African Americans In The United States Military During World War II (Article Excerpt) & A YouTube Video Of The Double V Campaign of World War II

Black History in Two Minutes or so, Jan 10, 2020

The Double V Campaign was launched by a prominent black newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier, in 1942. The campaign came in response to buzz generated from a letter written by a young black man, James G. Thompson. His article, entitled, “Should I Sacrifice to Live ‘Half-American”, broke barriers and started a conversation nationally that many blacks had been having for generations.

As the nation claimed victory in World War II, many black veterans carried their excitement back home. The charge was clear: victory over fascism abroad and victory over racism at home. This assertion came in response to decades of expecting African-Americans to choose patriotism in times of war, but not experience equal protection of the law at home.

In this episode of 'Black History in Two Minutes or So' hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. — with additional commentary from Farah Griffin of Columbia University and Peniel Joseph from the University of Texas — we explore a campaign that ignited many African-Americans to take down Jim Crow laws and become key players in the civil rights movement...

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases a YouTube video about African Americans who were part of the United States military during World War II. This video focuses on "The Double V Campaign in which African Americans members of the United States military dedicated themselves to eradicate fascism oversees and Jim Crow discrimination in the United States.

This post also presents an article excerpt about African Americans in the United States military during World War II.

The content of this post is presented for historical and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the memories of those African American members of the United States military during World War II and thanks to all those who are associated with this embedded video and this article excerpt. 
 
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ARTICLE EXCERPT - AFRICAN AMERICANS FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM AT HOME AND ABROAD DURING WORLD WAR II

[This excerpt doesn't include any photographs that are part of the article.]

From https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/african-americans-fought-freedom-home-and-abroad-during-world-war-ii  "African Americans Fought for Freedom at Home and Abroad during World War II" by Tyler Bamford, February 1, 2020

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

"More than one million African American men and women served in every branch of the US armed forces during World War II. In addition to battling the forces of Fascism abroad, these Americans also battled racism in the United States and in the US military. The Army, Navy, and Marine Corps all segregated African Americans into separate units because of the belief that they were not as capable as white service members. Adding to this indignity, the Army frequently assigned White officers from the American South to command Black infantrymen.

In spite of these dispiriting obstacles, African Americans fought with distinction in every theater of the war. Some of the more famous Black units included the 332nd Fighter Group, which shot down 112 enemy planes during the course of 179 bomber escort missions over Europe, and the 761st Tank Battalion, which served in General George S. Patton’s Third Army. …African Americans also served in equally vital positions throughout the Army as nurses, engineers, truck drivers, gunners, and paratroopers.

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This willingness on the part of African American soldiers to sacrifice their lives for a country that treated them as second-class citizens is remarkable. Various accounts relate how German prisoners of war could enter facilities reserved for white Americans that black servicemen could not patronize.

When the US Marine Corps began recruiting a contingent of black Marines in June 1942, men from across the country flocked to enlist. These Marines trained at Montford Point, North Carolina. Although the “Montford Point Marines” excelled at gunnery and drill, they too faced the same segregation and hostility as men and women in the other branches. The Marine Corps Commandant, Major General Thomas Holcomb, resented being forced to accept African Americans into the Corps, and unlike the Army, the Marine Corps did not permit any Black men to become officers until November 1945.

In May 1943, Private R. J. Wood was even arrested for impersonating a Marine when he traveled home on leave to Cleveland, Ohio. The police officers did not know African American Marines existed. In North Carolina, a policeman slapped Edgar Cole‘s official orders out of his hand and told Cole that he was not allowed to wait on the street corner for a Marine driver to pick him up and take him to Montford Point. Despite the racism black Marines encountered, they distinguished themselves in the battles of Peleliu, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. By 1944, more than 18,000 Marines had trained at Montford Point and 12,000 were stationed overseas.

Even when African Americans were denied the opportunity to serve in combat roles, they still found ways to distinguish themselves. Doris “Dorie” Miller was a steward aboard the USS West Virginia during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Although he had never been trained on the ship’s weapons, he manned a machine gun during the attack and carried wounded sailors to safety. For his actions, Miller became the first African American to receive the Navy Cross. Following Dorie’s actions and lobbying from civil rights groups, the US Navy increasingly sent Black sailors to sea in combat roles. On March 20, 1944, the Navy commissioned the destroyer escort USS Mason, the first ship to have a predominantly Black crew.

Other African Americans serving in Construction Battalions behind the lines volunteered for extremely hazardous duty as stretcher bearers in several Pacific campaigns. Back in the United States, African American men and women worked in defense plants that built the ships and planes of the most powerful Navy and Air Force in the world.

The achievements of African Americans during the war provided valuable evidence that civil rights activists used in their demands for equality. Though President Harry S. Truman ordered the US military to desegregate entirely in 1948, African Americans’ fight for equal civil rights was far from over."

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