected great credit upon himself and the Armed forces of the ee States.”
| Squad Sets World Record
ae a eae Aemmenatention of. the 4.2- inch chemical mor-
tar for Army officers, five Negro soldiers of the Fifth Chem- ical Company recently established a new record for speed,
the War Department ‘reported. The five man squad fired _
_ 20 rounds in 32 seconds. The 4.2-inch mortar is used to fire both smoke and high explosive shells.
‘The squad was composed of Set. Arthur raeeks Port | Arthur, Texas; Private First Class Charlie Wilson, Ward, A hes Private First Class Edward James, Chicago, IL: Priv- ate First Class Moses Oliver, Summerton, So. Carolina; and 7)
re Private T. P. Warren, ‘Fort Pierce, Florida.
a First of 368th to receive Distinguished Cross Lieutenant Robert Lee Campbell, 868th: Infantry, - 92nd
ae Division was among the first of a long list of Negro soldiers
to receive the Distinguished Persie Cross for pA ae eax
Released by U. S. War Department, Bureau of Publi¢ Relations Lae NORTHERN AUSTRALIA—A Negro antiaircraft unit is now training for action in General Douglas MacArthur’s offensive against the Japanese, which is pushing the American “bomber line” and baseg northward. Sergeant Frank Flowers is directing operations of this — Bofors 40 mm. AA gun. (Photo by U. S. Army Signal Corps.)
One of the ‘Jones Boys’ ; Captain Richard L. Jones, former vice-president and General Manager of a large department store on Chicago's Southside, a ‘veteran of the first World War, is a Special Ser- vice Officer at Camp Ellis, Illinois. He is credited with assisting the establishment of the first Negro owned bank in Louisville, Kentucky.
FIRST MAN TO BE KILLED IN THIS WAR The honor of being the first to die for his country in the Pacific Theater of Operations was a Negro. ‘This fact was uncovered by the Press Branch of the War Department
through published reports of the attack on the Philippines
in 194],
- Brooks Field, parade ground at Fort Knox, Kentucky, is named in his honor. His name is Private. Robert H. Brooks, Josephine, Kentucky, son of Roy Brooks, a Negro
farmer, who now resides at Sadiesville, Ky. He enlisted in ~
the infantry, March 15, 1941, and was killed December 8,
1941, in the Philippines, the first American Bieri in thig War,
pa
=e
~ -— s WINS SOLDIER’S MEDAL—Private James H. Burnam, 325 West Hickman Street, Winchester, Kentucky, is shawn receiving ‘soldier’s medal from his commanding officer, Colonel Ewart G. Plank, _of Washington, D. C., at ceremonies conducted in England. i‘ ;
€
____—_—s* FINAL BREAK-THROUGH ON ALCAN HIGHWAY—Corporal _ Refines Sims, Jr., of Philadelphia, Pa., (left) and Private Alfred _ dalufka of Kennedy, Texas, shake hands where their bulldozers met
“
. ; entice <<. 4 at ps SS rats Bee RL Ses 3 bol san ithe pvanre eeigs muna) Sopcnd e
Chaplain Describes Feats © Of Quartermaster Battalion
“Too much emphasis can- —
Details of the accomplish- ments credited to his all-Ne- ero Quartermaster battalion, which has seen service in North Africa and Italy, were reported by Chaplain (Cap- tain) Edward A. Freeman, of 901 Park Avenue, S.E., At- lanta, Georgia.
In assisting the establish- ment of the initial breach in the German fortress wall by amphibious forces, the bhat- talion was strafed, bombed and shelled day and _ night, according to Chaplain. Free- man.
From draft: vessels ‘streak- ing ashore under hails of fire from high-ground German positions, the Quartermaster unit kept ammunition, fuel, vehicles, food and water Mov-
ing up constantly in support.
of combat elements.
“The record of my unit,” Chaplain Freeman wrote proudly, “has gained them commendations of higher headquarters, and is one which reflects great honor upon these men whose civil- ian abilities ranged * from common laborers to the high- er professions.
“A few graves have been left behind as well as a sprinkling of Purple Hearts throughout the battalion. The men have labored under con- ditions favorable and wunfay- orable, pleasant and unpleas- ant, but in all they have made the adjustments and worked on.
34
not be attached to the contri- — bution being made by Negro’ With soldiers of oth- er races the Negro soldier is . sharing equitably in the pur- demo-
troops.
chasing price of the
a.
!
cratic way of life for all peo-
ples.”’
Assigned oneyear ae to.
Chaplain Freeman embarked. on a several pursuit when the unit left camp 12 hours before his ar- — rival. He rejoined the outht © overseas when, quite by.
chance,h e found it in bivouac | : ae
near the unit to which he was temporarily attached.
Overseas, the
thousand mile |
acted in various military ca- —
pacities,; the Chaplain ex-= 37) plained. As a port battalion « it unloaded supplies and ©
packed them in warehauses until ready for use. AS a gas supply company it unloaded. hundreds of gallons of gaso- line into smaller containers for convenient usage by front line troops. As a_ railhead ~ company it sorted broke them into
all
‘the Quartermaster Battalion, ~ ip
battalion ae
eke
rations; 74 y o balanced
proportions for each soldier, —
a
and segregated the stocks for -
handy distribution hours, day or night.
- Members of the “unit did: * oy
guard duty at depots.and oth- —
er installations, » drove
checkers in loading and un-
at all. in i
oe. Ban maintained vehicles, acted BS aS
loading at docks, worked on ne,
labor gel and
as engi
ion ‘mess hesea: a com- plete holiday dinner of tur: key, with _accessories, and served it within 26 hours to fighting troops during lulls in combat.
The sports activities of the Q.M. Battalion, culminating in the winning of the base- ball championship at Oran, enhanced the morate of the men considerably, said Chap-
lain Freeman. It was an in-
direct source of developing hitherto obscure members for non-commissioned officer ma-
. terial, and at one time two
enlisted men of the unit were
given commissions in the field. | |
Of National Baptist denom-
ination, the 29-year-old At- lanta Chaplain entered ser-'
vice in March, 1942. He
graduated in 1939 #£=from
Clark University, Atlanta.
RS
Released by U. 8S. War Department Bureau of Public Relations
CPL. GILBERT DE GROAT, of Patterson, New Jersey, is a mem- : ber of a Military Police Battaiion ; stationed in Great Britain. An amateur boxer, he has won over 50 fights, including a Golden Gloves contest in the United States and three in Great Britain.
Released by U. S. War Department Bureau of Public Relations } FORT CLARK, TEXAS—Four regimental officers of the All-
Negro 2nd Cavalry Division, who have been assigned to the 27th Cavalry are, left to right: Second Lieutenant John R. Ishmael, 4328
Garfield Street, St. Louis, Missouri, who attended Summer High School
and was co-captain of the track team; Second Lieutenant Willis Porter, who formerly lived in Cleveland, Ohio, where he graduated
from Central High School; Second Lieutenant William E. Becks,
Beatrice, Nebraska, a graduate of Beatrice High School in 19386, and
_ Second Lieutenant Oscar Evans, Indianapolis, Indiana, who attended
Crispus Attucks High School, boxed in the Golden Gloves matches in
‘ . Indiana, and won the middleweight championship in 1941,
30
Released by U. S. War Department. Bureau of Public Relations SOUTH PACIFIC CHAMPION—Corporal Jethro Jeffers, of 6611 Champlain Avenue, Chicago, IIL, is heavyweight boxing champion of the entire South Pacific area. He won the honor in a tournament held at Guadalcanal on December 24 and 25, 1948. Lieutenant Commander Gene Tunney, former world’s heavyweight champion, presented him
with the Alice Faye Gold Medal, donated by the film star... (U. S. Army photo.) ees
‘
36
U. S. ARMY MEETS LIBERIA—Napoleon Edward Taylor, private first class of Baltimore, Maryland, first U.'S. Engineer to land on African soil in Liberia, meets admiring native Liberians.
. ANOTHER ‘FIRST’ a
The first Negro soldier to apply for aviation cadet. train- ing under the Army. Air Forces’ new air crew training pro- gram began his pre-flight training at Kessler Field, ‘Biloxi, Mississippi, late in February, 1944. He is Private First Class Gordon E. Brown, Jr., New York City. | Sat
AWARDS OF CONCRESSIONAMM - EDAL OF HONOR — _
(Awarded for conspicuous gallantry and int
1862 to Ag2e DS Sa
3 idity Ebove and beyond the
eell of duty im action pane the’ ene-ry.)
NAME
Got. E. L. Baker, Jr.
Pvt. eae H,.Barnes Ist SetP. Beaty Py. Banna Bel Set. Thomas: Boyne Ist Set. J. Bronson pet W. H. Carney Sgt. John Denny Set. Deca tur Dorsey Set, C. A. Flectwood Pvt. das. Gardiner Set. vd. EL ee ris Sgt. Thos. Hawkins ooo AS, Hi lten Set. MM. M. Holland Sgt, H. Johnson Cpl. Miles James Set. Geo. Jordan
1st Sgt. Alex Kelly Pvt. Fitz Lée
Sgt. Wm. McBryar ist. Set. Rbt, Pinn Set. Thomas Shaw Set. E. Stance Pvt. W. Thompkin: Pvt. Charles Veal Pvt. Aug. Walley
Pvt. G. H. Wanton Ist Sgt. M. Williams
Cpl. W.-Q. Wilson Set. Brent Woods
ORGANIZATION | | YEAR 10th U.S. Calvalry 1898
38th U.C. Colored Troops 1864 5th U.S. Colored aoe 1864 10¢h U.S. Calvalry” 1898 9th U.S. Calvaley _ 1879 Sth U.S. Colored Tréops 1864 54th Mass Colored, Inf, 1863 Sth U.S Canali we EBT
39th U.S..Colored Troops 1964 .
4th U.S. Colored (T¥sops 1864 36th U.S. Colored’ Treops 1864 S8tt 1 U.S. Colored Yroops 1864
L US. Colored joe 1864 seh U.S. Colored @rcops 1364 5th U.S. Colored, Tresps 1864 36th U.S 5. Colored Troops 1864 Oth US. Caaegy 1879 9th U.S. Caves ei 1880-18281
6th U.S. Colored Wiicus - 1864 10th U.S. Cavalry /1898 10th U.S. Cavalry 1899 5th U.S. Colered Treops 1964
9th U.S. Cavelry 1881 Sth U.S. Cavalry we OR 10th U.S. Cavalry 1898
4th:U.S. Colored Troops 1864 9th US. Colored Troops 1881
10th U.S. Colored Troops 1898
9th U.S. Cavalry 1881 9th U.S. Cavalry 1890 9th U.S. Cavalry 1881
Place Achievement Gantiago, Cuba.
Nr. Richmond, Vai? Nr. Richmond, Va. Tayabecoa, Cuba Nimbres Mts. N.M.. Nr. Richmond, Va. Fort Wagner, S.C.
(Las Ani. Can., N.M. - Petersburg, Va.
Nr. Richmond, Va. Nr. Richmond, Va.. New Mkt. Hts; Va. Deep Bottom, Va... a Richmond, Va..
. Richmond, Va. We Richmond, Va. Milk River, Colo. . Ft. Tulerso, N.M. & Carizo Canyon, NUM. | Nr. Richmond, Va. - Tayabacoa, Cuba ~_ Arizona : Nr. Richmond, Va. Carizo Can. N.M. - Kickapoo Spr., Tex. Tayabacoa, Cuba . Nr. Richmond, Va./ Cuchillo Negro Mountains, N. Mex. Tayabacoa, Cuba Cuchillo Negro Mountains, N.M. Sioux Campaign New Mexico
First To Receive Purple Heart : In 99th Fighter Squadron —
First member of the 99th Fighter Squadron to receive the Purple Heart award is First Lieutenant Thomas M. Ma- lone, Detroit, Michigan.
Lieutenant Malone served a supply officer of the 366th
Service Group Squadron.
Working with the British Eighth —
Army, supported by the 99th, the advance has been so rapid that the ground echelon had ‘to move to another sector. The Germans in their retreat. planted land mines, and the sup-’ ply truck in which Lt. Malone was riding was rocked by ae Occupants of the truck were knocked
terrific explosion.
unconscious.
pital behind the lines.
and on time,
un
38
Lt. Malone regained consciousness in a hos- The supplies, however, got carole
uy act. ae
es peed: ay 9, 1918)
Vat OF THE FOLLOWING AWARDS WERE GIVEN IN 1918 “ORGANIZATION
Wy x : : Net
"Pick. R. Re kd i. Cpl. Russell Pollard Pvt. George Bell Sa e Sgt. Roy A. Brown | ye Pies, Will -Clincy pes evs. Alex Hammond Dy Opk Van Horton
Pvt. E. L. Merrifield ~
- ec he _ Pvt. Tom Rivers.
A ‘ee Joe Williams - Pvt. John Baker one Pfc. T. H. Davis: Wes is taper E. H. Handy ty Pvt. Joseph James : Ge) Pvt. Bernard Lewis oe Pfc. Lewis Watkins me Set. Wm. Butler be Be z Rn Cpl. oe Earl” é | Pvt. EsMcCowin _. Pvt. Wm, Sandfard «Sgt. Robert Barnes | ae ae Pvt William Cluff - _ Pvt. Leroy Davis | Sgt. Lester Fossie Bo sene Pvt. James Fuquay Pha te Set Ralph. Bibson rely Pvt. W. B. Hurdle Le Pvt. Spirley E. Irby F S Set: Mat. Jenkins © ane . Pvt. A. Johnson cg! 2 Pvt. Andy McCall | bora Pvt. C. T. Monroe re _ Pvt. H. L. Pearson © 2+ hPa” Tom Powell Cpl: E. Thompson i. Cpl. Isaac Valley oe Pvt, Alonzo, Walton
we oe ri, “Pie. NVC White oe
-*
ari
att i ee “
Pit: Alf. Williamson ‘Pvt. Willie Boston _ Pyt. Reuben Burrell | Pvt. Charles-Butler _ pn - Sgt. Thomas Cooper t Pvt. Junius Diggs ‘Pvt. Burton Holmes, Weyl ‘Sandy E. Jones Sgt. L. McClelland ~ ie _ Pvt. Ellison Moses. Pvt. Walley Stewart: _ Pvt. Bruce Stoney —
~ a
tC. Crawford —
S Sane . George Gross —
Pvt. a Merrimon
vt. ee R, Van Allen:
_ Pyt. S. H. Johns os Set. Ira M. Payne _
x
‘Coax Co.
~ Co. Co. Seo, Co,
Co, Co.
fe Co. Co.
Co.
365th Tah,
H 365th ciate ‘ E 366th Inf.
E 366th Inf.
F 366th Inff.
E 366th Inf,
E 356th Inf.
E 366th Inf.
G 366th Tnf.
E 366th Inf. - 1.368th Inf.:
--Place ‘Achievement —
Ferme de Del-Air, Fr. Cae ~. \ Bois- Frehault, Fr,
Lesseau, France | Lesseau, France
Frapelle, France
Lesseau, France ‘Lesseau, France Lesseau, France Bois- de-la- Voivrotte Lesseau, France — Binarville, France — Binarville, France
HEH Oo:
San. Det. 368th Inf. Co. B 368th Inf. Co. 368th” Inf,
Binarville,
Binarville, Binarvilte,
France © France | France :
“Co, FEeGO;
A 368th Inf. A 368th M. G. Bat.
Eply, France
Maison-de-Champagne, —
France
Co. L 369th Inf.
. Co, -K 369th Inf.
oe
ae Pyt. T: Webster --
Co. K 369th Inf.
Med. Det. 369th Inf. Co. L 370th Inf. ) 2nd M.G,. Co., 370th Inf.
Co. te 3 (0th Inf: Co. M 370th Inf. Co. H 370th Inf. ~
Coe 310thelnt: ord M.G. Co. 370th Inf. Co. H 370th Inf. RCo .o (Oth Inks
Hq. Co. 370th Inf. M.G. Co. 370th Inf.
Hg. Co. 370th Inf.
M.G. Co. 370th Inf. Co. H 370th Inf.
Co. L 870th: Inf.
Co. M 370th Inf.
3rd M.G. Co, 370th Inf. Co. F 370th Inf. Med. Det. 370th Inf. M.G. Co. 371st Inf.
“M.G. Co. 371ist Inf.
M.G. Co. 371st Inf. Co. K 371st Inf,
Co. G 371st Inf.
Go, © 38¢1st Int,
Co. C 371st. Inf. Med. Det. 371st Inf. Co. G 371st Inf.
Hd. Co. 371st Inf. “Med. Det. 371st. Inf,
M.G. Co, 371st Inf.
Hq. Co. 372nd Inf,
Ripont Swamp, Fr. ~ Ripont Swamp, Fr.
~Pipont River, Fr. Mont de Sanges, Fr.
Mont de Sanges, ae Mont de Sanges, Fr. F’me-de-la R’v’e, Fr. Guillimet F‘m, Fr. Beaume, France j Ferme ie Folie, ‘Fr,
- Beaume, France
Vauxaillon,. F rance Mont des S’n’es, Fr. F’me de la Riv., Fr.
Mont-de Sanges, Fr.~
Beaume, France Mont-de-Sanges, Fr, Vraincourt, France Rue Larcher and Pont-d’Any, Fr. Vauxaillon, France: Beaume, France _ Ardeuil, France Cham. sect., France Ardeuil, France —
Cham. sect, France — ’ Ardeuil, France orieres ‘Narm, Fr;
Ardeuil, France Nr. Hill 188, Fr. Nr. Champ, France Atdeuil, France Ardeuil, France
_ Nr. Bussy Frm., Fr.
Ardeuil, France rdeuil, France
Nr. Bussy Frm., Fr,
geet: Ca, aio, Co. Co.
D 372nd Inf. L 372nd Inf, » L 872nd Inf, A 372nd Inf. L 372nd Inf.
Nr. Sechault, Fr.
Nr. Bussy Frm., Fr. Nr. Bussy Frm.,~ Fr. Nr. Sechault, Fr. _ Bussy Frm,, Fr.
¥
base: since the Parlicst ae of ne ‘war in tee Pa ficult tasks of air field construction and building oO works in a rugged terrain. are examples ‘Oly as long complishments that have paved the way for, 4 ed, See are blows a the a ee
Army, but ee all pitched in ik a willingness "hee de up for much of the inexperience. ee a
Under officers from established Racine inte ty ing and organization progressed by leaps and bounds. ee short time the outfit was ready for the forthcoming 0. to move out to an unknown destination to do a real job over- seas. Among the first forces sent to this area, # ENG: unit in January, 1942.
Overseas since August, 1942, Senpeanit Gay i. Va 120 White Street, Florence, Alabama, has been Ri
i ne. of 28 years service in the . Aneve “stint Kelley of San Antonio, Texas, has been promoted to ~ rank of first sergeant while serving with a Coast Art regiment. , | | aa :
Kelley originally volunteered for serving & in. Tae
Joining the 9th Cavalry at Fort Douglas, Arizona. He serv in the Philippine Islands from 1916 to 1922. On his ret to the United States, his. home station was- Je racks, Missouri. — :
Private First Class John A. Stocker, son 1 bf ‘Jou tol nts er of Key West, Florida, has been in the South Pacifi iG the latter part of 1942. Now with an air base secu: talion, he enlisted and trained at Camp Blan te and later. at Camp Siebert, Alabama. es
First Sergeant James O. Taylor, brother ae “Miss fe
Bennett, 1133.South Hermitage Street, Chicago, is, 1
iat Passed poe Candidate poe at a fics - gt ey oan ae
OPA
as
FOR SILL, OKLA.—Pvt. Willie Wright, Battery B, 31st Battalion, Field Artillery Replacement Train- ing Center at Fort Sill, hasn’t as yet had a chance to take a crack
Northwestern - ticed law in Chicago for several
Bureau of Public Relations. U. S. War Department
LT. JAMES A. McLENDON Recent recipient of an official
- commendation for his work in con-
nection with the preparation and restatement of Army regulaticns, whose assignment to the Judge Ad- vocate General’s Department on
September 9 has been announced
py the War Department. Lieutenant McLendon, a graduate of Fisk and universities, prac-
years.
at the Axis with a gun but he just finished bombarding the enemy with $9,202 worth—count ’em—of War Bonds. Converting all his as- sets into cash, Private Wright marched into his battery orderly room, planked down the money, and said he wanted to invest in a few bonds. Wright’s is the largest single purchase of War Bonds yet recorded in the 31st Battalion, the Replacement Center’s Negro train- ing division, Inducted in the Army October 15, 1942, the affluent sol-
—_
dier hails from San Antonio, Texas.
&
Stationed in the South Pacific with a Coast Artiiaey
: regiment, Cergeant Virgle Humphrey, North Port, Alabama, is
one of many Alabama men serving at an advance Army base. He enlisted in March, 1941, training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, before going overseas. |
‘A native of Oxford, North Carolina, Private First Class Joseph Blue completed his first year overseas in August.
Private Robert Debnam, son of Charles Debnam, 1019 Trinity Street, the Bronx, New York, has also completed a. year of active duty in the South Pacific with a Coast Artil- _lery Regiment. He was inducted in October 1941 and trained er Kustic, Penne:
‘ Ks vueeea | ae A By dots Colonel — ae BENJAMIN OLIVER DAVIS, oR,
oe! Commander, oh ears
the 99th Fighter Squadron fa ener: 27, “1942, September 2, 1948. During that period I saw QT pil 250-odd . enlisted men develop from a relatively un state to a combat team of which anyone serving with organization could justly be proud. I said that T had y pleasure to command this unit—actually that pleasure 1 realized only when it became apparent that the 99th Fighte
Squadron had taken and could maintain its proper place in the Northwest African Theater of Sa Wetie litt pleasure existed prior to that time. |
and Donat suited to fhe | rigors AP conta t tiying. tt j very significant fact, I believe, that all members is. ganization were impressed at ‘all times with the knowled that the future of the Negro in the Air Corps probably wor be dependent largely upon the manner in which they ried out their mission. Hence, the importance of the \ done by this squadron, the responsibility carried | by man be he ground crewman or pilot meant that very pleasure was to be had by anyone until the experiment deemed an unqualified success. _ :
The 99th is a unique organization in the AAF. Alar : percentage of the enlisted corps was specially recruited r6 Negro colleges all over the United States and sent in a bo to Chanute Field for toutes, The pilots, whe not iS
fae the zone of the interior equipped eats every radva tage
that the Air Corps could provide. Se ae
In the meantime, the squadron cen ed of the ge een was the a zone! ne os om
fe
ae
Smile Of Victory | “1st Lt.
Leon C. Roberts
-*“T was following and was weaving -a lot but I gota burst into his right wing and he flopped over on} his back and into the ground,” said this pilotof the} 99th Fighter] - Squadron in Italy after he destroy- ed an enemy plane on January 27, the day his squadron downed eight Nazi air- , traft. The 99th is equipped with P-40 Warhawks (fighter - bomb- ers). U.S. Army, Air Force photo.
~~
Why the delay? Much attention was directed toward the segregated aspects of the Tuskegee Airfield. This publicity had a profound effect upon the individual member of the 99th. The eyes of the nation were upon this organization. It was true that he felt hurt to find that his training station at Tuskegee. Army Airfield was being regarded by some per- sons outside the military establishment as being a. discrim- inatory setup. However, he had the good sense to realize that the best means he had to defeat the end of supporters and philosophrs who relegated him to a subsidiary role in the life of the United States was to do his job in such a way that the world would know that he was capable of perform- ing a highly specialized and eee piece of work ine a creditable manner.
The fact that his unit was an experiment became a chal- lenge to him, a challenge which he has answered, and one which would set up tendencies to many things that were
unpleasant to him and others of his race. If any single spark could be credited with the measure of success so far achieved
by this squadron, it is this philosophy which exists explicity
in the minds of this organization. Every man in the 99th
SO ee AB ows ai nie
ex
i ye TAb ag oy SAS
7 every step was a dramatic one. I should. like
ae has not been a ee circumstance or incident wh h
es te assure Eber eeu C ment. At all times every man realiz relaxations that are available to men in othe are not available to him because his task is fa 3 responsibility is much heavier, and his. Tova is t
this squadyon left the continental limits of the |
ie 8- dee voyage.
ment section provided an excellent show for. | traveling range of all of our bivouac areas from -
| the men in “my outfit,” and this was not by
mento his peopie, i 4 Suan Now it is necessary ‘that I auvite, your «
philosophy in order that you may better un dt es actions of the individual officer and soldier ae orga
tion.
_ I shall now delete to you our experiences 0 erse: same experiences would be indeed commonpl. ce if th
outset, and I consider this very important, that -
ce lead: Bo ie!
This staff of colored officers carried out the" ovaene: a ) cies of the transport ee despite the fact that ¢
During all this time the members of the Giaeee 1 in the awe of the attention paid them by other sold Ts ie board and succeeded admirably in creating: the impression — that the colored pilot and colored soldier are hot so very ferent after all. | yt Sere
It was here also that the enierie nent section eit in any Table of Organization, was born. T! under the capable direction of the Acting Special Ss ficer, Lieutenant Letcher, went a long way Brie cordial public relations for the squadron. gi
debarkation in Africa clear on through Sicily. — impression created in the minds of the audie men who were giving these shows are just L
the | men wnD participated in that show are
WASHINGTON D. C.—SALUTES!
Pvt. William H. Minor
S-Ist Class James S. Reed Pvt. James Clark
WOMEN’S ARMY CORP
The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, first of its kind in American military history, was authorized by an Act of Congress (May 14, 1942). President Roosevelt, in an Ex- ecutive Order (May 15) directed the establishment of the Corps with an enrollment of 25,000. Legislation for the Corps, introduced in Congress by Rep. Edith Nourse Rogers (Mass.) provides for an ultimate strength of 150,000 women — between the ages of 21 and 45 years. By an Executive Order (Nov. 20, 1942) President Roosevelt increased the strength of the WAAC to 150,000.
The purpose of the Corps is to enlist women volunteers for military service with the Army to replace and release for combat service men who are performing non-combatant dut- ies. : : Training Centers for the Corps were located at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, (opened July 20, 1942), Mera Beach, Florida, and Fort Oglethrope, Georgia.
WAC officers are commissioned in Cre. similar to those of Army officers, who command companies and lesser units. First Officers in the WAC are similar to Captains; Second Officers to First Lieutenants; Third Officers to Sec-
FIRST NEGRO WAC MAJOR .. . Captain Charity Adams of Colimpum Se examines the WAC service ribbon worn by Major Harriet M.- West of Washington, D. C. Major West is on the highest ranking members of the Women's Army Corp and the only Negro woman to hold that rank. Official WAC Photo
46
WAC Auxiliaries top row, left to right: Nettie M. Weaver; Florence E. Woodard; Mildred B. Reynolds; Mona E. Washington; Viola T. Willis; Mary E. Rogers; Zelma E. Malone; Clementine Carter; Hannah C. Powell; Christina Stone; Majorie V. Baker, and Audrey L. Fells, all of Washington, D.C.
ond Lieutenants. Non-commissioned grades are designated First Leader, Leader and Junior Leader corresponding to Army grades of First Sergeant, Sergeant and Corporal. Three WAC specialists Ratings correspond to Army Technicians’ ratings. The Corps receives benefits of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Relief Act of 1940, and their schedules of pay are similar to soldiers of corresponding rank.
First Negro Major of WAC was Harriet West, Wash-
ington, D. C., who also was one of the first Negroes to enlist. She formerly worked in the NYA, as assistant to Mrs. Mary
- McLeod Bethune.
47
WASHINGTON
Pvt. Covert Smith
Ist. Sgt. Christopher Green
48
C.—SALUTES!
Cpl. James A. Deal
7
Released by U. S. War Department. Buresu of Public Relations FIRST MEMBER OF THE NINETY-NINTH Fighter Squadron to win the Purple Heart, First Lieutenant Thomas N. Malone, of Detroit, Michigan, is pictured here with Mrs. Malone during a recent -visit to the Tuskegee Army Air Field, Alabama. First Lieutenant _ Malone had a truck blown out from under him by a land mine in Italy. (Ebote by AAF Training Command.)
@ Continued from Pive 44
and they realized that at ail times instead of just giving a show they were doing a job for the 99th. Upon landing in Casablanca we were met by the Assistant
A-3 of the Northwest Training Command, Colonel Allison,
Air Corps. This officer, who is now on his way back to the :
States for a well- deserved rest, assured me that he would be. available at all times for the solution of any problem that
‘ mis rht arise.
The following day he took me and my operations officer, Captain: Roberts, in to see General Camp who informed us
that we would remain in the area until we would be satis-
~ factorily equipped for combat and that we would not move
into the peepee zone until I felt that everyuning possible had
eM | ap i 49
a
. fiminare reconnaissance of our new La ion ‘miles inland. This station was located in . Nearby was a service command station a d Officer of this station, Colonel Phillips, oO most cordial in his offers to ease any might arise. There was also at this station a fighte sroup commanded by Colonel Stevenson, whom I pleasure to know at the Academy. ‘We moved. his tion by a French train and coverene 150: miles in ab hours, and when we complained about the slowness 0: train we were informed that we were Ineley. to mo _ fast rate of speed. | _ Our stay there was probally. our. host pleas erseas. yee were there about a month. Mos e
ey of the fighter yombers group near the.two organizations engaged in impromptu dogt termine the relative superiority of the P-40 and th we were very happy to verify our belief that vastly superior in this phase of aerial combat. - of the two groups got together very well in all t letic contes sts and ot ther means of recreation.
Heel Avot that aity of us had ever viene ‘One sual: feature of our stay there was that members of my org iza- ty tion and members of these other organizations - Tae | o
not. one single sepa incident arose. | The officers of the squadron were made sgernlae 2 in the town by the visit of Josephine Baker. Miss Bal er sisited on presenting several different groups of our officer to the prominent French and Arab families in the town. Al in all, Miss Baker was very largely responsible for our pleasant social relations in the town of Fez. —
It was during our stay here that four P-39 pilots Vv we had met on the boat on the way over, came to visit 7 They were ferrying some P-39s. from Oran to Casablar and en route they, of their own volition, simply stopped o to pay us a visit. I mention this simply to indicate tha considerable bond exists among those who fly regard | color or race. ‘
Our equipment was of the best. We Penried” in 2 new P-40’s and all of us experienced for the first thrill of flying a brand new airplane. | Lieutenant. Philip Cochran—the Flip Corkin of “Terry and the ‘Pir
—was our most capable instructor. He imbued . with some of his own very remarkable fightin: in addition to that he taught us what to do and w do in aerial combat. We all remember Be a smile
t
-
i
|. —
rit. &
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tu *
aa ene.
om
Bureau of Public Relations, U. S. War Department COMBAT UNIT IN NORTH AFRICA—Negro crew of a 40-mm Bofors antiaircraft gun man their posts at Oujda, North Africa. Temporarily stationed near Fifth Army Headquarters, these members of a Coast Artillery regiment are on duty there at the request of
the Sultan of Morocco. (U.S..Army photo).
pilot never yet ran away from a fight—because he couldn't.”
Yet we all know that the P-40 has a more remarkable com-
bat record in this war than any other fighter airplane except possibly the British Spitfire. The P-40, we jokingly say, has
three important characteristics. The first one is turn, which . enables you to present a very difficult target to an enemy. fighter; the second one is turn, and the third one is also
turn. In aerial fighting this characteristic is naturally of | great importance. | ‘
| We had two other instructors who were with us until
we left for Tunisia. A Major Keyes and a Captain Fach-- ler. Both of these officers had had extensive combat train-
ing, one in England and one in the African campaign, and
‘both had just been returned to the training command for in-
he Sri olen Bl
a)
structional purposes. These officers, worked unceasingly to ~
make us ready for the real test and all of us felt very grate- ful for their efforts. On the 3ist of May we took off for the Cape. Bon pe-
ninsula and the final phase of the experiment. 1 personnally ;
beHeve that no unit in this war has gone into combat better trained or better equipped than the 99th Wighter Squadron. — We were weak in one respect only and that was simply that the squadron commander, myself, and the flight. ee had had no actual combat experience. That is a very; de-|
sirable feature because it gives a good bit of confidence to those who are led that the man who is In charge of the for- mation knows what he is doing and frankly I didn’t know initially, nor did any flight commanders. On the other hand this deficiency was balanced by the fact that my pilots ¢ av- er aged about 250 hours in a P- 40, and a young pilot in these ee days who has 250 hours in a P- 40 before he goes mto com- bat is a hard man to find.
Ali of us were a little on edge because we were going into something that we hadn’t experienced before. This transition was eased by Colenel William Momyer, who com-— . mands a very famous fighter group which is now located up — at the front. We were attachedto his group for operations and attached for operations means just one thing and that ~ alone, simply that every night the group, operations officer ©
telephoned to my operations officer the missions set up ior — |
the next day. I might explain that a little bit differently—
the setup in the African theatre consists of the strategical air force and the tactical air force. We were members of the tactical air force. Under the tactical air force’ head- quarters there is aw air support command and this air sup- port command doles out the daily missions to the groups.
A squadron, although it is the basic fighting team in an air force, is actually a small unit, and consequently it would be much better for a single squadron to get its missions from a group headquarters rather than a large air support com- mand headquarters. Colonel Momyer, in giving us the mis-— sions, treated us exactly as one of his squadrons. He had three of his own and we had one, that being four squadrons. We got one-fourth of the missions given by his air support — command. Colonel Momyer suggested initially that my flight
commanders and myself fly as wing men on one of his mis- om
sions so that we might get some experience initially) before attempting to lead our men into combat. He also ‘advised me, very completely on the details of running a squadron in a combat zone.
At that time, shortly after the first of June, the Paritel . leria show was going on and our first missions were over that island. We dive-bombed objectives on the island every day
until its fall on the 11th of June. We had our first bomber i escort, B-25s, B-26s, A-20s and some British Baltimores, to _ as
52
Pe Riera
Baie
Released by U. S. War Department Bureav of Public Relations ORAN, NORTH AFRICA—After one of her performances at
: the Municipal Theater in Oran, Miss Josephine Baker, popular singer, fulfills some of the many reauests for her autograph,
_ the island. Six of our pilots had their first brush with en- emy aircraft during this show but the remainder of us ex- perienced only some of the very inaccurate brand of flak that the Italians throw up. After Pantelleria, Colonel Momyer’s group moved to the island and we received our operational control from a fighter group commanded by Colonel McNor-
Pe es: , | 3 From the first of July-to the 9th of July we escorted bombers to Sicily and these were our most active days. On
every trip we were attacked by superior numbers of enemy
fighters. The tactics employed by the enemy fighters were
ee ney were not Berean “in - down enemy fighters, so we had to tak - vent them from shooting us down. _ I would like to say just a word about he force. Its tactics have changed quite a bit since the campaign. Its pilots are not as eagersas they U ce have undoubtedly lost the best of them and they no | press their attacks, as I hear they did in the past. Wh formerly they would stay down and lap it up, the one ineffective pass and head for home. On the 1é the pilots of my squadron who were initially u ert themselves, had now developed a very strong fig g sg] and were eager for an opportunity to meet es Gerr in really fight it. out. ae An interesting sidelight in this eee is perha growth of religious feeling among the pilots. Tow end of the Sicilian campaign I had very little trouble ge together an audience for the visiting chaplain, Colonel | nel. He always had a nucleus of pilots to speak to. tenant Bowling, one of my pilots, was shot down by fla
hours and he said to me:' “You know, Célonen aia Ww you. sit out there that eae shivering from cold at. right
hoping against hope that sormeepedy: is. going to. see you a pick you up, you just pray automatically.” ae yi
After the middle of July we had a squadron of pil whose fondest dream were no longer about. the girls back home. Instead they dreamed about a German pilot wh would be foolish enough to slug it out in aerial combat. our chosen altitude we had the better airplane, but the G man has learned his lesson and now makes his pass from of the sun, coming down at 350 or more miles an hour gets on out. We get a fleeting shot as he passes by. —
The most interesting engagement took place on a bo er escort mission to Sciacca, Italy. Actually, it proba shouldn’t have been as interesting as it turned out to be. T ~ eontrolling factor is that the leader of the bomber formati
couldn’t get his bomb bay door open on the first run ove target. This necessitated his going around two Moca. ; and it ‘gave enemy fighters who didn’t know we were ¢ ing the opportunity to get off their airdrome and come up getus. We actually saw enemy fighters scramble and lin
and they really do climb. | 3 Our ships were close escort for the bombers that ayy). -and we were right with them. The bottom, medium and te Done: cover was provided by another group of fighters, so we ‘sorbed all of the attack of this 20-plus ME-109s, . Macchi 2 and FW-190s, and on that day we lost a couple of ai
We ee Cage one of ee UST bese tk d
~
a a
-. SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA—First Lt. John T. Lyle, Medical
_ Administration Corps, is being congratulated by Civilian War Cor- respondents on his being commissioned from the ranks, ye Lyle
; was born in Lexington, Ky., and served in World War I and shorily a after being discharged, he enlisted again and rose to the rank of
_ Master Sergeant.
&
ed a ‘couple more and datiaed three. We believe that one of our pilots is a prisoner of war. Incidentally, on that day, “General Eisenhower visited our field and during his stay. con- _gratulated Captain Hall, one of our flight commanders, on his and. our first confirmed victory.
Our field was often visited by high-ranking officers of “both the British and American army. Among the visitors Were such men as Air Marshal Cunningham, in command of the Tactical Air Forces; Lord Trancher of the last war; Gen- eral House, Commanding General of the 12th Air Support Command; General Doolittle, who is in command now of the Strategic Air. Force; General Spaatz, Commanding General of the Northwest African- Air Force, and many others which I -won’t name.
_ After ditto for the Sicilion attack the 10th of July, we proyided cover for the landing beaches on southeastern Sic- aly». We escorted C-47s which moved the air echelon of the various units to new bases on the island. On,the 19th of July we moved to a base on the southern coast and we pro-
iz: vided air support for the group troops by dive-bombing. We cintested strong points holding up. their SOs truck that
ans ? ape a { a bs bt ; 59 a : MER Si Ree fe Vuh ; : ly PE Maes 3
-
were bottled up on the very few roads on the northern part of the islarfd. A
After the fall of Sicily we devoted our time to training — replacements that reached us from the States. We got new combat crews and the men in charge of the training got a good bit out of the new responsibilities of the responsible places in the formations which they had to fly.
On September 2, I received orders assigning me to the 332nd Fighter Group and left for the States. I believe that the men that I left behind instead of being the fledgings they were on the first of June are now seasoned veterans of a combat experience that all of us may well be proud. ~
That concludes the statement which I planned to make, except for the following remarks: I can.tell you that the men of my squadron and my other comrades at the front are just as interested in what you are doing back here as what they are doing over there. They are hitting hard—all of them, of all races, colors, and creeds. To follow through, there is one big thing those at home can do. Thatis to “Back the Attack’ with War Bonds. I earnestly hope ever Negro in America will do his part in the Third War Loan to keep their faith with our fighting men over there. : i:
ENROUTE TO LIBERIA—Left to right, Pvt. John Thomas of Lake Charles, La., in Army one year and three months, Corp. James > J. Palmer of Brooklyn, N. Y., in Army nine months, and Pvt. Joseph L. Shephard of Bronx, N. Y., in Army seven months, They are shown on deck as they clean their Garand rifles.
o6
* % BD ee ‘oe eae aN ai; Me an ae ema? Age en: ce
ae ae es ei “How ne 99th Pu peankinon in No Aftioa, com- ha Bessa of Negro pilots weathered its. first aerial combat test. yen a six of its planes encountering a larger formation of Ger- ven '-. man fighters and. damaging two of the enemy without loss oe
_ to pee lves is told in the following account: eee oe ate es This squadron, after. careful training in this oooh i * -- and in North Africa, had previously been in action during
_ trol duty, escorted heavy bombers and served as” fighter> bombers with other units of the tactical air force over Pan-
_the air siege of the island of Pantelleria. Its pilots did pa~
\ - telleria and Lampedusa. However, during the first half of — o ey a. dare they did*not have much. chance to show their ability in |
a test of strength against enemy fighters. During that time they were fired on-only once and when they turned toward ae _ the enemy aircraft, the latter fled.
Pee On the late afternoon of June 18 came the first en-— a ‘gagement in the air. <A. flight of six P-40’s, led by First Lieutenant Charles W. Dryden, 22 years old, of 800 Home Street, Bronx, New York City, was attacked over Pantelleria, ~. then in Allied hands, by a force of twelve German FW 190’s Wea ihanie to raid the. island. Ten more German fighters hov-
ered. above to protect the bombers which the FW 190’s were’ .
escorting. In a lively encounter the American Negro fly-
= oes
ers parried the Nazi thrust, damaged two of the German
_ fighter planes and forced the remainder to retreat.
oy First Lieutenant Lee Rayford of Ardwick, Maryland,
mie: he was more surprised than alarmed when his wing was struck by machine gun and cannon fire in this, his first flight under the guns of enemy aircraft. He ‘brought his VERT Saek safely. 3 CO a a
—
. Lieutenant Colonel B. O. Davis, Jr., Commanding Offi- Cae | ‘of the. squadron, said, “It was the first time any of them ever shot at the enemy. They gave a good account of them- — ai bes ‘selves considering the odds against them and, most impor-
tant, they all came ‘back safely.”
Piss itetant Dryden who left City College, New York, where ; “he was an engineering student, to become a pilot, said “he thought the fight would give the flyers the confidence cee x ‘et ieeae d., the confidence that could not be Saree by mer Wega training. | First Lieutenant Sidney P. Brooks of 3009 East J. Street,
ne fecaland Ohio, sighted the enemy fighters above his for-. — ioe mation and warned the others pre as the FW’s dived to at ie
rig tack. | Me ne “They attacked in formation of four, 42: said Lieutenant i
other ten. Sayed above: as h We turned into them and: th
and they began a Avice: ares oh us broke off and climbed above us” and for another chance to dive on us. Re the controller ordered us home.” : :
aA Second Lieutenant Willie Anions ne of 21
lett St., Sumter, South Carolina, said his gas nec oe EO empty. when he finally landed. The other low on gas also. ae eae hake:
_ Lieutenant Rayford said his. plane + was. ae v
te Pain one got on my tail. “That's the first been shot at.” — | :
a eS caries #
a The Americans were ‘40 busy to get. a ‘oes bombers although Lieutenant Dryden fired one at one of them. They were unable to state - bombers had reached their objectives but Lieut _ said he saw at least four bombs strike the wate 3 1g any damage. Pee Lieutenant Eye n
Shapele New Jersey, and Sona Livcten tai 2a ae eh ot Murphy and McGee Streets, eas aa Te
The bi are enthusiastic in their praise oe hei said Lieutenant Dryden. ‘I can honestly say I’d rath the Warhawk than any other ship - know Of he ae
Most of the pilots are college-trained, a many of the enlisted ground crew have had civilian tr in flying and aircraft mechanics. The knowledge thus |
_ed has in most cases been polished at air _ corps te schools: inthe United States. | :
In addition to pe mentioned shoe: ie See 1 the pilot of the first squadron of its: kind to ‘see acini
Captain George S. Roberts, 317 Quarry, aa H mont, West Virginia. ie
tan Lemuel R. Curtis 67 Pliney Steet, , Connecticut. tg
a
First Lieutenant Herbert 1 5 Canter, Amory, Mi a
Ke ge Ha First edienane Herbert v. Clark, 810 East 67th Street, A a
oo : Pine ‘Bluff, ‘Arkansas. HS saa : anes oe. Wee Se e a Riret’ tL ietenant Allen Giane, 205 CherryStreet, beet 0 ee se _opolis, Alabama. | 3 | ok en Ne Been | First, Lieutenant Janes Ly, Wiley, 705 Woods. Run AY. : a _ enue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. | i. eae te rata ‘Lieutenant Clavente oO Jamison, 2252 Bae. 85th ae f my - Street, Cleveland, QOS iene cr, | - eee Dine Pay pe a ie First Lieutenant Sidney P. Brooks, 3709. East 142nd ae te i Street, Cleveland, ONG es : ae ) First Lieutenant ‘Charles B. Hall, 1034 East Hendrix’, ‘ ae ae Street, Brazil, Indiana. | . } oe ae First Lieutenant William A. Campbell, neeoeees Al o le _abama. i en
Ae é ‘Birst. Lieutenant Nainds B. Knighten, 1130 Mt. Green- _ wood Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
eek Pantaa Lieutenant willie Hi: Pay Teche, Nov o
De i eo ‘ ~ Carolina. : | ‘ me _ Second Lieutenant Graham Smith, Ahoskie, North Car an a BS ue es olina. et | Se ae a "Second Lieutenant Paul G. Mitchell, 908 Howard Road, F ts "9 as | SE, Washington, D.C, ee vs _ Second Lieutenant Louis R. Purnell, West Weaver a P ¢ Rng, ‘Street, Germantown, Pennsylvania. 3 : a : his second Lieutenant John W. Rogers, 1552 Linn Street, Cincinnati, Ohio. . ea: “Second Lieutenant Samat M. Bruce, 819 - 12th Ave. ; os hue, Seattle, Washington. ‘ ee gc ee - Second Lieutenant James L. MeCullin, 3901 omens a Hs ae _ Avenue, St. Louis,’ Missouri. . See oR =a - Second Aacdteant George ~R, Balinese. 28. Gis ae BY: Avenue, Phoebus, Virginia. ieee Cae oc ‘Second Lieutenant Walter 1 Lawson, Newton, Virginia. ee
> , ; [ pl : ' ‘ ‘Mele ops! oT te " * # alee ; " Ue Wey wie 59. 4 ry ‘ 7 2 hw i “yy ; bo " dy . y
} y ee Sahee a
¥ 3 a lee | RE
Mek ie ade Oh le ele Pieper Lae ;
Released by U. S. War Department Bureau of Public Relations’
NEW GUINEA—Sergeant John Kelly of Tullulah, Florida, | in- sivucting Corporal Amos Evang of Chattanooga, Tennessee; Private — Nal Jenkins of Savannah, Georgia, and Sergeant Henry D, Monerej ef New Orleans, Louisiana, on the repair of caterpillar, All are mombors of an Engineers unit. : ede
igo - goil has_ brought m two more enemy planes aes four German rs _ the War
commenda-
Be ae the Fifth ae
a Percited Italian farmer
_ came running up to Sergeant _ Tyler, waving his arms wild- ahs and pointing to a culvert E about 800 yards from the po-
sition occupied by the sec- _— tion’s: guns. Sergeant Tyler
ks quickly came around to. the _ realization | that something wae oe culvert.
Rr? ie ca
their rifles,
Depart- |
Battalion :
i e turth ty under fire,
61
cs 7 ‘Takes a Beccnerd
rst Negro combat bat- into action on:
hie men to follow lit with
led the group to the culvert.
In a short time they return- 4
ed With four German prison- | ers, who surrendered without
a struggle, and reported the existence in the culvert of a vast stock of lethal equip- ment, including mines, gre- nades, carbines, and TNT. Jt was brought out later that their mission was sabotage of army material.
The three men assisting in the raid on the culvert wére Private Cleotha Robinson, of Calvert,’ Texas; Private Wil- lie Wiley, Pine Bluff, Arkan- sas, and Corporal James Aus- tin, 1616 North East 8th St., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Other members of the sec- tion include: Private James Robinson, Eastover, South Caroline; Private William Staley, 55 East 131st Street, New York, New York; Cor-_ poral Clay Connely, Marion, North Carolina; Private Fred Davis, Deberry, Texas; Pri- vate First Class H. D. Gober, 800 East Main Street, Gaines- ville, Texas; Private Booker
TT. Pollard, 2114 West Mar-.
ket, Fort Worth, Texas, and Private Simon Nixon, Pales- © tine, Texas.
Sergeant Tyler i
Bee ern Hie: Revolubionees J ‘ employed ranged from 5,000 to 1 - about 6,000 and a total around 0 : Negroes. | Ce ye Sane oe
c ‘During the War of 1812 there wa . seamen and a total of 15 ee of a | n ee 3
a 000 were Soe ae B ia
(o During the ae he. War the | to tl 2 OL which a 000: were Terre : i
_ totaled 435,398 of which 5, 326 were DNeorae _ divided as follows: U. 8. Navy, 3,203; U. S. ‘Nava - 2,099, and National Naval. Volunteers, 26.
ed On April 7, 1942, Secretary of the Nays Wiad f announced that Negro volunteers would be accepted fo
| eral service in reserve components of “the ‘Navy, — | Corps, and Coast Guayd and said that all ratings | | open to them in each of those branches of the Na al Negro Sailors, he said, would be utilized for dut
_ trict craft of various kinds, in maritime activities A shore establishments, in Navy Yards, and in the Nav
- Construction or Seabee battalions to develop bases: _ the continental limits of the United States. Recruiting began June 1, (1942, at all eta tions throughout the country. More than” 98, 000 have joined the Naval Service.
On April 28, 1948, the Navy Department issued a
“eo
oo groes would enter the Navy through the Selective - proceduré. i; fie eae Robert Smalls, Naval (Training Statio :
Negro recruits. The fauilities at Great eee ‘and
_ ton for training Negro sailors for. technical bille
_ ratings was expanded to meet ‘the needs ¢ cas
- pansion of, the enlistment of Negroes. Pn
The first group of Negroes. to complete bs
" 299, in number, left Camp Robert Smalis on Septe: he Loae OF these 102 were chosen for. 1
te become specialists. _ Ninety-seve Neegrc
oe of their: race so complete ins
Pate nie Ha ay ee kor :
i;
| the Nae ey feath Service Sehool at the Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, January 7, 1943. quently similar classes have graduated from that. Pat regular intervals.
‘THE NAVY |
i ae ‘§ eros re 1943 the United States Navy’s Negro enlisted a — was confined . the messmen’s branch of the ser- —
“Tn the ics Ped one at Washington Negroes served © in 1 some of the technical branches, but most positions were in e | desea and custodial capacities.
Following Pear! Harbor and the consequent expansion 2 Ee of Naval installations and the establishment of a ‘two-ocean’ navy, a change in Navy policy began to appear in early 1943. 7 RS This change was first noticed when Camp Robert Smalls was pr established the latter part of 1942. Negroes began to se- - cure training in other branches of service. They became ‘3 Seaman, Yoeman and other specialized ratings. Negroes 3 were taken on to help recruiting. ‘ ... sh Early in 19:44, the Navy announced that there were over 7,100 Negro Seabees (Construction Battalions) building a ~ ie wide variety of shore installations at overseas bases. A spec- ial training center for this type of work was established at _ Camp Peary, Williamsburg, Va. They are taught to use the Brille, the grenade, the anti-aircraft gun. ie The first Construction Battalion of Negro Seabees was |
eu
ie sent to the Solomon Islands. Other detachments worked and fought on Florida, Guadalcanal, Tulagi and other is- tands. In this vital war theater they built a seaplane base, ‘Sa large storage facilities for fuel, storehouses, barracks, shops of all kinds, airplane landing strips, power plants, roads, wa- on. tee systems, electric distribution lines, telephone lines, gun emplacements and the very difficult art of unloading cargo. _ —~+‘These Seabees have received commendation of the high- - est order for the work they have done under the most gruel-— ling conditions. we On Tuesday, December 28, 1943, President Roos evelt said: “Your war effort is outstanding because you accom- _- plish three great purposes which enable our fighting forces 7. to carry on the offensive. You build, you fight, and you re- pair. You are prepared to repeat the operanon whenever _hecessary—you go forward together.” Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox said: Ey . _ “Byery major amphibious operation of the Navy has - found Seabees among the first to land. Almost every air- ates supply depot or other installations the Navy built since me _ Pear! Harbor has been a Seabeee record for speed and in- genuity. And in bitter battle like Guadalcanal or Tarawa, _ you. have shed your blood to earn a share of victory.”
at Rar Hie , 63
Cpe a nye Meee Vette, cP PREM R TAME PERE itn PURER Ua NRW ore Jr ae EL the “ae OT ie ~% Se i, dt se. 7 os 2
ss dita eke Tt King, rae ‘United States Fleet ae Chief a ye them thus: . ae 3 ng ie Shae
the Naval Service. With both tools have rendered vital aid on every assignr given. Today, you may look with pride at airfields which you have helped to build — | gers Your achievements have aided : any:
os porting our abacns forces.”
oe Lieut, (Gen, ‘Thomas ee U. s. M. c. 6 On the United a Marine Corps, paid ee , ae Seabees: . as
mee - *Muring the fee two years the Seaheae an rine Corps have developed a flourishing partnershi |
-to-the construction of a road straight into the heart : pan. Our Marines returning from | the: fronts
and repair, often under es fire.” Such praise must be deserved.
In the training of Seabees there : are = . tors. : a
the country housing Naval Labs ancaks large numbers of sailors on liberty will have its a nent Shore Patrol. Graduate SP’s are assigned to. Naval District wherein lie their home, cities or towns the eae of POAT 1944, five classes ot ee uate .
Aoi \ Some of the other ratings for Negra satan in Coxswain, Radioman, Gunne’s Mate, - Buglemaster, ' , : Barbet Ske Carpenter's Mate, {aviation magni
missioning of Lieutenants ae grade) on ‘anti-sub vessels.
fe
/ NAVAL HEROES
DORIS (DORIE) MILLER iss
e 4 First Negro Bluejacket here in this war was Dorie Mill- er, son of Mr. and Mrs. Conery Miller, Route 1, Box 161, fe Waco, Texas.
‘Miller, a strapping, 200 pound former fullback from |
. Waco’ ss Moore High School was awarded the Navy Cross by President Roosevelt for “distinguished devotion to duty, ex- ihe traordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safe- ty during the attack on the fleet in Pearl Harbor ,Territory of. : Hawaii, by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941.”
Miller also received a letter of commendation from the
is Bborétary of the Navy and was advanced in rating from Mess
Attendant, Third Class to Mess Attendant, First Class. In addition, he has received the American Defense Service Mere the Fleet Clasp and the Asiatic-Pacific Senate s _ Meda
“Admir ] Chester W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the
ape Pacific Fleet, personally presented the Navy Cross to Miller he ceremonies aboard a warship in the Pacific on May 27th, | 2 1942. Pinning the bit of ribbon and cross of bronze on the |
_ sailor’s breast, he described his act of heroism on the USS — Arizona during the Japanese. attack on the Pearl Harbor’ naval base, and complimented Miller on being the first rep-
‘resentative of his race to be so honored in this war. He then
Pr read the citation which said:
“While at the side of his Captain on the bridge, ‘Miller;
oe despite enemy strafing and bombing and in the face: of a -_-gerious fire, assisted in moving his Captain; who had been
mortally wounded, to a place of greater safety, and later —
manned and operated a machine gun directed at enemy J ap-
anese attacking aircraft until ordered to leave the bridge.” In January, 1943, Miller, while visiting: the Naval base
1a at rea) Lakes, IIl., told of his experience on that fateful day:
eect wasn 1 bad. I just pulled the trigger and she work-
: ea fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess _.J] fired her for about fifteen minutes at those Jap oe They were diving pretty close to us.’
Miller was born October 12, 1919, and enlisted in the :
| Navy on September 16, 1939.
Since Pearl Harbor, Miller had been assigned to various
other naval vessels. He served aboard the Aircraft Carrier _ Liscome Bay, which was sunk by enemy action in the South-
west Pacific on November 24, 1943. A few weeks later he
‘was reported missing. in action and his next of kin notified.
Dorie Miller, mess attendant, first class, gave his last full "measure of. devotion, to the country that he loved. :
be he Sete 65
came blinded by smoke. Se gun and started firing away at the su AY Ernest Gardner, rushed from another s station — passing the ammunition. After a few minute Sheppard waved his assistant aside and became a ‘one-m gun crew,’ getting his own ammuniiton, loading the gun ; firing continuously at the badly crippled submaril ee The Borie was part of the USS Card | antic group, which consisted of the aircraft carrier, USS Ca: L is Destroyers, Borie, Barry and Goff, and the Card’s avi won units, Composite Squadrons 1 and 9, ea Sheppard is a native of Norfolk, a. sae iGavaned ; with his wife at 914 Warner Street, Baltimore, Md.
: * CHARLES W. DAVID, JR. 95 ‘The central figure in the Coast Guard story of . a Ne who gave his life to save his executive officer and others d ing dramatic rescue operation in the North Atlantic : Charles W. Davis, Jr., mess attendant, 1324 Prospect Ave New. York City. a David dived repeatedly into icy cone in total dark to haul survivors to safety and finally rescued. Lieut. Lz ford Anderson, the executive officer, who had gone over to set an example for his rescue crews. The alr temper was below freezing. ‘
‘David was over the side on at hawt Hite occas Lieutenant Anderson said, “and due to his extreme str he facilitated the task of ‘vetting survivors aboard who frozen to such a degree they were like logs.” eh a
_Liewtenant Anderson, slight of build, was working
man and pulled under the water. David sensed the tion, dived from the net, succeeded in breaking the ‘sury strangle. hold on his officer, and rescued both. t |
‘ David died of pneumonia fou pas exposure: an ertions.
ELVIN BELL, 7 ‘Elvin Bell, Mess Attendant, Third Class, 20 yea of Jamaica, New York, on February 2, 1948, was
the Navy Cross and Marine Corps medal with the citation:
i. “For: distinguished heroism wiles serving USS. Lexington during the Battle of the Coral Sea
eee
f= S
¥
“1942, Poluiterin joining a. repair eae aghting: a fie in, an area frequented by violent explosions of gasoline vapor > and ammunition, Bell, although emerging in’an exhausted
of the stricken carrier. and assisted in removing injured per-
sonnel who had been trapped below decks. His courageous
initiative and utter disregard for his own safety were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Nav- al Service.” |
JOSEPH CROSS
The Bercy of the Navy, in the name of the Peedi: dent of the United States, awarded the Navy and Marine — Corps Medal to Joseph Cross, steward’s Mate, toe hey 2510 Thalia St., New Orleans, La.
The citation Says:
“For heroic conduct during four submarine war patrols
in enemy controlled waters. Performing his duties with ex- cellent judgment and conscientious skill, Cross contributed
hae eerily to the destruction by his ship of an important : amount of Japanese shipping. His resolute courage was
in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”
ee ELBERT H. OLIVER 7 i A Silver Star Medal was awarded Elbert H. Oliver,
Steward’s Mate First Class, USN, by the Secretary of the
Navy, in the name of the President ot the United States. Oli- ver, who has been wounded in action, resides at 1112 Locust Street, North Little Rock, Arkansas. |
His citation reads: “Ror conspicuous gallantry and ineeninde while serv-
ing aboard a U.S. warship during a raid upon that vessel
by approximately twenty-five Japanese torpedo planes in the ‘vicinity of the Solomon Islands on June 30, 1948. When members of his 20-mm gun crew were severely wounded by
a bursting projectile, Oliver quickly took over the station of |
the injured gunner aud, although he’ himself was bleeding profusely, maintained accurate fire against the attacking _ planes until eventually compelled to give way to a relief gun- ner. His aggressive fighting spirit and grim determination to carry on in the face of acute pain and waning strength were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
CHARLES JACKSON FRENCH Charles Jackson French, Mess Attendant, Second Class,
i. years old of Foreman, Arkansas, was commended by Ad- - : oo William F. Halsey, USN Commander, South Facts
67
condition, unhesitatingly entered the most dangerous section © : |
%
iollons: ‘
“Ror ecitonibde eonatiet inadtion v
a destroyer transport which was badly dar
engagement with Japanese forces in: the Bri lands on September 5, 1942. After | he group of about fifteen men were adrift on ar being deliberately shelled by Japanese naval fo: tied a line to himself and swam for more than two ho without rest, thus attempting to tow the raft. His cat
(54
was in keeping with the highest traditions of the N al vice.’ So aan
LEONARD ROY HARMON
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on J une » 8, 1943, a ignated Mrs. Naunita Harmon Carroll, whose Se oe P. O. Box 381, Cuero, Texas, to sponsor the Destroyer - cort USS Harmon, which she did when the vessel a
launched July 10, 1948, at Hingham, Mass.
The Harmon received its name in a of Mrs. a
humously for heroism while serving on “the USS San ‘Fra cisco. This is the first vessel to bear the name Harmon.”
Hamon’s citation issued with the award of the | Cross read as follows:
“For extraordinary heroism while serving ston USS San Francisco during action against. enemy Japan forces in the Solomon Islands area on November 12 and 1942, With persistent disregard for his own personal « ty, Harmon rendered invaluable assistance in caring fo: wounded and evacuating them to a dressing station. I dition to displaying unusual loyalty in behalf of the inj Executive Officer, he deliberately exposed himself to ho gunfire in order to protect a shipmate and, as a resul this courageous deed, was killed in action. His heroic of self-sacrifice, maintained above and beyond the call o: duty, was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Unit States Naval Service. He gallantly gave Hy his gist in or of his country.” :
WILLIAM PINCKNEY >
The Secretary of the Navy, on behalf of the Prasad of tine United States, awarded the Navy Gross to Wil i Pinckney, Cook, Third Class, on June 10, 1943.7) ne 28 years old, was the son’ of Mr. and ar ee
ee 68.
OT eee ele ee ee ieee bo el i tee eae AY) ee ee Sf ee Sy ery Se F reve N ‘f of thes He) Pes eh sata Hi ;
"Bix 92, Beaufort, South Garcia. The Navy Cross was giv-
; en with the following citation:
Fis . USS Enterprise during the engagement with enemy Japanese
~
“For extraordinary heroism while serving aboard the
- naval forces near the Santa Cruz Islands on October 26th, 1942. When a heavy bomb exploded in the near vicinity,
inckney, standing at his battle station in the ammunition handling room, was knocked unconscious. With several
compartments completely wrecked and four of his five com- |
pansions killed, Pinckney, regaining consciousness, groped
his way through the burning and tangled wreckage to a point
under an open hangar hatch. Just as he was about to escape
he found a shipmate, the only other survivor of his party,
struggling up through the hatch. When the man fell un-
conscious, either from his wounds or from smoke and fumes,
Pinckney, unmindful of his own danger, lifted his comrade through the hatch to safety before he himself battled his way out of the burning and smoke-filled compartment. By his
dauntless courage in saving his comrade’s life at great risk
to his own, Pinckney upheld the highest traditions of the
— United States Naval Service.”
MARINE CORPS
The Marine Corps began active training of Negroes on
September 1, 1942, with the intention of recruiting 10,000.
The first group of 1200 volunteers completed their train- ing at Camp Lejeune, New River, N. C., and in six months be- gan active duty in the Far Pacific.
Every Marine is potentially a fighting man first—a spec-
: ialist later. Specialized branches include: . Aviation, Line,
Mess, Musician, Paymaster, Quartermaster and Communica- tion. Negroes are serving in five of the seven branches. As
of November, 1943, there were 8,500 Negroes in the Marine
Corps. Most of them are in either line duty or in the mess service. Line duty is sub-divided into specific elements, such as infantry, artillery, anti-aircraft, air ground units, tank un- its, engineering, chemical warfare and the new Paramarines. Mess service includes the Cooks’ and Bakers’ School.
69 pea ca
ie He has been an officer. on American. flag vessels, a 1918. ee
of a mixed crew. 17 nationalities, 25% Negrc
- $S George Washington Carver ........ cg ae ene May 2. 1943, — §S. Paul Lawrence Dunbar ............. oppo Os OS NRA - Oct. "19, ‘S1O4a) - SS Frederick Douglass .........-.... hae oA ae _ May, 1943 SS John “Merrick (vuciy ese ae July, 1943 © SS Robert L. Vann -..... ee aoe ttl os <uageaae Sr ea Oct. 1943 — SS James Weldon Johnson ............ ARSE eae Bee bese ad A SS John Hope etea sae OU Sa) ae ie a eae
the demeanor of a professor. —_
last job was on the intercoastal freighter, )
American Merchant Marine. He assisted the Nation
and the date of their launching: Seedy : ESS Bagker ls Washineron sce ae ai ‘Sept. 19, “1942
-roic conduct at Guadalcanal.
from Selective Service Headquarters.) '3:/.
i i Vass eOaptain Mulzac was born in St. he , British. dies, 1884, went to sea in 1907 as an ‘ordinary sean bark. He is a slight man with a scholarly BPP ari In the last war, he served as. first mate on of his color he could not obtain appointment as
. He attended Swansea Nautical School in Wale een eated | from the Shipping Hate School in
He was the fist Negro to receive copa nnn ae ‘4. ant ship of the size of the SS Booker T. Washingto
itime Union (CIO) and various organizations in the s
3 chief engineer, four deck officers and the wireless 0 were represented.
MARITIME COMMIS SION
_ Liberty Ships named in honor of outstanding
¥,
SS hohn Hy Murphy: 20) ee ee March, |
The Navy Department named a nae vessel, the De- stroyer Escort Leonard Roy Harmon, in honor of a Negro -_ messman who received the Navy Cross poh fon he-
SELECTIVE. SERVICE _
According to the Office of War iigschaniew Ne joined the Army at rate of whites. They exceeded act percentage figure. To contradict reports in som of the country that ‘Negroes were not being induct | the Army in comparable percentages’ to the registration 1 tals, the agency issued official records _ Derena 27, a
The report stated: Although Negroes — percent of the total population in the last census, | lectees and es constitute 10.1 percent oh
Bureau of Public Relations, U. S. War Department
SELECTIVE SERVICE AIDE IS PROMOTED—Cclonel Campbell ae 6, Johnson, executive assistant to Selective Service Director Major mr “General Lewis B. Hershey, discusses papers covering report of his recent tour of Army induction stations with his assistant, Capcain _ Benson D. Mitchell, in his office in the Selective Service System Head- quarters, Washington. Colonel Johnson was promoted to his present
~ rank on September 21. (U.S. Army photo).
Deyo ie ess
indietea ti the Army through Selective Service as of Oc- tober 13, 1942.. Sel. AD 9 out of 14 Southern and border states, the percent- _age of Negroes inducted into the Army. through Selective Ser- vice, exceeded the percentage of Negroes registered for the draft in those stats. During 1940-41 period, Negroes con- ‘stituted 16.1 percent of the total number of volunteers.
Negro units of the Army were located in Great Britain, Ireland, North and West Africa (including Liberia) Hawaii, Australia, New Guinea, Alaska and West Indies.
Colonel Campbell Johnson’ and Capt. Doyle‘ Mitchell -were on the headquarters staff of Gen. Lewis B. Hershey. re men are from Washington, D. C. : |
fe 7A,
Bureau of Publie Relations, U. S. War Department A HUDDLE IN THE ALEUTIANS—Grounved around a fire on the beach at Massacre Bay in the Aleutian Islands, these members of the Port Harbor Battalion take time out from heir arduous asks of unloading landing barges to “warm up” for the first time in many days. They are Privates L. H. Lucas, M. H. Winston and 0. L. Braflerd, (Photo by U. 3. Signal Corps.)
Note: The, Publishers feel that the a most important development of an organized group. to stress the pitiful : plight of Negroes in various ‘fields: of 60 activity during the war, occurred > when the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People held an Emergency Conference at Detroit, | ‘Michigan, June 3-6, 1943. |
Biates ment To The Notion. Aion ed By The Emergency Conference On The Status Of The Negro In | The War For: Freedom Called By | The National Association For The. Advancement Of Colored People — At Detroit, Mich., June 3-6, 1943 “(Adopted by Vote of. ‘Delegates . dune " 1948, Eee Mich.) a
PREAMBLE
“The NAACP and its members are appalled at ‘the wide ; ey icy between our professed war aims of. democracy and freedom and the treatment meted out to the Negroes in Pie a! nearly every part of our national life. # . ~The issues with which we are concerned must be raised now. We refuse to listen to the weak-kneed of both races _ who tell us not to raise. such controversies during the war. We believe on the contrary that we are doing a patriotic duty in raising them. A war in which discrimination has been banished from the armed forces, in which Negro manpower and ability are fully used in industry, and in’ which full 5 rights of citizenship have been granted to the largest: minor- _ ity group of our nation will be fought more vigorously and Re wholeheartedly.
7s 4 SECTION 1
eh The treatment of Negroes in the Armed. Services is marked by daily subjection to the indignities of segregation ‘and discrimination, with a constant recurrence of brutalities
Ca
and murders by civilian and military police. This evil con- _, dition reaches into the homes and hearts of every American Negro. It constitutes a serious and continuously existing a _ breach in our national unity and is naturally reducing the ee ert Brg. i 73 :
a ‘4,7 < ; i
‘ ry Di hak Niwas) iS,
spirit aaa a aie of the Neato: citizen. : terial for Axis. propaganda. © ny The continued ill treatment of Never wwe on military-reservations and in many civilian rc disgraceful. Negroes in the uniform of the nation 2 beaten, mobbed, killed and lynched. | ae | Discrimination is serious and rampant. In site of the a need for flyers only a few Negroes have been accepted - in a segregated section of the Air Corps. There are no Negr nO commissioned officers in the Navy, Marine Corps and ae Guard. Negro women have not been admitted — to the |
WAVES and SPARS in spite of their excellent showing as rei WAACS. Negro soldiers frequently are denied sae pee ie portunities for transportation facilities, although — t lis is j 1s strictly contrary to law. 2a It aaa
(Editor’s Note: Since this statement + was made the | Navy. es has commissioned Negro Officers.) © ie ae a
Segregation is the iron clad rule in fhe. armed feel: ex ei, cept in the Officers Candidate achaeh Yet it a8 ni against no other racial group. i ta
“We demand the ending of this discrimination. and se- gregation. We pledge our support to Winfred Lynn in his is effort to be recognized as a conscientious objector to serving’ ie in a segregated army. The President, as Commander-in- : Chief, has the full power to end discrimination and Searees e tion in the armed forces. We call on him to use that poe Ls now
We hail the Four Freedom as our war ‘aime buke bole American Negroes and colored peoples all over the world will j eh justly regard the Four Freedoms as hypocrisy unless the Pres- a ident acts to end discrimination ap olGe N egrocs in the: armed | forces of our nation. Jig ae ae 4 ‘SECTION II Ps ota hs ea
The NAACP stands wholeheartedly behind the govern-* Ee ment of the United States for the prosecution of the war td: . Me complete victory and an enduring peace. Among the rights” guaranteed by its Constitution to all citizens of the United States is equality of opportunity which includes the right t6.-* work and to earn a living, qualified only by fitness for the job with no exception based on race, ereed, color, or aoe al origin. The government of our "United States must ob- serve this right and set the example through its own em-— ployment policies and the policies of Federal agencies. _ of
We condemn the practice of our government in permit- Paras ting both direct and indirect violation of the letter and ee of the rules of the Civil Service Commission resulting in em-— ployment discrimination because of race, creed, color or na- tional origin. We equally condemn the policy of the United States Employment Service in aiding and abetting . discrim: ination through the application of sections three, four, an five ‘4 the Lae Bulletin: C-45 issued ae Sy 1942,
4 |
wi
ee for defense training on an equal basis with all other youth.
We believe that the spirit and letter of, Executive Order
“9802 as amended by Order 9346 should He rally chieoed:
a . To that end, we urge that the Fair Employment Practice fe Committee shall make adequate appropriations for the en-
a eoniies to accord aN N egro Teathe Hp ona ots : |
_ largement. of its field personnel who shall be subject only to
he
e £ fin the immediate appointment of competent, fair-minded per- sons to the committee. We further urge the holding of pub-
“ee =<
yo
. ei ton Capital Transit and Detroit hearings.
ast
Rete,
_ unions for full integration of Negro labor in industry. We urge similar action on the part of other unions for the pres-
Ua inimical to the war efforts of our country and its allies.
-. or national origin.
ae We condemn those branches of organized labor which, by fh ae by constitutional proscription or ritualistic practice, i deny membership to eG on account of race, color, creed
é the committee. We urge the establishment of Regional of- — rae fices, under the committee, throughout the nation. We urge ©
Hike tic hearings on discrimination in transportation and war in- _dustries including the rescheduling of the railroad, Washing- —
, Pe We commend the upgrading policies ara blished by-some
Va _ ervation of unity in labor ranks now threatened by interests”
a
bites ‘Likewise we condemn the abominable practice of some
eet Mee organizations in setting up ‘‘auxiliary’’ unions for Ne-
' gro workers. As a means of protecting their ‘rights as Ge _ workers we urge Negroes everywhere to become full fledged re
other workers.
of labor because there are still thousands of men and women of various minority groups in the country who have not yet
specifically the Austin-Wadsworth bill now pending in Con- yor eres... Ree ys OW © condemn the policies and directives of federal ag-
Ss We feel that at present there {s no need for conscription H
members of organized labor on a basis of equality with all
been given jobs commensurate with their skills. We oppose’
-_ encies which authorize the freezing of industrial and agri- i Bach cultural workers in a manner which permits arbitrary and i _ discriminatory application of such policies and directives | ‘é Ba nulely on the basis of race, color, creed and national origin. Sg - We recommend that all Negroes exploit to the limit ev-
ar ery avenue and facility to discoveryand correct abuses in the -—s-use of manpower. By constant protest and complaints to es - the proper sources, we can bring the full weight of our
Be advance. eg a must be pursued persistently, we are aware of and do as-
ae
_ strength against offending parties who oppose our con
ye se our postive and individual responsibility to perform
saa Notwithstanding our efforts. in this direction which |
effort. At the same ae we one urge them to improved economic resources wisely and well. eae SECTION II ‘ A A ae ete The full emancipation of the Negro in i aceon ‘hea been obstructed by a continuous and deliberate program of prop: ganda to create a sterotype of the NEBTG: as intellectual socially, and biologically inferior. a pawn in the “divide and rule” ‘technique ar the se Rg class. The myth of white superiority has been exploited as. s a wedge to destroy the natural unity between the white and Negro working masses. Opportunities, advantages, and_pres: tige are assumed as the exclusive right of even the least com petent, merely because they are whit. By this exploitation of racial concepts and the degrading of the Negro, democ racy remains a wordy fiction rather than a working fact. oa The press, radio, and motion picture are the modern in- of ie ss struments by which this poisonous propaganda is spread. ee
We call upon the press, including newspapers, periatiaal: and book publishers, to change its prejudiced policy in treat ment of Negro subject matter. The Associated Press, Unit- ed Press, and local editors should eliminate the designation of ‘‘Negro” in reporting crime news:. We commend > the New York PM and the Newspaper Guild for their efforts in exposing the distortion by the press of Negro pe in crime and the elimination of racial tags in news reporting. — ms We recommend that the press employ qualified Negro journ- He alists on their news reporting staffs. We urge a larger re- a porting of the Negro’s contribution to American life and his participation in the total war ‘effort. tie bot
We call upon the radio and motion picture Gidea Be ‘ abandon their long established practice of depicting Negroes _ exclusively in servile roles and as buffeens, éntertainers, — shiftless ne’er-do-wells and religious fanatics. Negro artists and actors have a tremendous responsibility in shaping the $F public concept of the Negro. ae therefore, Dig ps
injurious to the Negro.
Because the government gives ponte sanction. to th fiction of white superiority by its policy of segregation in t] armed forces, it is not surprising that the radio, press ai screen propaganda of the Office of War Information follo the same pattern. We demand that the OWI abandon policy of treating the Negro as a separate and isolated ds te We urge that the Negro he neta as an |
ts part of the whole American scene, with a fair reporting of
_ his contributions to the war effort, and disseminated to all ae of the American people as well as abroad.
We feel that it is imperative that representatives of the
ee press be given equal press privileges in attending and reporting Congressional hearings as well as Presidential and
other official press conferences.
ON THE HOME FRONT
The Arsenal of Democracy eae a real challenge and an opportunity for Negroes.
Before Pearl Harbor the job of supplying Great Britain,
| China and Russia with'the sinews of war found Negroes un-
ready to fill important production positions. Skilled work-
men for foundry, airplane plant, munitions factory and other _ other production centers were hard to find. The advent of _ NYA, the government sponsored training program for youths plus ‘the introduction of training programs within industry
itself, helped to overcome what war, at first, a major crisis
in gearing.the nation for ‘all out’ production.
The most significant. contribution to war broduchien was made by women. ‘For Men Only’ has disappeared from the labor market; women have done jobs during World War Il that previously- were denied, ‘the weaker sex.’ The U. 8. Department of Labor reported: a Negro woman runs a steel-
burning machine at the Bartlett-Hayward plant in Balti-
more, Md. The machine is 25 feet long and 6 feet high,
which cuts huge plates of steel for use in six different kinds of anti-aircraft guns. Its a precision machine with a dozen ~ or more controls. Another rare job: (held by a Negro
woman) one Rosalie Ivy is a ‘Pan Man’ in a giant Gary (Ind.)
steel mill. She mixes a special mud used to seal the casting
hole through which molten iron flows from a blast furnace.
‘There are few women in the entire steel industry. In a Civil
Service examination for positions at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Tvelyn Samuels received.a rating of 99, highest among the 6,000 women tested.
‘ - First woman in the history of shipbuilding, to be em- ployed as a chipper and caulker is Sarah T. Francis, who works for the Todd Shipyard in Hoboken, N. J.
Ethel Maxwell Williams, St. Paul, Minn., is assistant to
- the director of personnel at the Twin Ordnance Plant at
New Brighton, Minn.. Her work includes labor relations, personal adjustment, race relations and related spheres of
administrative activity. -
Women are employed pa ancely in erorsan cannon
and small arms plants, doing all manner of jobs.~
eee
a N egroes ‘the opaorunit ie gain nei : tions on old jobs and access to. positions because of color and race. The number of
mM S8a02) DY President Roosevelt. The directive ba
ination reported and handled Bye the FEPC than 300 per month, a
Ce Philip’ Rendaish head ‘of 46 Afarch, on : Car Porters, and ‘supported by other organization iC the NAACP, culminated in the issuance of Execu e |
erimination on race, creed, color. and. national origin j _ fense industries. “This order was later superceded by | eis Order 9346 which. gave the, committee more
Race ‘Relations:
: The use of Negroes in top-ranking: adviso: represent the race in government has been wic effective. Outstanding as a consultant was Dr.Rol Weaver, of the War Mena Conn £7 Duo
Authority. contracts. ) dominantly occupied us Nowrdccs as Sad ocatede we Dr. er, nas become the established eda: He ait :
of Wass William J. Trent, i Federal: Works Age Arnold Hill, Office of Price Administration ; Mrs. |
Treasury Department ih Cae shee oa War Béndee ie
The Aistinctibaee being the First Dane Hage in . the 4 ; War Loan in Wisconsin went to a ees Price Pipe ks ' man byl
t
Berets in various fields were elated to aid in selling bonds fraternal, labor, civic and eburch groups ee the
a Country:
In Florida during the Fourth War py over one rion
dollars was subscribed by Negroes. Negro Elks under J. Finley Wilson, Grand Exalted Ruler, and special Treasury - representative, purchased over eleven million dollars: Up to.
the end of November, 1943, the National Negro Insurance
Association, composed of 44° companies and 11 affiliated as- sociations, representing 2,300,000 policy-holders, located in
> 38 states, invested over $11, 000, 000 worth of War Bonds.
Beauticians in New York State during the second War —
BS | eA reported over $100,000 and Negro women in Greater
New York recorded 700 individual sales totaling $1,225,000.
_ Negroes in Jacksonville, Fla., since 1942, purchased Bonds
amounting to $1, 425, 000.
- Stimulus to the Fourth War Bond He among Negroes was. gained by a unique plan offered and adopted by the Na- tional Negro Business League, an organization founded by Booker T. Washington, the educator. The plan was the es-
_ tablishing of a chain of War Bond Savings Clubs in every
Negro community.
“Keep Us Flying” a Fourth War Loan poster, depicted a Negro aviator, Robert W. Dietz, member of the famous
— 99th Pursuit Squadron. Over 150,000 of them were distrib- j uted throughout the country.
Agriculture
+e
On September 30, 1943, the Department of Hovicliteere
ua eUpoFted 1,707 full-time Negro employees in Washington and~
the field service. There were, in addition, 583 farm and home demonstration agents and approximately eh commit- teemen and collaborators.
In 1940, Negro farmers numbered 700,000 and operated over 30. million acres: The value of these farms was in ex- cess of 836 million dollars and the value of farm implements and machinery was over 40 million dollars. Negro farmers in 1943 produced two billion pounds of milk, 100.million dozen eggs and sizeable quantities of beef, pork, fruits and vegetables.
In 1942 there,were 217,708 Negro 4-H Club members.
: i
79
' Civics
The contribution of civic groups to the war TOAD stands as a monument to the eternal vigilance that must be paid for the price of freedom. The establishment of new organ- izations such as The March On Washington movement, The Fraternal Council of Negro Churches, The Booker T. Wash- ington Inter-racial Committee, The Interdenominational Min- — ister’s Alliance, and numerous local and sectional inter-racial] councils, committees and groups, did much to focus attention on the part Negroes have played in the war and their expec- tations of a joint consideration in the peace to follow.
The National Association for the Advancement of Color- ed People, The National Council of Negro Women, under the dynamic leadership of Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune: The National Urban League, The Postal Alliance, National Negro Business League and many others contributed mightily to ne war waged by Negroes on the home front.
RIO CECA SY eaele Meee: Msi
NEGRO FIGHTER AWARDED SILVER STAR—P. F, C. Mack B. Anderson, Brenham, Texas, who has been awarded the Silver Star, fourth highest combat medal for his heroic action during the recent Japanese bombings in the China- Burma-India area. Several in- stances of exceptional courage were» reported. P. F, GC. Anderson stood
tp in the middle of an airfield firing
Released by U. S. War Department a machine gun while a Japanese Bureau of Public Relations 3 fi FORT BENNING, GEORGIA— Zero fighter repeatedly swooped
over him. Eventually his gun
Lieutenant Velma P. Owens, staff ; jamed and Anderson then raced
dietician at the Station Hospital,
holds the distinction of being the across the field, leaped into a first colored woman ever commis- trench, whipped out his pistol, and - continued. ;
sioned at Fort Benning. . 80
a 5 Ose Candidate School
ENGLAND—N cere oeey : Washington, j
. Sen ; Lestor W
William Davis, |
43 By Hokeed of ‘Public Relations, U. S. War Dept., Wash., D. C.
in England. (Left to right) Samuel L. Coleman, N
C.; William F, Duckery, Philadelphia, Pa.;
Sea Earnest J. Harris, Nex pm
g, Pa.; — iL siete Seeds Sa 172
| These Officers Sains recei
Center, top to bottom: James G. Tyson, Washington, D. © Charlene F. Wharton, Long. . Island, WN. -Y.: Peter S. Ridley,
Washington, D. Cos) 1° &
Ti i a ++ - J es L. Rod iS es Bees oy mit SE AE | op to bottom: James L. Rod- Top to” bottom: Donald M gers, Washington, D. C.; Ca- Wyatt, Washington, D. C.; mille K. Jones, Chicago, Ill. Martha V. Stafford, Indian- apolis, Ind. Sas Vee \, ~\'s
RED CROSS WORKERS
+
Top to bottom: Leonard Hill, Washington, D. C.; J. Pericles McDuffie, Washington, D. C.
Centre row, top to bottom: George Goodman, Washing- ton,? D. Cx “Ligon Buford, Washington, D. C.; Aline L. Blackwell, Chicago, Il
Top to bottom: Sylvester L. Reeder, Washington, D. C.; Geneva Holmes, Washington,
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Released by U. S. War Department, Bureau of Public Relations SKILLED HANDS—Second Lieutenant Annie E. Phillips of Garner Road, North Carolina, a member of the Army Nurse Corps, dresses a head wound for Private First Class Michael P. Brigida at Station Hospital, Canmip Livingston, Louisiana. (Photo by U. 8. Army
&
Signal Corps.)
85
Bureau of Public Kelations 0. S. War Department
EXPERT--Aux. John Lawrence, a laboratory technician at Fort Bragg, N. ©., is a member of WAAC Detachment No, 2. She, is finding that the three years she
spent at Southwestern College, Windfield, Kansas, is helping her a great deal in ner work in one of Fort Bragg’s hospitals where she has relieved an enlisted man for combat service. Her home is in Caldwell. Texas.
WASHINGTON, D. C.—First.
Lieutenant L. J. Conner of Chicago, [llinois, recently commissioned and assigned to the Judge Advocate General’s office, is the first Negro
to receive such an appointment. He graduated from school and col.
lege in Chicago and practiced law there until his induction at Fort Custer in 1942.
ond LT. JESSIE M, "EADS . . Plaquemine, Tel
By Bureau of Public Weletions, U. S. War Dept., Wash., D. C. Affectionately dubbed “Beatrice,” this heavy machine gun gets loving care from its crew against the day it may be used to blast enemy raiders from the sky. At their action stations, as they would be in case of attack, are, left to right, Corp. Harold T. Cooper, New York City, Pfc, Calvin ‘Watson, Memphis, and Pfc. Francis Avery, New York Citv.
w
ARMY AIR FORCE
The establishment of Tuskegee Army Flying School was in 1941. ;
_ Located in South Central Alabama, 13 miles from Tusk- egee Institute, the field was conceived in the fertile mind of architect Hilyard R. Robinson, Washington, D. C., and the engineering miracle evolved was the result of another.Negro firm—McKissack & Co., Louisville; Ky. They had to level several hilis. One spot on the field is exactly 54 feet less in elevation than formerly. Trees had to be uprooted and all vestiges of vegetation ofevery sort had to be obliterated before mile-long concrete runways could be laid down. The
87
Bureau of Public. Relations U. S. War Department j FIRST NEGRO TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP SINGLES CROWN in the history of Fort Jackson and the Columbia Army Air Base was won by Cpl. George R. Ledbetter of Winston- Salem, N. C., Section 2, Supply Detachment, Supply Division at Fort Jackson (‘eft), who is about to receive the champ’s trophy from Mr. E. C. Spurlock. Director. of the Taylor Street USO in Columbia and promoter of the tourna- ment (center)). Runner-up. Cpl. Eldridge Johnson of Baltimore, Md., and the 274th Q. M. Bn., at Fort Jackson, smiles approval in the best near-champ manner.
nus
*
field now forms a big valley, man-made, a beautiful rolling valley that slopes back up toward the hill.
Training began under civilian pilots—Army personnel. handled the administrative work. First troops arrived Ocns ly L94t The initial ground crew for the so-called 99th ae Squadron was composed of men who vole
\ A ts
88 i
& Released by U.S War Department Bureau of Public Relations
WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION—Private First Class William Garrett, 106 Mill Avenue, Braddock, Pennsylvania, won the welter- weight title of the U. 8S. Army, European Theatre of Operations, when he won a three-round decision over Corpora! Bat Rossi, 240
North School Avenue, Oglesby, Illinois. ei
89
Released by U. S. War Department, Bureau of Public Relations
FIFTH ARMY CHAMPION—Corporal Horace Buford, of Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, who once graced the boxing cards of Madison Square Gardens in New York City and the prize rings of Philadelphia and Buffalo, recently won the Fifth Army professional ‘heavyweight “boxing championship. He will fight in Africa against other champions of Army and Navy units in the North Africa Theater of Operations. He serves in a Fifth Army Quartermaster unit. (Photo by U.. Ss. Army Signal Corps.) ‘
of its kind for Negroes.
and had been trained at Chanute Field, Illinois. Mach man was eager to play his role in building up the first flying school — The first commanding officer of the field was Major James A. Ellison (white). Lieutenant
onel B.O. Davis, Jr., highest ranking Negro officer in the
2 Cols. 4
20 . BPR
hee
WAAC BASKETBALL TEAM PRACTICING FOR LEAGUE GAMES—At Fort Huachuca, Arizona, these athletic ‘girls have strenuous practice. Left to right: Captain Frances C, Alexander, 32nd Company Coach and Commanding Officer, Toledo, Ohio; Lacy Johnson, Little Rock, Arkansas; and Reba Caldwell, Pittsburgh, Kansas.
>
Army Air Forces, was the executive of troops. More than
*/60 percent of the total quota of officers at the flying school
were N egroes.
Second Lieutenant Mac Ross, a graduate of the first flying piles in March, 1942, was the youngest Squadron Command- er. He became the C. O. of a newly activated fighter squad- ron—the 100th. He is a graduate of West Virginia State - College and a native of Dayton, Ohio. He was the first American flying officer to become a member of the Cater- _ pillar Club.
91
A keen edge on the appetite is no exception to the good mess provided for cur soldiers everywhere is that served in Hawaii. Here ~ enjoying their repast are, left to right, Corp. John L, Sellers, Colum- bus, Ga., Pvt, Joseph English, Greensboro, Ga., Pvt. Bennie W. Samuel, Albany, Ga., and Pvt. John Preston, Tampa, Fla.
With the Tuskegee Institute as Contractor the 66th Army Air Forces Training Detachment began operations in July of 1941, when it received its first class of Aviation Ca-~ dets. In addition to providing Primary Flying Training, the — Pre-Flight School was alse located at this detachment. Stu-— dent flying training command began the latter part of Au- gust, 1941.
The General Manager of the es from the start has been Professor G. L. Washington, head of the Department of Mechanical Industries, Division of Aeronauties, Tuskegee Institute. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology grad- uate, Prof.Washington has been associated with the Tuske-) gee Institute for many years.
Charles A. Anderson, pioneer Negro pilot, has been Chief Pilot since the school opened.
Tuskegee is producing skilled technicians, air meobhawees photographers, weather men and many other technicians essential to the Army Air Forces. At one time at the base there were: the 66th Flying Training Detachment, 648th
92
ee
Released by U. S. War Penance Bureau ie Pabiie Relations
cis _ SETS RECORD IN MARKSMANSHIP—Private Emmett 0. Smith, of Montgomery, Alabama, is shown in the kneeling position with his M-1 (Garand) rifle, the weapon with which he broke all marksmansnip records at the Fort McClennan (Alabama) Infantry
Replacement Training Center. He scored 206 out of a possible 210
on the rifle range, after only seven weeks of basic training, (Photo -by U.S. Army Signal Corps.)
2nd LT, VALMA M. BROWN ‘st, Louis, Mo.,
, D A
' Ordnance Co., a .Weather Detachment, 689th Signal Air- - craft Warning Co., 145ist Quartermaster Co., the 94l1st - Guard Squadron, 313th Army Air Forces B and, Medical Department, 1155th Single Engine Flying Training Squad-
93
FORT RILEY, KANSAS—Sergeant Joe Louis Barrows, back on = the job after a short furlough, carries the colors in an evening review == of the crack 8th Training Squadron,- He is undergoing a 13-week bacis training period at the Cavalry Replacement Center, after which. aE He he will be assigned to a regular unit of the Armed Forces. Me ie
ron, 889th Basic Flying Training Squadron, and the Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron. fyt ae toe
:
Added to the training that Negroes have received ne” above, the Army has already started to commission Negroes” as Bombardiers, Navigators, paratroopers, ete. Bred lc
+ +
i oe ‘ : a 3, nt see $y . ¥ ‘4 # nel se
_ ARMY NURSE, CORPS.
/
“THE. NURSE'S CREED
; Woe mee ET will do all in, my power to maintain and elevate the ee en of my profession, and will hold in confidente all personal ae committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to ee in the practice of my calling. With loyalty will I
e a
ten of the office upon which I am about to enter. So Help Me God.” . aS Ne ee Army Oath taken by all Army Nurses upon Ce the pores
| EGRO Kins nurses are doing their share of the work leading to /: victory, both at home and abroad. In the continental United ‘States, they are presently stationed at Fort Clark, and Camp Howze, © Texas; Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Tuskegee Army Air Field, bane ues Bragg, North Carolina, and Camp Livingston, Louisiana.
The first ‘contingent of 29 Negro Army nurses to go overseas “Found its way to Liberia, in West Africa, in February, 1943, This group. was headed by First Lieutenant Susan E. Freeman of Stratford, Connecticut, who is the second Negro nurse to enter the Army Nurse.
- Corps. A graduate of Freedmen’s Hospital, Washington, D. C., Lieu- tenant. Freeman. did volunteer: work in-1937 at Louisville, Kentucky: - during the time of the Ohio and Mississippi river floods. She has served as principal chief nurse of Station Hospital No. 1, Fort Hua-
ee Arizona.
eo: the Southwest Pacific area in November, 1943, went the first
eis, ead of 15 Negro Army nursed, headed by First icine Birdie Pa. E. Brown’ of New York City, New York. Lieutenant Brown was “ae - formerly personnel and assistant building supervisor at New York’s
aie ec Hospital.
| URSING in the Army includes the care, not only of officers and
D8 enlisted men, but their families and other patients entitled to
a admission to Army hospitals. Army nurses are assigned to evacua-
tion planes and trains, to transport and other Army ships carrying
bee | wounded. They care for the injured abroad in mobile station hospitals,
ray evacuation hospitals, station and general hospitals, and nurse sick “and wounded soldiers in all Army hospitals at home.
Army nurses may receive citations and awards for bravery under “fire and meritorious service. Opportunities for promotion:in rank, up ‘ to ‘and including the rank of lieutenant colonel, await intelligent Pre. ae who exhibit executive abili ity, Judgment and taet.
: *~ Appointments in the Army Nurse Corps are made by The Sur geon 2 achena with ‘the approval of the Secretary of War, through nine _ service commands, the Army Air Forces, and overseas departments.
95
Ist LT. MARY LOUISE PETTY
Lisbon, Ohio
3 oe
: an Chicago, Il.
eR at
Ist LT. BIRDIE E, BROWN lltessiatias NeW ‘York, N. iY apace Rd
eee
2nd LY, ANNIE JEFFERSON
Winston-Salem, N.C. .
-2nd LT. DORIS Y. EVANS.
bey Cane
Payne
HONORED BY THE NAVY
For having saved the lives of several men trapped in a Pfc, Wm. M. Miles, Jr. bombed compart-
Rat Cone Oro Laem TORY our ae aircraft carrier af-
ter an enemy aerial attack, the Navy hon-
ored William Pinckney, OC 3-c, USN,
Beaufort, $. C., with the Navy Cross. He is
shown receiving the medal (below) at the
hands of Vice Admiral Audrey W. Fitch.
Pictures of Soldiers - Sailors - WACS - Marines
The Next Issue
— Volume Two oe
“THE NEGRO IN WORLD 7 WAR II’ Goes: to Press JUNE ist, 1944 <>
Photos—Wanted MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY SERVING IN THE ARMED FORCES
>
All Photos will be Returned Small Engraving Charge
THE SENTRY
1934 Eleventh Street, N. W. WASHINGTON 1, D. C.
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