African American Soldiers, Sailors, and Pilots from the Greatest Generation

African American

Warriors in World War II

Veterans sought the self-respect that they had won
 in World War II in the Civil Rights Movement.


Evelyn Smith

Amended June 11, 2014

Until this week, with the exception of the "Selected Histories" section at the end of this Webpage and the wonderful vintage photos  and the Buffalo soldier logo discovered Online, this blog entry was originally a semester project for an introductory reference class for a Master's in Library Science for the University of North Texas taken during the summer of 2010. 
  
Even so, such a Webpage is never really complete.  Case-in -point, a review of Steve Sheinkin's The Port Chicago 50:  Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights  (2014) publicized during a Booklist Webinar sent me searching for more information about Port Chicago, California--a controversial topic that rarely gets the attention it deserves.  Also, in 2013, the Cultural Arts Center of Waco, Texas, started a fund to build a permanent memorial honoring Doris Miller, perhaps the most publicized war hero to emerge out of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, so their fund-raising efforts deserve a place here as well.

The inspiration  for this project, however, comes from a line in one of  Dad's letters back home to his parents in McGregor, Texas, when he noted that he happily saluted every African American officer he encountered, for after seeing what they went through in officers candidate school, they certainly earned it.  Early in the War,  Dad was a drill sergeant in charge of a platoon of black inductees stationed in Miami, Florida,  although he would eventually rise to the rank of captain while serving as a J. A. G. officer attached to the 8th Air Corps outside of Cambridge, England.   Thanks Vets for your sacrifices not only in World War II but in all of America's wars and conflicts!

General Military History

African American platoons in World War II. (2010). HistoryNet.  Weider History Group. Retrieved from http://www.historynet.com/african-american-platoons-inworld-war-ii.htm

African-American soldiers first fought in World War II in Germany in March 1945. When they rescued white soldiers pinned down by enemy fire, they won the respect of white American soldiers. Not only did the black soldiers relieve white troops, but they came to join their fellow Americans in battle. This act challenged the prejudices that white GIs had held about African Americans, and it set the stage for integration back home. While all races had served together in the Revolutionary War, African American regiments could not join the Union Army during the American Civil War until 1863.  In 1865, Congress authorized the creation of African-American regiments.  These Buffalo soldiers would serve bravely on the frontier and during the Spanish-American War. However, starting in World War I, African American draftees were mostly confined to auxiliary roles with the exception of 92^nd and 93^rd divisions—the same divisions that earned the admiration of their white colleagues in World War II.

Foster, S. (2009, February 18). Blacks in the military: The African American Soldiers’ quest for recognition. Scott Air Force Base.  Retrieved from http://www.scott.af.mil/news.asp?id=123136038

President Harry S. Truman signed an Executive Order in 1948 integrating the U. S. armed forces. At the beginning of the War, African American organizations started to insist that the government allow African-American soldiers to participate equally with white service personnel.  In response to this pressure, the government created the first “all-black” aviation program in 1941. In May 1943, the first of the Tuskegee-trained pilots arrived in North Africa to join Allied forces. 

The accomplishments of the 99^th Fighter Squadron as it worked with the “all-white” 79^th Fighter Group in October 1943 helped to speed the integration of the Air Force.  The leader of the Tuskegee Airmen, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., became the first African-American Air Force General. Thus, the Tuskegee pilots thus joined the ranks of other famous African-American regiments—the 54^th Massachusetts Infantry that fought for the Union during the Civil War and the 9th and 10^th Cavalries and the 38^th through 41^st Infantries that guarded the frontier during the last half of the 19^th century.  In the Spanish-American War, the 9^th and 10^th Cavalries fought with Teddy Roosevelt at the Battle of San Juan Hill. In 1941, these two regiments merged to form the 4^th Cavalry Brigade.  Captain Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., later the first African-American to attain the rank of general, led these soldiers. The Army disbanded the 4^th Calvary three years later along with all other horse cavalry regiments.

National Archives. (n.d.). Pictures of African Americans during World War II: Select audiovisual records. Retrieved from http://www.archives.gov/research.african-americans/ww2-pictures/

Upon the 50th anniversary of World War II, The National Archives has put together a selected list of 265 photographic records.  The photographs come from the Still Picture Branch (NNSP) of the National Archives and Records Administration. This collection covers the Army, Navy, Marines, Army Air Force, and Coast Guard. But it also shows pictures of African Americans serving on the Homefront, African-American Merchant Marines, African-American women in the military, and African-American soldiers in training and during Rest and Relaxation. 

Additionally, photographs picture personalities, like Josephine Baker, Marian Anderson, and Lena Horne, supporting the War effort. Over 2.5 African-American males registered for the draft, and many African-American women volunteered.  Back home, African Americans worked in war industries, in government wartime agencies, sold war bonds, conserved materials needed for the war effort, and carried out civil defense duties. African-American entertainers also performed for the troops, and African-American journalists also reported for newspapers on the front lines.  All these activities appear in this fascinating collection.

 Military Heroes

Debt of Honor. (1996, May 6). U.S. News Online. Retrieved from http://www.wiz-worx.com/366th/usnews/medal.htm

Fifty years after World War II, the Pentagon has nominated seven African Americans to receive the Medal of Honor. During the war, not one African American received the nation’s highest military honor, and only nine received the Distinguished Service Cross.  Only the President may award the Medal of Honor, but Congress must also waive the time limit for awarding World War II medals since it expired in 1952. As of 1996, the only veteran to be nominated for the medal still living is 1^st Lt. Vernon J. Baker, of St. Maries, Idaho. Baker won the DSC while fighting in Italy with Company C, 370^th Infantry Regiment, 92^nd Division. Baker led his 25-man platoon to capture a German stronghold in Italy at Castle Aghinolfi. The other six now dead African Americans nominated to receive the Medal of Honor all share similar tales of heroism. A special Army Senior Officer Awards Board chose these candidates from a list of 10 heroes identified in a 15-month study by professional military historians.

Leopold, J. D. (2010, March 30). Army honors ‘Triple Nickles’ legacy at Pentagon. Army Military News. Retrieved from http://www.army.mil/-news/2010/03/30/36570-army-honors-triple-nicles-legacy-at-pentagon-ceremony

In a standing-room only ceremony, the Army paid tribute to the three surviving members of a 17-member “test platoon” of the 555^th Parachute Infantry Battalion on March 25, 2010. The platoon did not go overseas, but it was sent in May 1945 to help fight possible forest fires ignited by Japanese balloons carrying fire-causing bombs. This threat never took place; however, the group did fight forest fires in the Pacific Northwest. The three surviving members of this parachute battalion felt the honor was overdue, but they also were pleased to receive the honor.

Williams, R. (1997, January 16). Seven black World War II heroes receive Medals of Honor. Department of Defense.  Retrieved from  http://www.defense.gov/news/newsaarticle.aspx?id-43307

Tears streamed down veteran Vernon Baker’s face when President Clinton presented him the Medal of Honor.  Clinton noted that President Truman awarded 28 Medals of Honor to white veterans, but no African American immediately after the War received a Medal of Honor. Baker felt vindicated while the A Company 761^st Tank Battalion commander, David Williams, was pleased that one of his tank commanders, Staff Sgt. Ruben Rivers, would receive a posthumous medal.

Texas’ Own Doris Miller

Waco would like to see Doris Miller get the respect his memory deserves!

Cook Third Class Doris Miller, USN. (n.d.). Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved from http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq57-4.htm

Naval History and Heritage Command details Doris Miller’s valor during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  A mess attendant, Cook, Third Class, on the USS West Virginia, Miller, this native Wacoan, was collecting laundry when the alarm for general quarters sounded. After finding his battle station wrecked, Miller headed for the deck.  The former Moore High School Lions fullback was assigned to carry wounded sailors to safety. Then, he was ordered to the bridge to care for the mortally wounded ship’s captain.  Subsequently, he  then manned a 50 caliber Browning anti-aircraft machine gun until it ran out of ammunition. Miller received the Navy Cross in May 1942 for his actions on December 7, 1941.

 Miller didn’t survive to receive any more awards since on November 24, 1943, a Japanese torpedo sunk the ship on which Miller was serving. In addition to this medal, Miller was entitled to receive the Purple Heart, the American Defense Service Medal, the Fleet Clasp, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.  In October 1973, the Navy commissioned a frigate, the USS Miller named in his honor, and in October 1991, the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority commissioned a plaque honoring Miller at the Miller Family Park located on the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor.

Doris (Dorie) Miller, American hero. (2010). PearlHarbor.org. (1941, December 11). Retrieved from http://www.pearlharbor.org/dorie-miller.asp

Pearl Harbor.org fully outlines the story of Doris Miller’s bravery on December 7, 1941, but it also fills in some much needed details. While serving on the USS West Virginia, for instance, “Dorie” was the ship’s heavyweight boxing champ. Before enlisting in 1939 to travel and earn money for his family, he worked on his father’s farm.  The article also details what happened aboard the West Virginia in Miller’s own words as he gives a first-hand account of his firing of a machine gun: “It wasn’t hard.  I just pulled the trigger, and she worked fine.  I had watched the others with these guns.  I guess I fired her for about 15 minutes.  I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us” (Miller, 1941, para.14). Miller was officially presumed dead a year after a day after the loss of his ship, the Liscome Bay, on November 25, 1944.  Only 272 survived its sinking while 646 died (Miller, 1941, para.14).

Doris Miller Memorial.  (2013).  Cultural Arts of Waco.  Retrieved from 

http://www.dorismillermemorial.org/

A photo gallery of Doris Miller provides a pictorial tribute to Doris Miller, but the Cultural Arts Center of Waco, Texas, is also hoping to raise the funds to build a permanent memorial to Waco's most famous native son in Bledsoe-Miller Park on the east bank of the Brazos River, which flows through downtown Waco, so please feel free to contribute. 

Miller, Doris. (2010). Cook Third Class Doris Miller, USN; Enclosure F to USS West Virginia’s action report, 11 December 1941.  Frequently asked questions. (1941, December 11). NNHC. Retrieved from http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq57-43.htm

Doris Miller gives his very detailed account of his actions on December 7, 1941.  To add to his heroism, the ship was listing so badly that he notes that on the linoleum decks it was impossible to walk without holding on to something.  Numerous times, Miller reports that he had initiated actions rather than carrying out orders:

1) Miller asked the dying Captain if he should go below and counter flow;

2) When Miller discovered empty ammunition boxes, he supplied them;

3) He sent two ensigns for a pharmacist mate to aid the dying Captain;

4) He used a wooden ladder to serve as a stretcher for the Captain;

5) He cleared out the signal flags that had been set on fire when a fire started in the galley;

6) He brought the mortally-wounded Captain up to the navigation deck.

In this report, Miller does not comment upon manning the submachine gun.  Instead, he commends the Captain for his bravery and concern for the ship and praises others for their courage. Miller also analyzes his actions and thinks that he should have used more time between the first and second Japanese attack to get ammunition to the machine guns. 

Fighting Groups

Logo for the 92nd Infantry

African American 92^nd Infantry Division fought in Italy during World War II (2010).  HistoryNet. Weider History Group.  Retrieved from http://www.historynet.com/african-american-92nd-infantry-division-fought-in-Italy-during-World-War_II

In the spring of 1944, the government rescinded a policy that excluded African Americans from combat. In September 1944, the first of the these Buffalo soldiers, the 370^th Regimental Combat Team, reached Naples, Italy, to be followed by other troops assigned to the IV Corps of the US Fifth Army. The 92^nd as part of the 370^th thus occupied the westernmost end of the Allied front while the VIII Army attacked across eastern Italy.

When they deployed along the front, they begin working with tankers of the US 1^st Armored Division. Three battalions of the 370^th Regiment and the 1^st Armored Division crossed the Arno River.  Using mule trails, they advanced up the west side of Mount Pisano and attacked the city of Lucca.  At this time, they stopped the  enemy around the road connecting Pisa to Lucca and spent the next few days patrolling while they waited for the Fifth Army to move up to the front. While the Army always referred to the 92^nd as an African-American unit, its senior officers were white, and the junior officers and enlisted men were black.

Davis, Lee. (2007). Battle of the Bulge: The 761^st Tank Battalion. DogonVillage.com. Retrieved from http://www.dogonvillage.com/Tidbits/civic_education?battle_of_the_bulge.htm

The 761^st Tank Division landed at Omaha Beach, Normandy, in October 1944.  Since General George Patton wanted only the best for his 3^rd Army, this first African-American armored unit to fight in World War II spearheaded a number of Patton‘s moves against the Germans. The 751st forced a hole in the Siegfried Line. They also fought in France, Belgium, and Germany. However, their major claim to glory is their part in the Battle of the Bulge.

Every other unit assigned to take a German stronghold in Tillet failed to do so, but after a week of steady fighting, the 761^st took the town and drove the Germans into retreat. Members of the 761st were also the first Americans to meet up with the Russians at the Steye River in Austria. This honor was supposed to go to the 13^th and 14^th Armored Divisions, so the Brass had issued orders not to give them any gasoline. However a sergeant in the 761^st supply company took trucks to the Kohlgrube depot and talked the soldiers in an African-American quartermaster unit into giving them 30,000 gallons. As a result, the 761^st was able to beat the other units in a race to meet up with the Russians.

Johnson, G. K. (n.d.). Black soldiers of the Ardennes. (1981, February). Reprinted with permission from Lieutenant Colonel R. F. Machamer, Editor-in-Chief Soldiers Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.bjmjr.net.ww2/ardennes.htm

General G. K. Johnson gives a detailed account of the African American troops who fought under Patton during the Battle of the Bulge. Nine Black Field Artillery Battalions made up the VIII Corps (the 333^rd, 559^th, 578^th, and 740^th) that supported the 106^th Division. In defending Bastogne, the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion lost more men than any other VIII Corps Artillery unit (six officers and 222 enlisted men).  The other African-American unit in the 333^rd group, the 969^th, filled a breach when the enemy broke out into the open as it manned the guns another unit had abandoned.  For their heroism, the 989^th received the first distinguished unit citation ever awarded to an African-American  combat unit in World War II.  The 578^th Field Artillery fought as infantry with the 424 infantry regiment they were supporting.  Three African-American tank destroyer battalions also fought in the Ardennes—the 630^th, the 701^st, and the 502^nd.  However, the 761^st motto, “Come out Fighting”, truly shows the spirit of all African American soldiers who fought in World War II. 

Johnson notes that necessity forced the integration of African-American and white troops, but it did not happen only when the Americans were under fire.  Lt. General John C. H. Lee first suggested that African-American soldiers fill in where there was a shortage of riflemen. But his plan cased enough apprehension that General Dwight D. Eisenhower had to be reminded that segregation was the official War Department Policy. General Johnson, however, cites the African-American soldier as a vital factor in the winning of the Battle of the Bulge and World War II.

Latimer, P. W. (n.d.). When the Black Panthers prowled.  Reprinted from Army Magazine. (1992, January). Retrieved from http://www.761st.com/index.php?page=Latimer

Lt. Colonel P. W. Latimer, a former white high school math teacher from East Texas who was drafted as a Private in June 1941, summarizes his experiences with the 761^st “Black Panther” Tank Battalion.  After exiting Armor Officer Candidate School, his superiors asked if he would volunteer to serve with African-American tankers.  Since he was both patriotic and not prejudiced, he volunteered to transfer to the 761^st as a first lieutenant.  The group trained at Fort Hood, Texas [or rather Camp Hood] where the 761^st commanding officer enjoyed showing how his tank destroyers outmaneuvered all opponents.  By this time, Captain Latimer was a battalion supply officer in charge of supplying ammunition, gasoline, and rations to 700 men, 54 medium tanks, and 17 light tanks.

Looking back, he praises all the enlisted men who served under him. He notes that the 761^st made a lot of mistakes in their early battles, but this prepared them to be a part of the Third Army that rushed to Belgium in the Battle of the Bulge. Indeed, the Black Panthers reputation was so fierce that Latimer and his driver singlehanded captured a Germany village as they were trying to secure a spot for their temporary headquarter, As they started to drive through the village, they could not see anyone, but when they had not advanced very far, a German soldier stepped out waving a white flag. In 1982, Latimer notes that a group of 761^st veterans returned to the battlefields of the Lorraine and the Ardennes.  They received a heartfelt welcome in all the villages they had liberated. 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (n.d.). Tuskegee Airman brings distinguished history to NOAA (n.d.). NOAA. NOAA celebrating black history. Retrieved from http://www.blackhistory.noaa.gov/tuskegee.html

In 2000, Tuskegee Airman Spann Watson give a speech where he told about his experiences as a Tuskegee-trained pilot to a group of National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration’s National Weather Service employees celebrating Black History Month. This article notes that Watson’s interest in flying started when he watched Charles Lindbergh fly the Spirit of St. Louis into New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport when he returned from his transatlantic flight.  Watson majored in mechanical engineering at Howard University and enlisted in the College Pilot Training Program on the eve of World War II.  He wanted to fly with the Air Force, but he could not do so until a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) lawsuit forced the government to open the first all-African-American aviation program at the Tuskegee Institute.

After earning his wings as part of Tuskegee’s first graduating class, Watson was stationed in Casablanca as part of the 99^th Fighter Squadron.  He told the group that the famed squadron was so successful in escorting bombers that they did not lose a single one. After a 23-year military career, Lieutenant Colonel Watson joined the Federal Aviation Administration as an equal opportunity specialist. Watson has won more than 30 appointments for African-American cadets to the three major service academies and has also help 483 airline flight attendants and full-time pilots.

Tuskegee Airmen: Still flying high. (1994, November). Ebony. 50 (1). p. 62.

In November 1994, veteran Tuskegee Airman convened in Chicago for their 23rd national gathering. The vets explained that their main purpose was to let their descendants know about what they had done during World War II as their convention theme, “From These Roots Build Tomorrow, shows. The last class of Tuskegee Airmen graduated in June 1946.  This brought the number of pilots trained there up to 992.  Sixty-six pilots were killed in combat.  But prominent alumni include General Daniel “Chappie” James, the first black four star general, and Lt. General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., the first African-American general in the Air Force and the first African-American lieutenant general.  Other prominent Tuskegee Airmen include Detroit Mayor Coleman Young, Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton, and Colorado Lt. Governor George Brown. The Tuskegee Airmen explained that they also motivated young people and supported the National Museum of the Tuskegee Airmen in Detroit. 

Tuskegee pilots

Segregation

Ambrose, S. E. (1997). Citizen soldiers:  Jim Crow and black segregation.  World War II. History Info. Ambrose Tibbs, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.worldwar2history.info/Army/Jim-Crow.html

A World War II carton strip featured the Sad Sack, a character who hated officers, the Army, African Americans, Jews, and Italians.  S. E. Ambrose, however, explains that the worst “Sad Sack” was Jim Crow.  Jim Crow laws would not allow African-American soldiers traveling through the South had to ask in the kitchen for a cup of coffee. German prisoners of war escorted by American guards, however, could eat in depot lunch rooms.  This made Ambrose wonder if both white and African-American soldiers were fighting for the same freedom.  Jim Crow ruled the Army as much as segregation was the law in the South: African American units had they own units, mess halls, barracks and bars.

No African-American infantry units also existed in the European Theater. The 969^th Field Artillery Battalion and the 761^st Tank Battalion won praise for their military successes. But the 827^th Tank Destroyer Battalion had such a bad record that the army thought about disbanded it. The chief historian for the army, however, claims that the 969^th Battalion’s main trouble was their inferior officers.

Most African-American soldiers never got a chance to fight, but for a few the opportunity came during the Battle of the Bulge. As of March 1, 1945, however, 2,253 African-American volunteers had completed their training. When the Army integrated its barrack in 1945, no problems occurred. The article also notes that at the end of the war, American society’s segregation policies caused many white American soldiers from the South great shame.  Within a decade, the Army became one of the most successfully and fully integrated institutions in America.

Harry S. Truman Library & Museum. (n.d.). Desegregation of the armed forces. Retrieved from http://www.trumanlibrary.org.whistlestop/study_collectins/desegregation/large/index.php

The Harry S. Truman Museum has published a time life detailing the desegregation of the Armed Forces from 1945 to 1953.  Starting with the appointment of a board to investigate the Army’s policy of segregation in September 1945, this time line goes well past the date when Truman ended segregation in the armed forces through executive order. In April 1951, General Mathew B. Ridgway, head of the United Nations command in Korea, requested that the Army allow him to integrate all troops within his command. By October 1953, the Army announced that 85 percent of its African-American troops were serving in integrated units.

Krause, L. (2001, February 15). Black soldiers in WWII: Fighting enemies at home and abroad. National Geographic News.  Retrieved from  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/0215_tuskegee.html

Krause writes that during World War II African-American soldiers and civilians fought America’s enemies overseas as well as prejudice back home. At the start of the War, all African-American personnel served in segregated units, supervised by white officers. They were also limited to noncombat roles. However, the NAACP urged that the Army Air Corps train a small group of pilots in Tuskegee, Alabama, beginning in 1943.  General Dwight Eisenhower also temporarily desegregated the army in the European Theater.

Back home, over two million African Americans worked in defense plants, and two million joined the ranks of civil service employees.  Truman’s Executive Order 9981 ended segregation in the army and the civilian government, but schools, public transportation, restaurants, and drinking fountains still remained reserved for either white or African American patrons only. Nevertheless, World War II really started the modern Civil Rights movement.

US apartheid (or ‘segregation’ as they preferred to call it).  Aviation during World War II. Retrieved from http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/WW2/US%20apartheid.htm

When Britain fought the Third Reich, all races from the Commonwealth  fought side by side.  However, American military reflected the legal and defacto segregation that existed in much of the United States. The U.S. Army Air Corps dealt with segregation by refusing to allow African Americans to enter its ranks rather than establish separate, but equal, facilities for African-American personnel.  This ban ended, however, ended in October 1940 when the War Department announced that African Americans would receive training as pilots and technical specialists. These pilots would form the elite group of fliers later known as the Tuskegee Airmen.  Upon graduation in March 1942, they became the 99^th fighter squadron.

They were attached to 33^rd Fighter Group and sent to North Africa. The unit was, nevertheless, forced to wait a year before being deployed because no white commander wished to add this unit to his forces.  Abroad the transport ship, however, a Tuskegee Airman and West Point graduate, Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., had command of all the troops aboard the ship, including white troops.  He, therefore, became the first African-American officer to command both African-American and white soldiers.

During the squadron's tour of duty in North Africa, the pilots performed as well as other P-40 squadrons, and in October 1943, the Army Air Corps assigned the Tuskegee Airmen to the 79^th fighter group supporting the American invasion of Italy. Here, the Army Air Corps assimilated the Tuskegee pilots with white officers for combat and training mission. After the 99^th’s first year in combat, the 99^th was transferred to the 322^nd Fighter group as one of four African-American squadrons.

They performed admirably as bomber escorts for the 15^th Air Force, flew raids against Axis oil refineries, and strafed German soldiers retreating from Greece. On March 24, 1945, the 99^th flew the longest mission that the 15^th Air Force ever undertook to the Daimler-Benz tanks work factory in Berlin.  During this mission, they downed three Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighters. The pilots received a Distinguished Unit Citation for their mission. During World War II, the 322 flew more than 1,500 sorties and counted 111 kills, plus one destroyer sunk using a plane’s machine gun.  Its men also received 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses. 

But most admirably, they never lost a single bomber that they escorted to enemy aircraft, and remained the only squadron who could make that claim.  At War’s end, the Airmen returned to a segregated South.  The Air Force had completely assimilated African-American pilots into its ranks by April 1948.

Voice of America. (2005, May 10). African-American Soldiers in World War II Helped Paved Way for Integration of US Military. Retrieved from

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2005-5-10-v-a47-67929177.html

Before World War II, the U. S. military classified African-American personnel as unfit for combat and did not allow them to fight on the front lines. That changed in 1941 when the Army set up all-African-American combat units, such as the Tuskegee Airmen, as an experiment. During the War, black troops adopted the symbol of the Double V, which meant victory against the Axis powers as well as victory against discrimination at home. However, military historians conclude that these  triumphs helped ease the way for the political empowerment of African-Americans during the Civil Rights era. 

Port of Chicago Disaster & Mutiny

Caul, David & Todd, Susan. (1990 January).  Napa Sentinel.  Retrieved from http://dmc.members.sonic.net/sentinel/usa4.html

Conspiracy theory alert!—Caul and Todd question whether the Port Chicago Disaster was an atomic bomb blast as evidenced by the white flash eyewitnesses reported that is always associated with nuclear explosions.  At this point in World War II, the United States lacked the technological capability to drop such a bomb from the air, so original plans were to explode a  nuclear device in an enemy port.

Port Chicago disaster—July 17, 1944.  (2002, July 7).  American Merchant Marine at War.  Retrieved from http://www.usmm.org/portchicago.html

This American Merchant Marine Website provides a history of Port Chicago, located in the San Francisco Bay area, as well as information on the unsafe conditions under which untrained, enlisted African American stevedores quickly loaded explosive material, moving ammunition hand-to-hand from railroad boxcars to pier.  The site also memorializes the Merchant Marines killed when 4,600 tons of explosive material obliterated the SS E.A. Bryan and the SS Quinault Victory.

Port Chicago Naval Magazine/National Memorial California. (2014). National Parks Service.  Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov.poch.index.htm

Although the memorial is currently closed during the summer of 2014, its Website makes available a large number of black and white photographs documenting the loading of munitions.  The National Parks Service also makes available a pack of trading cards on this site for children.

Stolp-Smith, Michael.  (2011).  Port Chicago Mutiny (1944).  BlackPast.org.  Retrieved from  http://www.blackpast.org/aaw/port-chicago-mutiny-0#

In the worst disaster of World War II, a massive explosion at Port Chicago, California, destroyed the Liberty Ship SS E. A. Bryan, instantaneously incinerating 320 sailors, 202 were African American dockworkers (Stolp-Smith, 2011, para. 1).  When  their replacements refused to load dangerous  munitions unless the United States Navy changed unsafe-loading procedures, a Navy court  martial tried and convicted 208 sailors, sentencing 50 of them for mutiny,  a  capital offense.  Although  the U.S. Navy granted clemency to all involved in January 1946,  the incident highlighted the discrimination that existed in the U.S. military during World War II.

Selected Histories on African Americans Serving in World War II

African American Pilots 

Caver, Joseph. Ennels, Jerome, and Hauptman, Daniel. (2011). The Tuskegee Airmen: An illustrated History.  1939-1949. Montgomery, Alabama: New South Books.

Starting with the adventures of early African-American aviators, the authors use captioned photographs to trace the story of African-American flight, culminating in the training of the Tuskegee Airmen and their deployment and combat over North Africa, Italy, and Germany during World War II.

Haulman, Daniel. (2011). The Tuskegee Airmen and the “never lost a bomber myth”.  [Kindle Edition]. Montgomery, Alabama:  New South Books.

Haulman explains how the Tuskegee Airmen’s “never lost a bomber myth” grew, noting that both reporters and historians based on a claim first made in a news story that appeared in the Chicago Defender on March 24, 1945, and repeated by a War Department press release on June 21, 1985. 

Moye, J. Todd. (2012). Freedom flyers:  The Tuskegee Airmen of World War II.  Oxford Oral History Series.  New York: Oxford University Press. 

Moye draws on over 800 interviews to tell the story of the Tuskegee Airmen as part of the Tuskegee Airmen Oral History Project.  These flyers took many routes to end up at Tuskegee, but during World War II, they fought on two fronts—against the Axis Powers in Europe and Jim Crow in the American South.

African-American Soldiers

Hargrove, Hondon B. (1985). Buffalo Soldiers in Italy:  Black Americans in World War II.  Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.

Hargrove follows the traditions of the 92^nd Division of the United States Army from their days on the Frontier following the American Civil War through their preparation and deployment on the battlefield during the Italian campaign.  Hargrove analyzes the Buffalo Soldiers records and refutes unfavorable evaluations by white officers.

Houston, Ivan J. and Cohn, Gordon. (2009). Black warriors: The Buffalo Soldiers of World War II.  Memoirs of the Only Negro Infantry Division to fight in Europe during World War II.  Bloomingdale, Indiana:  iUniverse. 

A work in progress for 63 years, Houston chronicles his experiences serving with the 3^rd Battalion, 370^th Infantry Regiment, 92^nd Division of the Fifth Army during World War II.

Johnston, Carolyn Ross. (2012). My father’s war: Fighting with the Buffalo Soldiers in World War II.  Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press.

In Johnston’s search for her dad’s experiences during World War II, she drew upon extensive archives as well as interviews with over 100 soldiers.  Accordingly, Johnston contends that not only did their service transform the war, but upon their return home, it jump started the Civil Rights movement. 

Moore, Brenda L. (1996).  To serve my country, to serve my race: The story of the only African-American WACS stationed overseas during World War II.  New York:  New York University Press.  

While working on a Ph. D. in sociology with a focus on military studies at the University of Chicago, this vet noticed no systematic study on the service of African-American women during World War II.  Hence she set out to study the significance of the changes in race and gender politics during the War by tracing the story of the first U.S. Women’s Army Corps unit of African American women. 

Sasser, Charles W. (2004).  Patton’s Panthers:  The African-American 761^st Tank Battalion in World War II.  New York: Pocket Books.

In telling the social history of the Black Panthers, Sasser seeks to explain what it meant to African-American soldiers to be accepted as part of the U.S. war effort in spite of the fact that he makes some glaring technical errors in his description of both the German and American tanks that fought in the Battle of the Bulge during the winter of 1944-1945.

African Americans at Sea

Knoblock, Glen A. (2009).  African American World War II casualties and decorations in the Navy, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine: A comprehensive record.  Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.

Knoblock remembers the forgotten African American men deployed as stewards by re-accounting the attack on Pearl Harbor, their service in the U.S. Navy, Merchant Marines, and Coast Guards as well as the Port Chicago Disaster in July 1944.

Coast Allen, Robert L. (2006).  The Port Chicago Mutiny:  The Story of the Largest Mass Mutiny Trial in U.S. Naval History.  Rpt. of 1989 ed. New York: Equal Justice Society.

Allen details the largest mutiny trial in U.S. history after an explosion on July 17, 1944 instantly killed 320 sailors, 202 of whom were enlisted African Americans.

War Tales for Kids & Young Adults

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem and Walton, Anthony. (2005). Brothers in arms: The epic story of the 761^st Tank Battalion, WWII’s forgotten heroes.  New York: Broadway Books (Random House). 

Although the authors have geared this account of the 761st Tank Battalion to interest a middle-school audience, older readers will also find the heroism of the Black Panthers inspiring.

Homan, Lynn and Reilly, Thomas. (2002). The Tuskegee Airmen story.  Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Company, Inc.

When children find their grandfather’s medals from World War II, their grandmother tells them about their granddad’s experience as a Tuskegee Airman.

Johnson, Angela. (2007). Wind Flyers.  New York: Simon & Shuster Books for Young Readers. [Available from the Waco-McLennan County Library].

Coretta Scott King Award-winning author, Johnson introduces readers in grades 2 to 4 to the Tuskegee Airmen in this fictional story of a young pilot.

Shinkin, Steve. (2014). The Port Chicago 50:  Disaster, mutiny, and the fight for Civil Rights. New York:  Roaring Book Press (also available on Listening Library audio CD).  

Aimed at middle school readers, this history book in narrative form juxtaposes the stevedore strike that led to the Port Chicago Mutiny against the heroism of Doris Miller (as told in chapter one), thus highlighting the sacrifices made by African American sailors during World War II. 

Looking for more information on 
World War II Veterans?

 Patrons can access Fold 3 Online by using  their I.D. number and password for their library card. Interlibrary Loan also allows patrons to check-out books unavailable at their local library. 

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Witnesstowar.org 

A Website for Vets

Witness to War.  (2009). Retrieved from http://www.witnesstowar.org/

Witnesstowar.org provides oral histories of United States World War  II combat veterans, photos and memories, links and books, and video combat stories.